WOW ! DH has given you the green light to get the WOlf and he likes it to boot?

Lot of people around here would like to be in that boat.

Both will cook just fine.

He is a design engineer which means it took literally FOREVER to find a fridge because nearly every one that we looked at had some sort of flaw from his perspective. No water/ice in door was one of his number one requirements and SubZero just wasn't in our budget. Plus SebZero's height would require we remove valuable shelf space behind my pot rack as well as my pot rack and that simply wasn't an option given the number of pots and pans I have.

We are going to have to have the gas connection updated and dedicated elec outlet installed plus make a couple of modifications to accommodate a different style of hood . . .

DH and I discussed last night and a $500 oven will cook/bake too so is $3100 already crazy is $4200 really necessary? At Sears we were looking at $1600 models. . . we are going to head to Pacific Sales this weekend and have a look and I am sure continue to debate in terms of cost . . . if we were handed 42 $100 bills we would buy a Wolf in a second.

It's a tough balancing act: cost, quality, aesthetic, longevity, and so on.

Well I know I am going to slammed for saying the "N" word.
BUT since "money is a consideration" I am going to mention it anyway. Although obviously since you are talking about 2 stoves that both average over $3000 doesn't seem that money is THAT much of a consideration actually.

You can get several stoves within a few hundred of that price range, Blue Star being one, Capital.

The only thing I like about the Electrolux more than our NXR is the sliding racks.
There is not that much difference between the Wolf and our NXR, they use the exact same burners, basically the same infrared broiler, there certainly is not a $2000+ difference between them.
We got our NXR 9 months ago for $1800 delivered and love it.

So IF money is a real concern that is an option, if you are looking for around $3000+ then you have lots of good choices.

Personally if I were able to spend that much for a stove I might go with a Capital Culinarian. I think about the cheapest one runs around $3700.
Is it better than the NXR? of course but it also cost more than twice as much.

For under $2000 however nothing touches the NXR.

You should probably put what ever your top dollar is that you want to spend, then do a pro and con sheet on several stoves Vs the price. Put what options and attributes for the stove that you MUST have ones where you will not be happy with it if its doesn't have it and see what stove best fits that list.

All Wolf appliances are manufactured in the United States. (:
Sub-Zero too, and Viking.

I must admit that Made in the USA was added in the plus column for Wolf and it looks like they are really working hard to keep it that way!

NXR Made in China. If you see them lined up with other pro-style ranges the color of their SS is way different from the rest. The sheets of SS feel thinner too.

Wolf,Bluestar,and Capital are made in the USA.

I think Electrolux makes their gas ranges in Mexico but not 100% on that.

In 30" size, only Bluestar oven can take a full size commericial baking pan.Bluestar oven door can get up to 175 degrees while Capital/Wolf is only about 100 degrees.

In the 30" size, I like the look of Bluestar best and Wolf second.

In terms of rangetop cooking ability Capital first with Bluestar a close 2nd. Wolf and NXR way behind.

Bluestar vs Wolf burner comparison video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJvKZiOQesg

Here is a link that might be useful: Culinarian Burner Video

Made in the USA is basically meaningless anymore.
Besides most of the NXR is "made everywhere but China".
About the only parts made in China is the SS outer shell which is 304 stainless and plenty thick enough.

But if having a sticker that says "made in USA" is worth an extra $2000 more power to ya.

So far after 9 months we are way more than happy with ours and I would not turn around for the difference between a Wolf and NXR.

Viking is "made in USA" and I would never buy one, I hear nothing but problems left and right.

If you want a open burner and cheaper go with Blue Star, if you want a better one go with Capital, if you want closed you wont beat the NXR for the price and the Wolf is not worth twice as much.

The frame of the NXR as well as the SS panels are made in China. They may claim 304 SS but they don't look like the 304 SS from Wolf,Bluestar,Capital or any other American company.And they are not plenty thick to my standards. The only thing that I know for sure that is made in an Industrialized country is the German burners.

There have been documented (pictures) of the interior of NXR ovens flaking off. Yes, Viking sucks. NO one here is recommending Viking.

Made in the USA is not meaningless. There are origin of manufacutre laws in the US and many countries. It means a majority of the value of the product was produced here in the USA.

A sticker is not worth $2k. Superior quality and perfomance is worth more than $2k,at least to me.

It may be worth $2000 more to you, not me.

The exterior of our NXR looks fine to us and it is 304 stainless, or at least high quality actual 3xx something stainless as a magnet falls right off of it.

The NXR weighs around 350 pounds, same as any high quality 30" SS stove.
You don't like assembled in China thats fine, but there is nothing at all wrong with the stove especially at its price point.
There are a lot of us that just cant afford $3000-$4000+ for a 30" stove and the NXR is absolutely fantastic for $1800.
I could not care less where it is made or assembled.

The burners are exactly the same as a Wolf made in Germany, the hinges come from Italy, all the igniters come from Saint Gobain in Milford New Hampshire, all the gas valves and internals come from a place called Invensys in the United States, the convection fan and motor come from Germany. It has all great parts in it.

It is one hell of a lot better than any Kenmore or GE or whatever other "American Made" stove that sells for anything less than $2500, which makes it a great deal for those of us not made of money.

If I won the lottery I would probably buy a 36" Capital Culinarian for about $6000+.
As it was we went over our budget just opting for the NXR, but when we saw what we were about to buy for $1600 and then compared that to the NXR for $200 more there was no contest, the NXR wins hands down and by a mile.

Wow-zers talk about some detailed component information!

