I could go on and on about everything wrong with Dacor and have on this forum, but my experience was three years ago and maybe they are better now. I had the Discovery wall oven and the ER36D range. I would also be aware that sales incentives can color the opinion of some sales people. Before you buy, check out the reputation of the store where you would buy your appliances. Check online reviews and BBB. Anyway after we got rid of our Dacor appliances(they bought them back), we thought maybe BS and drove 250 miles to look at them but my husband did not like the fit and finish and they were having problems with the doors and ignitors at the time. We decided to go with the Wolf DF with a sealed burner. I thought we were settling at the time because I wouldn't have the 22K burner. When I got the range, I loved it. It has plenty of heat for the type of cooking I do -searing steaks and the occasional stir fry. The simmer can keep a pot of mashed potatoes on all burners indefinitely. It is often said the flame on the sealed burner spreads but I have not problem making caramel in a 7 inch pan. The semi sealed burner on Wolf AG is different and I haven't cooked on it. If I did a lot of stir fry and high heat cooking where I wanted a more central high heat and that were the most important consideration, I would think about the culinarian and if the simmer wasn't low enough use a simmer plate. I still like the BS shape of the burner for even heating. I don't think there is only one good range but each has features that might suit your style of cooking. The oven in the Wolf DF is great because you can manipulate the heat from the top or bottom depending on what you are baking/roasting and you can use the convection only mode if the oven is really filled up. I've never had to though as it bakes very evenly on the conv bake cycle. I also like the cool doors, with the grands running around plus I don't want to stand in front of a hot oven and the self clean. The AG ranges have the infrared broilers but we grill outside 95% of the time so this was not a feature that was important to me. I know you didn't ask about Wolf DF but since you were considering Dacor DF, I thought I would mention it. Good luck with your decision. deeageaux- "You can argue how much better the Culinarian cooktop is but I don't think anyone can serioiusly argue that the Wolf/Monogram is as good or better" Yes, you can. They are very different and not everyone has the same priorities when choosing a cooktop or range.

Thanks for that input, very helpful....Would any of you be concerned about how old my thermador oven is (even though I"m happy with it) and whether it might break right after remodel? What do repairs cost on a 30" oven? If it was 500, that would be fine. I would be very bummed if it was over 1K and I passed up an oppty to get a brand new oven.

Instead of a new thread, I was wondering if anyone has any new opinions or pics. We are purchasing the Wolf 36" AG with griddle and have chosen the VAH wall mount style - EPH18-236, but are waffling on the 24" and 27" depth. I order this week and I haven't been able to find this combination of range and hood in pic or person. It looks like the 24" would work, since the front of the range is 24.5 ". My husband is 6' tall and I'm concerned about the 27" depth being inconvenient for him. Any help is apppreciated.

I like the sealed burners that Wolf makes and have had them just at 5 years. Simmering (keeping just below the boiling point) and even just warming are their strong points. For showmanship some of the ranges will show melting chocolate on a paper plate. You can compare the low end of BTUs on any brand to determine how low a range will go. You will sometimes see simmer measured in degrees which they obtain by measuring water in a pot but the temperature of water is so variable in a pot. If you even move the probe an inch you will get different numbers. The top is much cooler than the bottom. There is much more movement of water than much of what you are cooking dispersing more of the heat as well. The temperature will be affected by what you are cooking. Starchy things like pasta, split pea soup. mashed potatoes tend to scorch more and high sugar syrups hold a lot of heat. I have no trouble holding any of these at just warm. I did have one caramel syrup, out of the many different ones that I have made that would not stop boiling while I was trying to hold it warm on the 325 BTUs. I think it may be because of the small volume. The temperature will also be affected by the pan you are using. If you are using cast iron, steel or stainless steel pans they conduct heat poorly and will tend to hold the heat keeping the bottom of the pot hotter. If you are using pan of aluminum or copper in significant amounts, they are better at conducting heat so it is dispersed producing a lower temperature. Pans that are made in layers are harder to evaluate because the amount of cooper or aluminum in them are generally unknown. The size of the pan will also affect the temperature. The BTU rating at least will give a baseline output before the other variables are added. Wolf (3) 15,000 (950) (1) 9200 (325) Wolf semi sealed were 16,000 Btu high / 500 Btu simmer Keep in mind that Wolf's service is not what it used to be. I feel confident that they will be responsive during the warranty period but they will not stand by their product past that, even with a known manufacturing defect. They did at one time. I have had chipping issues with the blue enamel on the DF. If you go with the AG you may be ok. I would be tempted to buy an extended warranty for whatever you buy as it may be the thing you least expect to go wrong. With the DF I worried more about the electronics going out and it turned out to be the actual physical structure of the oven which is probably more expensive than the electronics to fix. When I bought my Wolf range I was told I didn't need an extended warranty as Wolf would always stand behind it. Not any more.