OK, I"ll ramble on a bit on these topics. I have a Wolf Pro Island hood (60-some inches wide, made by Independent) and a Wolf 1500 cfm nominal roof fan (actually made by Broan), with a Fantech silencer in between. The hiss through the baffles at maximum speed is modest, and certainly not inhibiting to conversation (unless one is whispering sweet nothings across the cooktop). The crackle and hiss of Wok cooking is louder. The silencer (really a muffler) is the only addition you could make to reduce fan noise further. To extend Trevor's remarks, the fan blades are not perfectly aerodynamic, and shed turbulence that causes noise. Also, there will be turbulence in the ducts that produces noise. There could also be motor rumble. Few manufacturers provide the essential facts about their hoods, viz., noise versus flow rate, and pressure drop versus flow rate. Occasionally, one may run across a commercial hood with a pressure drop spec., but commercial kitchens are so noisy that baffle noise is the least of anyone's problems. I'm not sure of Independent's status at present, but ModernAire is a potential hood source, as well as Abbaka and even local sheet metal fabricators providing hoods for commercial application. (You probably won't want one that meets the commercial requirements, but derivative designs might be suitable.) Broan is another candidate source. The main goal is capture and containment, and this requires a cavity for collection and a flow rate sufficient to remove the effluent before it "reflects" back out of the hood. There are other sources of hoods, but some tend to emphasize aesthetics over function, so if function is more important, evaluate them from the point of view of capture and containment. Unfortunately, the best we can do usually is guess at the fluid dynamics taking place in a candidate hood; the truth requires careful measurement, usually with Schlieren photography to see what is happening to the effluent as a function of cfm. kas

When buying our range, I grilled on the Viking and the Wolf (ribeyes) and preferred the Wolf. Make sure they have you use the blankoff plate to see how it works, and try grilling your steaks (assuming you're a rare or mrare type) without the blankoff plate. I've found the owner's manual on the Wolf to be a little timid on using the grill, and the rep at the Wolf test kitchen while well intended did not know that much (must admit, the Viking staff were outstanding). Finally, there's a cleaning trick that I got from this site to invert a throw-away aluminum baking pan that just fits on the grilling grid to burn off any residue for about 10 minutes.

Growlery is correct. Also, an exhaust hood is not really for "cooling" as you said, it's for exhausting the smoke and grease from your cooking. Your over-the-range microwave ("OTR MW") would be inappropriate for your new Viking range. The rule of thumb is 100 cfms for every 1000 btu's. Your range has four 15,000 btu burners = 60,000 total, which means you need a hood that is 600 cfms. I know you said you only use one burner at a time, but with such a nice range, you may find yourself cooking more on it as you come to realize how much easier/better it is. Furthermore, a microwave hood will not project over the front burners of your Viking range and so, will not capture anything from your front burners. And, as Growlery pointed out, an OTR MW is not meant to be installed over such a powerful range, and the 15,000 btu's will likely, at best, buzz out the MW's electronics due to the heat, and at worst, actually melt the bottom of the MW. The Viking manual says "it is recommended the unit be set under a powerful, vented exhaust hood of sufficient size and capacity". An OTR MW does not fit that description. I myself switched out my OTR MW for a hood after I bought a new powerful range, and I would recommend it to everyone. It made a huge difference in exhausting cooking smells and grease. Before I removed my OTR MW (an expensive "top of the line" model), its electronics had buzzed out twice--the MW was still under warranty so the repairs were free, but I had the aggravation of getting it fixed, the downtime, staying home for the repairman, waiting for the part, etc. and then it broke again. It just wasn't meant to be installed over a powerful range. So, I replaced it with a hood. I sold my OTR MW easily on Craig's List. Also, a hood really looks better. Your Viking range is a beauty, costs a lot of money, and really deserves the looks and the fuctionality of a hood.

I like it! I'd just do the backsplash up to the base of the cabinets and base of the hood. Then I might box in the space above the stubby cabinet so it visually goes all the way up, or heck, put in a basket and see how it looks! (The "box" could be just trim--it doesn't HAVE to come out to shelf depth...although you could shelf depth it and also have shelves alongside the hood...) If you wanted to do 'splash up by the chimney as well, continue it over to the basket area if you don't box it off.