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Until recently, I had no idea about Kahuna or their massage chairs. A couple days ago I received an email from a reader asking specifically about Kahuna chairs and how they stack up. Fast forward a few days later and I thought why not just do a detailed review of some of their chairs!
But who are Kahuna anyways? Are they a reputable brand in the massage chair industry? Kahuna are a California based company that specializes in massage products. They have a huge selection of entry, mid, and advanced level massage chairs, all with different price ranges.
They’re not as well known as some of the more staple brands such as Osaki, Titan, & Ogawa, but they’re not far off! (Video Credit: Good Price World).
One thing I immediately noticed when browsing through Kahuna’s website and social profiles, is that quite a few of their products are owned by Hollywood celebs. For example, there are Instagram posts from Anthony Anderson, Martha Stewart, & Whoopi Goldberg saying how much they love Kahuna chairs.
Hard to say! It’s just something that caught my eye, so I figure i’d make mention of it. If you wanna read more of these celebrity posts/reviews, head on over to Kahuna’s celebrity gallery section here!
The LM 6800 just like most Kahuna massage chairs is FDA approved.
No I wouldn’t say so. All it means is an external agency has reviewed the unit and determined that its benefits outweigh the risks. When it comes to the world of massage technology, FDA approval is a vote of confidence more than anything. That being said, it’s definitely nice if a chair is FDA approved, but not something I personally use as a deciding factor before buying.
Since its inception, L-Track has been the buzz of massage chairs for the last couple years. But what is L-Track and how does it work anyways?
The LM 6800 comes equipped with quad L-Track rollers. As you can see from the image below, the rollers are able to massage right down to the hips and hamstring areas.
Since rollers are the most important component to any massage chair, let’s spend some time discussing them in greater detail. The LM 6800 makes use of 4 2-dimensional (2D) rollers. 2D rollers are the most oldest and simplest in roller technology. The very first massage chairs all used 2D roller technology, and many best selling chairs in the market today still use 2D rollers.
The mechanics of a 2D chair is pretty simple. The rollers move in 2 dimensions: up/down along the vertical, and side to side along the horizontal. The arrows in the image above illustrate how this looks like. Simple, cost effective technology that delivers one heck of a massage!
The LM 6800 has a total of 36 airbags located in various regions of the chair. These include hands, shoulders, legs, calves, hips and feet.
Just like rollers, airbags are an important component to every massage chair. They are responsible for:
Based on my experience, 36 airbags is probably somewhere in between. I’ve seen chairs that definitely have a lot more than 36 airbags, but as a result they also have a higher power consumption needed to continuously run all the airbags. Kahuna have definitely optimized/streamlined the airbag design by opting to go with fewer airbags that offer the same coverage.
Side Note: power consumption for the LM 6800 is 230 W.
Aside from making your back feel warm and tingly, heat therapy is actually pretty important when it comes to massage. Heat loosens up the muscles making them less stiff and more pliable.
You don’t need to be a massage expert to answer this! Intuitively it’s clear that flexible, pliable muscle will be much easier to massage than tissue that’s tight and rigid! To summarize it very simply then, heat therapy is important simply because it helps loosen things up.
So now that you have a better appreciation of heat therapy, it’s important to know that the LM 6800 comes with heating pads located both on the lower back and calves area. How does it compare to other massage chairs to this regard? Most chairs will only have heat therapy on the lumbar/lower back area, so the LM 6800 is definitely a step forward!
Note: heat therapy can always be turned off on the remote control as desired.
The LM 6800 is capable of performing 5 different massage techniques. These are:
The above mentioned techniques are standard to most massage chairs, so nothing out of the ordinary here.
Employing these 5 techniques, the chair allows a user to massage by either selecting one of the 6 auto modes (including a full body yoga stretch routine), or by operating the chair in manual mode. Auto modes are hassle free, however manual mode does offer much more flexibility with the option to customize settings.
Just like most modern massage chairs, the LM 6800 has been designed and built to fit into tight spaces. A fancy way of referring to this is something called space saving technology. In essence, all it means is that the chair slides forward on its base during recline, so that it only requires 3-6 inches of clearance from backrest to the wall.
As massage chairs continue to gain popularity, it’s important that manufacturers ensure their designs are able to adequately fit most living spaces. And Kahuna have done exactly this for the LM 6800!
Zero gravity is another one of those features you’ll find in 90% of massage chairs. It’s become so popular with users, that manufacturers have started to include the feature in ALL their chairs, even the lower priced ones!
Zero gravity is simply a recline position where the legs are at an elevated position with respect to the heart, and the torso forms an angle of about 120-128 degrees with the legs. Aside from feeling amazing, there are several benefits to sitting/massaging in a zero gravity position:
So we’ve established that zero gravity is pretty much a must have, and the LM 6800 doesn’t disappoint! It comes with 3 stages of zero gravity, however if you ask me stages 1 & 2 aren’t “true” zero gravity positions. Stages 1 & 2 are just basic recline positions that a user can enjoy. True zero gravity recline is the 3rd stage.
Setup and install is pretty complicated for the LM 6800. Kahuna have broken it down into a 6 step process in their user manual. Since it’s fairly detailed, I won’t go through the whole thing here, but I encourage you to refer to the user manual as well as the installation video below.
Is white glove delivery worth the extra money? Well it really depends on each individual. Some people don’t mind spending 30 minutes to an hour trying to figure out things for themselves. Others like me hate the idea of having to mess around, and would much rather prefer a fully assembled chair ready to plug in. It really comes down to what you prefer and if you’re comfortable spending the extra moolah!
Before we can answer this question, I think it’s important to see how the LM 6800 stacks up against the competition. To ensure a fair comparison, I will only compare the LM 6800 to 2 chairs of similar capability/technology i.e. the comparison will be against chairs with 2D L-Track rollers. Specifically, we will be comparing the LM 6800 to both the Infinity Meridian as well as the Titan TP Pro 8400 massage chairs.
As can be seen from the table above, there isn’t too much different about all 3 chairs (power consumption for the LM 6800 is slightly higher than the other 2 chairs, but that’s maybe not quite a game-changer).
The biggest difference you don’t see on that table has to do with quality and workmanship. Titan (from the same company that makes Osaki chairs) and Infinity are well established, reputable brands in the massage chair industry that have been known to produce highly effective solutions for decades. If you ask me, Kahuna isn’t quite there yet.
At the current sale price of $1,999 (on massage chair deals), the Infinity Meridian is an absolute peach of a deal! This is my final recommendation!
Just to set things straight, if you do decide to buy ANY of the massage chairs discussed in this post, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I like to be 100% transparent with my audience, so that’s why I choose to share this information!
I hope this review was beneficial to you in some way. If you disagree with my recommendation, leave me a comment letting me know why. Last but not least, please remember to share this post on the social platforms so others can benefit!
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