I can speak to the PGM from personal experience. We've had one at the lake house for about a year. Things I like about it:

The burners give a nice range of cooking options. The 15K large burner, while not volcanic, is adequate for almost any cooking short of stir fry or major league searing (multiple large steaks on a large pan). The two dedicated simmer burners go very low, enough that I can cook polenta and keep it steaming but never bubbling.

The cool blue lights on the control knobs. Mostly just for looks but does make it easy to see where the knobs are set from a distance.

The "shot peened" SS finish around the burners. Definely shows stains and fingerprints much less than standard SS. It's not bulletproof though: one of the first things I did on the cooktop was to do some high heat cooking without bothering to wipe up some oil that had spattered around the burner. The result was burned on brown spots that did not come off with anything I tried. However, an email to Dacor was quickly responded to, and the recommendation to use oven cleaner took the spots right up with no damage to top.

Grates are heavy, stable, and continuous to allow pot sliding.

Things I don't like:

Burner layout. I would have preferred the 15K burner to be front and center, rather than front and left. The left side location compromises smoke capture versus the central location, and I do get spilloever when searing hard (using our 600 cfm VAH hood, about which I've posted several times).

Also wish at least one of the simmer burners was in the rear row of burners. If I had to simmer two pans, I would have no access to the rear left and center burners.

The non-shot peened SS finish around the control knobs is hard to keep clean-looking--but that's true of all SS finishes.

Overall, I have been quite happy with it. It's not a high end range, but for the price I think it's a good solid cooktop.

Otherwise I can only comment on what we've chosen for our renovation of the main house kitchen, which began last Monday.

We went with the Therm columns. Loved the fully integrated look. Liked the ability to combine fridge and freezer sizes (we did 30'' and 18'') unlike the SZ 700's (only 27'' available). Did not want to take a chance on delayed release dates for the new SZ BI series. Same concern over the Miele columns, and furthermore couldn't justify the close to 50% higher price vs the Therms, for extras like WiFi monitoring. The install does look like it will live up to expectations: I've already had complaints from my plumber about having to bring in water from the side, through the adjacent cabinet. I am hoping that paying the authorized Therm installer to put them in ($750!!) will avoid problems. Didn't look at your other choices, was focused on fully integrated units.

We're also doing Franke fireclay sinks: Orca for main and a 15'' rectangular for prep.

Also went with Miele DW: in our case, Excellas. Based mainly on the positive posts on GW, and the feature set. Hate that we got nailed with the price increase: no one warned us and we could have placed the order a week earlier if I had known.

Hood: I've posted extensively on them. Short version: we're using a custom Modern Aire 64'' hood liner inside a range alcove over the 55'' Lacanche Cluny 1400 range. Fantech FKD 10XL blower and LD10 silencer to be mounted in attic using 10'' duct.

Sounds like we thought alike on many of these decisions. Good Luck!!

Clinresga, WOW! Thank you for your detailed response. I DID NOT KNOW about a price increase!!! Yikes, I had better look into that, thanks for the heads up!

We were going with the Dacor specifically because I had heard that it was easier to keep clean with its finish. I hadn't thought about the placements of the burners. What you say makes sense, but I think we'll stick with that because I am having such a hard time deciding on the refrigerator, I think my DH would shoot me, if I changed my mind on this! Thanks again, I appreciate your suggestions and comments.

Yeah, with all the issues I'd still say that I'd choose the PGM again. It's a nice cooktop.

Tell DH that he's just not obsessing over this stuff enough if he doesn't appreciate the subtleties of refrigerator selection. Keep us updated, I'd love to see what you end up doing with the fridge.

I know he would really like the Thermador columns. My issue is the cost; the little extras like having a professional install them as you did. I think he's leaning towards the Monogram only because my sister has it and he likes that and it is a bit less expensive. Still trying to decide on whether to do wood panels or not.

Regarding the Dacor PGM cooktop. I just heard from someone today that Dacor is coming out with a new model for the cooktop where all the burners simmer, not just the front ones. Anyone else hear about this?

Hi mominthedubc -

I think I responded to some of your posts a few weeks ago.

Our Monogram ZET2 were installed a couple weeks ago and we're very happy with them. Quick preheat, stable as a rock temperature (though I have NOT verified with a thermometer everything cooked at the required temp comes out great in the right time) and quiet.

The controls are slick (as in smooth operation) and its been easy to keep the fingerprints off it.

They also don't seem to introduce a ton of heat into the kitchen.

Part of the reason I liked these was that both ovens work exactly the same. Same controls, features, arrangement, etc. We've used both oven separately and together - no issues. We'v eused multiple racks for cookies and everything came out great

My wife loves the glide racks for ease of adding or removing dishes.

We've only used the convection once - to cook a frozen pizza for the kids - that was great too.

Go for them - I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Dave, thanks so much. I think from everything I've heard from helpful people like yourself, we will go with the ZET2. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your thoughts.

Clinresga or anyone else with the Dacor PGM cooktop... What kind and size hood did you get to go with this?

Also, any strong recommendations from anyone regarding a 42-48" built-in refrigerator/freezer? Looks like that's the last of our appliance decisions. Thanks.