Wow, thanks everyone for your experiences. I'd still love to see more setups, particularly to see how the different models look together. I'm much closer to narrowing down my choices.....It looks like the 36" bluestar cooktop (slide in, 6 burners) with the 12" Diva module to the right of it (so it can be an extension of my prep area if needed). For that 48", I'll probably have to slide the prep-sink over one space, giving me over 45" of prep space (as opposed to the 33 if I go with the current sink position and 45" proposed cooktop layout). I was really drooling over the Gaggenau 36" cooktop (so unbelievably sexy!) but I'm concerned about all the electronic wizardry they are using to control the gas....I prefer my ability to control (and the reliability inherent in a more simple design). Now I just need a hood. I was looking at the Broan IEX222 (51") but it's extremely expensive and not nearly as sleek as the Futuro 48". And it's reputed to be powerful and quiet...

''I'm just trying to understand. Is there a reason why you don't want to grill? Just trying to understand why you want to broil if you have a grill handy?'' Are all you sadists trying to shame me into being a real man and, gasp, grilling outdoors?! I knew women had a cruel streak, but golly! During the nice days of spring, summer, and fall I do use the gas grill - so that's about a month each year. Feels like it, anyway. The rest of the time . . . this week, for instance, it has been about a wet 34-38F, raining with occasional light hail. I'm not sure there's been more than 5 genuinely sunny days since October ended. Today we are a pleasant 32F with periods of wet snow, tonight is supposed to be 20F with snow/freezing rain. I could put on my rain gear and stand, shivering and dripping in the soaking wind, in front of a steaming grill watching my chicken turn soggy. If I had an umbrella, it would be better. I'd merely be shivering. No, what actually happens is that everything in my backyard gets covered with tarps in November and doesn't get unwrapped and scrubbed down for mold until April. I hardly even set foot in my backyard during those months. One January, I took a wrong turn and found myself standing in a 6'' pool of water out there - the drain had clogged and the patio where the grill lives had been underwater for weeks, maybe months. I admit it. I am a wimpy Californian. I live in a place where we get 42 inches of rain a year and everyone is Vitamin D deficient. Sigh.

Also do not recommend a Blue Star. Had a Lacanche for 11 years and loved it. Moved to a new home with a 36" blue star and it is really terrible. The burners flame out, the oven is 36" wide but not that tall making it a pain to put dutch ovens in it and out, takes FOREVER to heat up, roast veg just don't turn out that well (typically undercooked), it's hard to get a low simmer. Yes, the burners are powerful but they have no meaningful range and the power isn't necessary. My Lacanche made great stir fry. Also have to rotate food more in oven to prevent burning. Some of these problems may be oven size and not blue star specific but I've cooked on other 36" ovens in rentals long ago and didn't have as much trouble with the oven. It seems to be made with solid materials but the putting together of those isn't that well done. I'm glad I got a Lacanche all those years ago when we remodeled out first kitchen. Our new home wasn't as lucky. Missing my Lacanche Volnay.

We're late to this discussion, but we have just finished a multi-state tour of kitchen showrooms looking at "professional" ranges, cute and otherwise. A deciding factor for us proved to be the oven temperature-setting. Bluestar/Big Chill and many others have very poor controls for oven temp setting. Some are coarse, upside-down, or both. It seems that the cuter the range, the worse this is. Doesn't anyone bake anymore? How did these controls get into these kinds of ranges? Why do cheap gas stoves have better oven temp setting? The answer might be that in a commercial kitchen, various ovens are set to specific temperatures at the start of the day and they stay there. Actual oven thermometers are used to verify temps. Some cute ovens like Bertazzoni have thermometer indicators on their control panels but good luck trying to get consistent settings by just using the oven temp knob when you need to bake a cake at 350F and then roast some vegetables at 400F. We eventually chose a 36" GE Cafe in bronze and white. This series has a fairly precise oven control setting with actual temperature indication. We will order matching extra oven handles and adapt them to a large but fairly standard white side-by-side fridge, Whirlpool or GE. Here is a link to sources of other kitchen hardware that will match that special GE Cafe bronze: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5578436/hardware-to-match-ge-cafe-series-range-in-brushed-bronze