@amg88 My induction in the showroom is about 8 months old. I've sold many of them, along with many Miele's as well. I don't get to sell many Vikings because they priced theirs a little too high. I haven't heard complaints from any of my customers yet, and my customers tend to call me first if they have issues. The type of pan you use will change the noise level as well due to the subtle vibration induction causes. I have used Viking cookware and Woll cookware in customer demos and the Viking is bit more noisy for some reason. I have no idea the science behind it. I almost always demo the units for people before they buy them too, so they are able to hear the noise and wont be surprised by it. Many other showrooms don't have them live and instead just display them. This may be why a lot of people are surprised when they bring it home. I guess it just depends on how much something like that will bother you. They are all going to make some noise, and I know I've seen some comments on the Wolf on here, but people who spend 3k+ on a Wolf induction cooktop and don't know about the noise induction makes usually get more upset that someone who buys a GE. It's just the nature of the business. As far as the newer ones creating more noise than the older ones, I haven't heard this as of yet, so I can't comment on it. It is certainly possible, but I have no direct experience with that issue. Anthony Appliance Buyer's Guide

So, time to chime in here. I went with the Blue Star 36" induction cook top 2 years ago. Looks great, LOVED the knobs, worked fantastic... for about 18 months. I'll note that unlike their other products it only has a 1 year warranty. First, the two rightmost burners started indicating they were overheating when the central burner was in use (and the rightmost were not). I reset the system at the breaker per the manual and it rand great for three weeks with a hitch, then the central and right top burner cut out entirely. Three days later they came back, but wouldn't heat above level 7 (out of 10). I had (or so I thought) the good sense to get an extended warranty, but after getting a service guy out here the warranty company informs me it will cost more to fix than I paid in the first place, so they're going to cash me out. Blue Star may be good in other areas (no experience here), but based on my experience with this one, I don't think they have enough time making this product to reach their usual degree of reliability. Addendum: looks like Blue Star (when I bought it) had a narrower cut out (18") than anything currently on the market, including their own product. At least it looks like they're learning from past mistakes...

As you may find searching hood threads in this forum, the hood should ideally overlap the cooking area (locus of pan surfaces) to capture the rising and expanding cooking plume effluent. So wider and deeper are your friends, if not your pocketbook's friends. In-line and roof blowers have the advantage of moving all noise (except baffle hiss) away from the cook, and, in come house configurations, providing room for an in-line silencer that will significantly reduce blower blade tip turbulence noise (normally the dominant noise among all of them). Duct noise on the roof side of the silencer will also be reduced. My Wolf hood (actually made by Independent in those days) came with the logo sticker separate so you could put it where you wanted, even in a drawer. For reasons explained elsewhere, aim for a blower rated near 135 CFM per square foot of the entry aperture (base) of the hood you select. No air goes up the duct that doesn't get into the house, and it has to get in with low pressure loss or you need a higher CFM rated blower. But this negatively pressurizes your house. Negative pressure has disadvantages, including back-drafting any combustion appliances without their own sealed make-up air. So don't just look at hoods without looking into how you intend to replace (and potentially heat or cool) the air the hood moves out of the kitchen. Search MUA on this forum for clues. kas

I've had a Wolf 30 inch induction cooktop since April. It's a delight to cook on. I suppose most induction cooktops are, frankly. The burner sizes & placement were best for my pans & needs in that I need room for a big stockpot & space to use a large skillet too. Some cooktops have the big burner in the back center, which IMO is more difficult & awkward to remove a heavy water bath canner or crowds the usable space. Not a problem with my Wolf. The control panel placement is unobtrusive, again maximizing usable real estate. The Bridge feature uses two 8 inch hobs instead of two 7 inch hobs like some brands, hence a smaller cool spot in the gap. The Boost feature works very well for big stockpots of water. Haven't tried the Melt setting. If I had room for a 36 inch cooktop, I'd love Wolf's 4 way bridge & the option to center a large pot or skillet between the 4 bridged hobs. I like the steady heat control & the incremental settings. My pans get hot enough to sear or set to a steady simmer. In the beginning, you will mindlessly hold a pot lid over the controls, & dripping condensation will cause the controls to protest & beep or even turn off. After the first time, you won't do that anymore, so I don't consider it a problem like some do. Some have also complained that the controls aren't responsive when you poke at them with wet fingers. But my son showed me that swiping works better. I've only had a few times where the controls were balky because of my messy fingers, so on the whole, I don't consider it to be problem either. Just keep a towel handy. There are no individual timers for each hob, no timed cooking feature to turn off the hobs for you, no wifi. Fine by me. I'm wary of Whirlpool products, personally. I returned a leaky KitchenAid fridge after one week, replaced a repair prone Maytag dishwasher after three years, lived with a broken microwave for 15 years on my KitchenAid microwave/oven combo. The oven was fine, admittedly. My cooktop was a Jenn Air Expressions modular thing that was just okay: it died gradually in increments. We repaired it until parts were discontinued. My cooktop arrived 6 weeks after ordering. I'm curious what lead times are like now. ETA: I see that the Jennair has a more powerful Boost setting, which might be nice. But the burners are limited to 8 inches. That's what I disliked about my old Jennair cooktop: the 8 inch hobs just didn't cut it when using an oversized skillet or Dutch oven. I love my Wolf's 11 inch hob.