Alexandria Hand-held, Brushed Nickel

My first experience with a Speakman shower head was at a hotel. I was very pleased with the shower so I later replaced my shower head at home with a fixed Speakman and after that replaced the shower at my girlfriend's apartment with the same model. I was very pleased with the build quality and the overall experience with the shower. Now we've moved to a house that has a larger shower and has a Delta shower head that has both a fixed component and a wand. I did a bit of research and decided to replace the Delta with this Speakman model with the diverter and separate heads. The box arrived and it had three components: the fixed shower head, the wand unit (complete with mounting hardware in case you wanted to install it as a standalone head), and a diverter. The fixed head and wand unit are both plastic, while the diverter is a solid metal. The hose is also plastic and shorter than our previous Delta's hose (which feels much sturdier, even to the point of being too stiff). It would seem like a good hit on the tile wall might shatter the head . The hand wand feels a but awkward because this model has a bulge in the back (other models seem to not stick out that much). I went to go install the diverter and I couldn't get it to stay level. It looks like you're supposed to twist the main diverter on the part they attaches to the spigot, and rely on the rubber gasket to keep it from leaking. But I think it did leak when I did that and there's nothing to hold the diverter in place, so bumping it could easily cause it to get crooked again. The diverter also has an Allen screw which is not in the instructions at all, and water leaks out of that screw. I was never able to get it to stop leaking and even stripped the head to the point where I can't even get the screw back out. The main head whent on fine. The hose for the handheld unit has a check valve in it and a label indicating which side goes to the water supply (in this case, the diverter). Unfortunately, as soon as you select the handheld unit on the diverter, water leaks profusely from the hose attachment at the diverter. I removed the check valve (it's just a small plastic plug) quite by accident (I tried connecting the hose the other way to see if maybe I had connected it backwards--the valve just popped out) but even then, it still leaked. I had installed the fixture with all of the flow restrictors installed and the pressure in our house isn't high (our house's water main has a flow restrictor on it) so pressure shouldn't be an issue here. I tried installing the wand unit directly to the spigot and I didn't have any leaks, so it has something to do with the diverter. Maybe the water going through the narrow opening of the diverter causes the force of the water at the hose connection to be too high? You'd think that, because these units are sold as a kit that they'd be designed to work together, but it didn't work for me. I think I'm the only one that's posted about having an issue so maybe I had a defective unit? The diverter and the main head adds a fair amount of length to the whole thing, which makes the head just a little too short for my liking, since I'm tall (6'3"). You may want to take this into account when you purchase. I think that, because of the issues I experienced, and the rather long overall length, that next time I'll just get the standslone handheld unit and get one one that lacks the bulge in the back.