Av - glad to see your post - Viking is a brand people love to bash - but few (that bash) have actual experience. We have 36" AG range for almost 2yrs now - I'm a big cook & we have a busy household - Love this range it's powerhouse & does what it is supposed to. I like that all burners are 15K so now guess work on configurations - - 15K x 6 is plenty of power for me, I have never felt the need for more. I have Viking portable griddle over 2 burners - works great! The broiler, oven, convection features are all great - I have even started baking much more than previously because I love how even this oven bakes I was the skeptic did research - went to appliance stores to see demos then went to a Viking dealership where I saw products & their competitors perform side by side - that is was sold me Getting it in a color - bonus Good luck Here is a link that might be useful: Viking 36

I have 36 inch range and love it. Even with a big Paella pan, as long as it is centered on the burner, it can hang over the next platform. With 48 inch 6 burner range you have 15 inch platforms, and even though I frequently cook for 20-30 people, I don't need 15 inch platforms. I can easily fit 3 14 inch skillets on my Wolf 36 inch range-front left,back center and front right if I had a mind to. I have also had the Dacor range with 4 11 inch and 2 15 inch platforms and did not see any real benefits to the 15 inch platforms The best thing if you have questions about what fits on the range you are considering is try pans the size you will be using and see how they work. If you have the real estate for a 48 inch range, if I didn't want the grill then I would go with 8 burners and get an overlay griddle. There are those who like the dedicated griddle on this board though.

Many kitchens today have a "mantle style" hood that comes down onto the counter, similar to gibbys you need a least 6" clearance both sides and a high CFM vent if you are using a commercial style cooktop For a 36" range or cooktop 48 is possibly ok you may want to go wider Check your appliance specs, and code allowances I think they look beautiful how practical is another story

My understanding is that the silencer has to go before the motor (i.e. vent liner --> silencer --> motor). It's silencing the fan and motor noise, so it wouldn't make sense to have it after the motor. If you have enough space in the attic to put an inline blower after the silencer, then you wouldn't need an external blower. For us, the silencer barely fits between the attic floor and ceiling, so we had to have an external blower. The contractor was worried it would be loud outside (it's on the slope above our deck) but it's fine.