Toto Soiree or Guinevere review, installing, comments and pictures

http://www.terrylove.com/images/abak/abak_soiree_1.jpg
TOTO Soiree pedestal lav, faucet and toilet suite
http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/terr...ml#MS974224CFG

We are considering replacing our awful low flow toilets and have been researching what to replace them with. We have decided to go with a Toto based on what we have read and because of the other people's recommendations that they are happy with theirs. Today we read an article that said that Toto has shown some new lines they have created called the "Soiree" and the "Guinevere" at Home builder shows (that article was dated from Sept 2005.) These models supposedly have Toto's new "double cyclone flush" technology which is supposed to be the latest and greatest thing. Does anyone know if they are for sale yet? Has anybody seen them in action? Are they as good as is claimed? The Toto website shows the Soiree but I don't see anything about Guinevere there. Does anyone know approx how much one of these would cost?

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$686.00 for the Soiree and $748.00 for the Guinevere (5/21/2013)

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Thanks for any help you can give!

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http://www.terrylove.com/images/soiree_angle.jpg
Toto Soiree

I'm selling the Soiree for $686.00 in White and the Guinevere for $748.00
http://www.terrylove.com/images/soiree_cyclone.jpg
Cyclone Flush System

They both use the double cyclone flush, that sweeps water around the bowl to keep it clean.
The water speeds up as it gets farther down the bowl.
Combined with the Sanagloss finish, it's an improvement over what we have come to expect.
The parts in the tank, are similar to other Toto toilets, so repairs will be easy if needed.
So far, other models like this have had a very good track rating.
Performance seems to be similar to the Toto Ultramax, they both have the large 3" flush valve and siphon jet.
The main difference is how they rinse the bowl.
The Ultramax rinses straight down the bowl, the Soiree and Guinevere have the Cyclone rinse that races around the bowl.
One customer in Spokane said it reminded him of his Ford Cobra.

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These are the best Gravity toilets that Toto sells.
The people that own them, tell me they love them.
If you want all the features in one toilet, this is it.

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The TOTO Guinevere and the TOTO Soiree.
These are two of what I consider the best of what TOTO has. In the last two years, I've sold 121 of these.
Most are in high end homes, but sometimes just older homes in Seattle.
They look great and flush well.

The best features are the comfort height bowl, the bowl is 16-1/8" before you add for the nice slow closing seat.
The skirted base, which makes for easier cleaning.
When replacing bowls, this is nice, it will cover almost any footprint that has been left on the floor.
Since the back of the bowl is slimmer then the Carlyle, you only need 5-1/2" to the left of center for the shutoff.
Since most plumber rough-in at 6" or more, they will fit almost anywhere.
You also have the option of using the standard 12" rough-in that comes with the toilet, or installing with a 10" or 14" Unifit.

This is great for both older homes, with 14" rough-in, (Many homes in the 20's had 14") or homes with the rough-in too close to the wall.
Parts are easy to get, we use the same basic parts in all of the TOTO toilets, so if you have a part for one, you can pretty much fix the entire lineup.

Real customers are reporting back that they love the toilets.
I have one customer, a neigbor of Bill Gates in Medina, that started with two of the Guinevere, and when he found that he liked them, he ordered three more for a total of five.
Steve Balmer went with the Neorest600 in his master bath, it also has a adapter like the unifit, Sanagloss and double cyclone rinse, but with the added feature of the Washlet seat and automatic functions.
I hear back that he's thinking of getting more of them.

The bread and butter of the TOTO line is the Drake and the Ultramax, and the top of the line is the Guinevere and the Soiree. Unless you are thinking of the Neorest lineup. Off all the brands I'm selling, the Toto has the least problems and the highest customer satisfaction. I sell all brands, and we do about 2,000 toilets a year.

We also see what people are replacing and what they think of those.
Most of the business is made of repeat customers and referrals.
Some brands sell themselves, and some are installed for a short while, until we come to pull them out.
Terry Love
December 4, 2009

Terry,
Any thoughts about the flushing action of these? I am torn between getting an Aquia or Soiree. I like the idea of the bowl wash of the Soiree, but am wondering about the flush itself - what do you think?

Between the two?
Go with the Soiree or the Guinevere.
The Double Cyclone rinse works real well.

The bowl covers more footprint too. The photo above shows that it covered the old toilet outline that had been pressed onto the wood floor.

http://www.terrylove.com/wc/toto/ms974_01.jpg

I have the Aquia... so far, no complaints whatsoever. Excellent bowl wash compared to the vastly more expensive Toto Pacifica 1-piece toilets I have at my other residence. More bowl wash than the Toto Drakes I have as well. Pretty much sold on Aquias from this point forward, but I've only had them for 2 weeks. Even a 2-day straight binge of various chili & Mexican dishes failed to phase them. Very quiet flush & "petite" size, despite being higher than normal toilets.

The cyclone-jet setup on the Soiree looks interesting on paper, but I've yet to see one in person.

http://www.terrylove.com/wc/toto/ms974_02.jpg
Side view of the Guinevere toilet by Toto.
It comes with a nice slow closing seat.

