IT-9800

When I first started selling massage chairs, my staff would haul a bunch of our massage chairs to local trade shows, like the home show, boat show, RV show, etc. Without fail, every time we went to a show, there was also a booth of Neox massage chairs there competing with us. The Neox chairs, as far as I know, are no longer available but when I began carrying the Infinity line of chairs, I noticed that the IT-9800 looked a lot like the Neox chairs.

When we received our IT-9800 in the showroom, the sales rep from Infinite Therapeutics told me that it was in fact pretty much the same massage chair as the Neox. I remember liking the Neox chair when I first sat on it but now I had one first hand to experience in my own showroom.

I recently sold my floor model and have waxed a bit nostalgic for it, realizing that I never really did a review of the chair. So, I figured that I’d record some videos of the chair and write a little review covering it’s primary features. The videos are being edited and will be posted on YouTube shortly. In this blog post, I’d like to point out those primary features that I think will interest you the most.

1. Made in Taiwan
The IT-9800 is the only massage chair that we carry, and we carry over 40 models, that is manufactured in Taiwan. Aside from the IT-9800, the iRobotics 6 from Luraco (American-made), and the Inada chairs (Japanese-made), all other chairs are made in China. I would, quite frankly, rate the quality of this chair a bit higher and better than that of the Chinese-made chairs, at this point.

2. Leather Upholstery
The IT-9800 has a lovely leather upholstery that feels very comfortable when in use. I had the black color in my showroom and it was a very handsome chair.

3. No Airbags
The IT-9800 has rollers working the spine and also rollers in the calves. The roller massage is a firm and therapeutic form of massage and really hits the muscles in ways that the airbags can’t. There is also a vibration function in the seat of the chair. Because there are no airbags, you will not find any arm, neck, shoulder, hips, or foot airbags which are pretty typical in  most other massage chairs today.

4. Calf-Only Massaging Ottoman 
The roller calf massage is wonderful, however there is not a foot roller or foot airbags. The calf wells have an interesting “swing” feature which undulates the calves from side to side in a wave-like manner. Very soothing and rhythmic feature that I’ve not seen before on any other massage chair. The ottoman has an extension feature to accommodate a longer leg as well as a power feature which provides electronic raising and lowering of the ottoman.

5. Remote Control
When you deal with Chinese-made chairs all day, you get kinda used to the Chinese-style of remote control. The IT-9800 is totally different. Because of my familiarity with the Chinese-style remote it took me a bit to get used to the IT-9800 remote. But, it is very simple. There are two sets of windows with controls. One window is for positioning of the chair, the other window has buttons for determining the style of massage. Once I got that down, the rest was easy.

6. Inversion & Zero Gravity
The only chair that truly reclines past horizontal – it goes to 184 degrees. That is a form of inversion, granted not full upside down inversion, but really the only massage chair that comes close to true inversion. When you couple that with the chair’s zero gravity feature, you really get a good spinal distraction therapy which will be music to the ears of low back sufferers. Combine that recumbant position with the “swing” feature in the ottoman, and you’ve got yourself a wonderfully therapeutic and relaxing experience.

7. Not a Typical Massage Chair Look
A common complaint I get from chair shoppers is that today’s massage chairs look too much like massage chairs, if that makes sense. Some folks just want a chair that can maybe even double as a regular chair or recliners. Because the IT-9800 has regular arm rests, without airbags, and no dedicated foot massaging mechanism (even though you can bend your knees to put your feet in the massaging calf wells), the sits and almost looks like a regular chair. Aesthetically-speaking, it is a much simpler looking chair that will not overwhelm you with “massage-chair-edness” (hope that term made sense!!).

All in all, a great chair for a great price. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by it’s functionality, given it’s more simple design.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.colm