Product Review of the Sanyo SA- 5000 KU Massage Chair Recliner

This is a review of the mid range massage chair produced by Sanyo. This model is the SA 5000. There are so many massage chairs on the market and we hope this review will help to guide those looking for a quality massage chair recliner. We will cover some of the salient features and the warranty coverage of the SA 5000 by Sanyo.

Sanyo has made some changes to its warranty for the benefit of the consumer. Sanyo covers the roller mechanism for 3 years, provides 1 year on the other parts and 1 year labor. They have started in home technician service and will cover the first year. This is a great step forward, because before you needed to take your chair to a service center. This was not much fun for anyone who had to do it. Also, Sanyo has a national call center which is open 24/7. This has allowed them to centralize control over parts logistics and improve service levels.

This mid range Sanyo has a remote control as well as a wired sub remote. The main remote control has 4 automatic programs and a selection of manual programs. It has one button automatic programs which initiate the massage at the touch of a button. The manual massages come with manual massage courses. The manual massage courses enable the user to target particular areas to focus the massage. You can target the upper back and the massage will be confined to this area only. The control takes a little investment in time to get to know, but overall is fairly intuitive to use and learn.

An interesting technology included in the Sanyo SA 5000 is based on lie detector technology. The lie detector technology monitors perspiration and your pulse rate. The sensor then directs the chair to specific stress points based on these readings. The user must grip the wired sub remote for this function to work. So far the chair doesn’t ask you any questions, so don’t despair! This is a feature of the high end Sanyo chair and is an interesting feature. You can also change the position of the leg rest and the chair back from the sub remote. If the massage just hit a critical area, you can hit the repeat button and the massage will be repeated in the area just covered.

There are 4 effective massage therapies built into the SA-5000. They are Stiffness, Recovery, Relax and Fine. Each has specific target areas and results. All of them deliver full body massage therapy. Stiffness is based on Shiatsu massage and is for the back and legs. Recovery helps to loosen stiff and tired muscles. Relax is for achieving total body relaxation and tranquility of the mind. Fine helps to increase blood and lymph flow. The SA 5000 also has 3 stretching functions for the lower body. You can activate a stretch function and it will seamlessly plug into the massage treatment already activated.

This Sanyo mid range model delivers 5 manual massage treatments. The five manual massage treatments are Grip, Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Combination. Grip is a unique massage function from Sanyo. The Grip uses what Sanyo calls its GK rollers. The GK rollers are specially designed to reach out around the shoulder and neck areas. This brings the gripping sensation that provides effective relief in this area. The other manual massages include Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Combination. Shiatsu is for loosening tight muscles. The kneading massage is great for getting knots out of your back. Tapping targets loosening up tight muscles with a rapid target blows. The Combination massage consists of both the kneading and tapping.

The Sanyo SA-5000 also has an effective lower body massage. The lower body massage is an air compression system which utilizes airbags to give a compression massage. The airbags are located to target the thighs, calves and feet. There are specially designed shiatsu pressure point nodes in some of the airbags to hit your trigger points. These trigger points are based on acupressure massage and help induce full body relaxation. The air bags provide an effective squeeze to loosen and invigorate tight muscles of the thighs, calves and feet. Sanyo has also included a heater element in the foot wells to warm the soles of your feet.

We like the SA 5000 massage recliner from Sanyo. It has some great integrated technology like the pulse and perspiration sensor and the GK roller system. These are innovations you would expect from a large electronics company. We are less impressed with the look of the chair as it is a bit industrial in design. The warranty is fair and the 1 year in home service is an added benefit. You should really look at an extended warranty if it is offered for additional protection. If you are looking for a mid range massage chair, then this one should be on your short list.