Installation instructions for the Soiree and the Guinevere

The Soiree has a Unift adapter that fits to the closet flange.
Since the fitting is plastic, you do hear the water leaving the bowl and trapway for a bit after use.
It's sort of a drip, drip, like a clock ticking.
When capillary action has stopped, the sound stops.

Since the trapway on the Ultramax is molded into the porcelain, and even though it too wicks water for a while, it isn't noticeable like it is in the Soiree. After the first few days, you forget the sound is there.
The other day, we installed three more of the Guinevere toilets in a home that started with two, that makes five now. I get a lot of repeat sales from the Soiree and Guinevere.

All bowls on toilets will overfill during a refill.
Most refills take about a minute.

http://www.terrylove.com/wc/toto/unifit_1.jpg
The adapter that allows for different rough-in measurements.
The adapter mimics the lower portion of a Drake trapway.

I just want to say that I love my new Guinevere toilet.
It's not new really anymore, I've had it a while.
It has the skirted bowl, Sanagloss which stays clean, and the double cyclone rinse. I picked it up in Wasilla Alaska from Terry Love, I live in Fairbanks.
The other bathroom is very small, I'm thinking of getting the Round front Ultramax for that one. I wish the round came with Sanagloss.
Wynola P
Fairbanks Alaska

Just did some more work for a customer in Woodinville with three of the Toto Soiree toilets.
She loves the toilets, so much that she called us back to replace lavs in the bathrooms too.

http://www.terrylove.com/images/abak/abak_soiree_1.jpg
TOTO Soiree pedestal lav, faucet and toilet suite

I installed a Guinevere today. First Toto owned. Great rim rinse,quiet, great fast flush, quick refill. So far no water splashing on seat.Sanagloss, elongated. When I ordered it at the plumbing shop, I requested 12 inch rough which I assumed was the only way they came. When I got it home and was reading the box it said 10 inch on it. I thought you had to order the 10 or 14 unifit adapter as accessories. But I had a one piece vanity top with a 10 inch shelf so it gives me more access to the tank. 5 1/2 inch offset for fill valve worked ok and the extra 4 inch wall clearance gives me more room for working on it.Question for pros, with the design of the open back for the drop in unifit trap, you can't caulk the back of the toilet for sewer gases. In Cypress, CA the inspectors want the toilets caulked for sewer gases. Unless you caulk the bottom of the back end, set toilet and then caulk the rest on the outside, not sure what else to do. I didn't caulk the back. What do you guys think or do about that?

http://www.terrylove.com/images/abak/abak_guinevere.jpg
TOTO Guinevere pedestal lav and toilet suite

Wax between the adapter and the floor flange is what seals the sewer gas.

The caulk is to prevent water from going under the bowl from the front.

The Soiree and the Guinevere should come with a 12" adapter in the box.
I have no idea why there would be a 10"
Sometimes for various reasons we will install them with a 10" though.

Another possibility would be the Gwyneth. It has the double-cyclone technology but not the Unifit, and so is less expensive. It also comes in a two-piece model which is less expensive than the one-piece. Both are 1.28 gallon models.

Bought one of these a couple of months ago and had a general contractor install it, he didn't seem to have any difficulties.

I'm impressed with the flushing action, while it is a little noisier after the flush (during the tank refill) it's nothing that I'm concerned with (especially since I had a sloan flush toilet!).

Definitely is a cool design with how the water washes the bowl and seems to handle whatever is thrown at it.

It's VERY heavy and unlike my other toto toilet, I had to pay extra to get this delivered into the house.

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Toto Soiree with SanaGloss / Toto Guinevere with SanaGloss. These toilets have straight sides, ultra smooth finishes and a special glazing that combine to keep surfaces clean with limited scrubbing. Their "Double Cyclone" flushing system use the force of the flush to help scrub the bowl. The are one-piece toilets, so there is no tough-to-get clean gap between the reservoir and the bowl. Price $649.

http://www.terrylove.com/bottomline/ms974.jpg

http://www.terrylove.com/images/terry_pan_sm.jpg Bottom Line Personal interviewed Terry Love, owner of Love Plumbing & Remodel in Bellevue and Bothell, Washington. He has been a plumber since 1974 and currently sells about 3,000 toilets each year. He reviews toilets on his web site. www.terrylove.com/crtoilet.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6y348Ho7vQ

This site is great. It's helpful to validate that a toilet I liked in a local showroom was decent: the Toto Soiree.

But...the showroom model was a 1.6GPF but when I asked about availability, the woman made some calls and said that apparently the 1.6 is being phased out and Toto is now making it in a 1.28GPF. They had another Double Cyclone 1.28 installed in their bathroom (forget which model) and it looked like it used an awfully tiny amount of water. Has anyone tried the 1.28? Will it flush comparably?

The lower flush costs a few bucks more than the old one and they said they might still be able to hunt an old 1.6 down for me if I really want.