ICON and Wolf seem wonderful to us and of course they are MEGA EXPENSIVE! They are a massive upgrade from our super-ultra basic range! We are willing to continue to suffer (no baking) while saving our pennies and determining which range to purchase.

What is the history of NXR? Why do folks seem not to favor them?

Made in USA is worth something to me, especially the way Wolf tests and retests their appliances and is good with quality control. They put out products with good performance history behind them, instead of designing on the fly as some manufacturers seem to do. I don't have anything big against Elux, and I have their hood vent, 2 fridges, and 1 freezer. But I've dealt with customer service of both companies, and Wolf is very impressive with willingness to help, while Elux sent pre-set responses to my inquiry with links to the user's manual, which I'd already consulted, and didn't answer some of my questions...Somewhat underwhelming in the 'stand behind their products' department. I don't know if that's important to you or not. Also, how do the warranties compare?

My decision was not about gas ranges, but between an Elux dbl oven and a Wolf dbl oven...at about the same prices you're talking about. I decided that $3000 was more than I wanted to spend for something that, after my research and comparison, was slightly less of a 'sure thing' for the long haul. (Elux had just made a change in their models after the prior year had problems. It didn't seem they'd had enough time to test and be sure the new set-up would be better, so I passed... So far it seems to have been good.)

Expense was an issue for us, for sure. But if I didn't like the $3000 appliance, $4200 would be too much to spend to replace it, and the $1200 I'd saved wouldn't seem as important. I wanted long-term value over point-of-sale savings.

Of course, it's all speculation, as you could love the Elux or NXR, too. That's the hard part about appliance shopping...No crystal ball to show you what will happen with the particular unit you get. In my opinion, Wolf is an excellent brand, and Elux is good. Hard to guess what your opinion might be and what things will be important to you in the range's use over the next several years.

Best wishes. I know how hard these decisions are.

""What is the history of NXR? Why do folks seem not to favor them?"
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not much "history" at all to speak of because they have only been around for about 4-5 years or so.
Far as I can tell the ONLY people that seem to not favor them are those that do not own them.
They are "Assembled in China" which to most naysayers is all they need to hear and thus proceed to bad mouth them from there without ever even using one.

98% of people that own them love them, the only actual problem I have seen where an actual owner has complained is I have seen 2 people say that the blue enamel interior flaked off on theirs.
That is really the only 2 actual complaints I have personally seen about the stove. Much better BTW than any other stove I have looked at which usually have hundreds of complaints.
Prior to buying ours I saw one other complaint but that one was clearly because of shipping, the stove was never even usable because it was damaged in shipping from the place they bought it from, that is hardly the fault of the stove though.

All I know for absolute certain is we have had ours for 9 months, it looks great, cooks fantastic, has the burners that I want, has very solid heavy grates and oven racks.
Very solid door and hinges that even after the oven being at 450 for over an hour the door is just barely warm.
Has a nice infrared broiler. It is easy to clean.
The burner configuration is exactly what I want, 4- 15K BTU double stack burners same as the Wolf which all 4 are also super low simmer and they are spaced far enough apart so that I can use a 12" pan and 10" pot on the same side, also my 14" Wok and 10" pot on the same side
We use it 2-3X a day 6-7 days a week and have zero complaints. What more could I possibly ask for from an $1800 stove?, and that's the price shipped to the door tax free.

Well worth the price we paid for it, and in its price range NOTHING else comes close.

So we are happy and that is all that really matters in the long run, I am just glad that I happened on this site about a year or so ago when I researching stoves because otherwise I would have never heard of the NXR and would have ended up with some $1600 Kenmore and I guarantee would not have been happy with it. At that time there were numerous threads about NXR stoves raving about how nice they were for the price from owners that bought them and were using them.

My wifes best friend bought the higher price model ($1900)of the Kenmore we were looking at, she got it the same week we bought the NXR, and when ever we go over there I always think to myself oh wow, THAT cost $100+ tax plus delivery more than our NXR? Jeebus.
It is like comparing an old electric coil stove to a $6000 Capital Culinarian, her $1900+ Kenmore to our NXR.

It has light cheap grates, only one burner that is like 18K btu and the rest are like 10K 9K and some worthless little simmer burner, the oven racks are light duty, the whole stove I think weighs about 130# less than the NXR, does not have an infrared broiler, even the "Stainless" version which is what she has is still mostly black enamel.

you may want to take a look at the new American Range open burner ranges you can find them at AJ Madison about $1000 less than the same size BlueStar CC or Wolf and the big burners are 25,000 btu. Judging by their name I guess they would be made in America too.

Caddidaddy55: Do you have an American Range? Yes, the whole gas range thing has become more complicated again with adding and subtracting different brands/models from the decision. I would like to spend less but be assured of the quality but as with so many things there are no guarantees. We've been fortunate so far to not have any issues with the major appliances that we have purchased.

No, I have a CC, but American Range has been around for 30 years or so they specialize more in the commercial market, but have been making sealed burner residential ranges for years. Their open burner range is supposed to be relitevly new. I didn't hear about it until after I bought my range or I would have considered it for myself. I mentioned it for you as you said you cook for 100 people + sometimes. Open burners are really so much better that I would never go back to a sealed burner range. The duel stacked burner of the Wolf and NXR is definatly much better than a standared sealed burner, but the NXR is 15,000 BTU the Wolf 16,000 BTU, compared with open burners Bluestar 22,000 BTU, CC 23,000 BTU, American Range Performer 25,000 BTU.

I little late on this but check out a link where some Wolf users discuss the oven's interior blue paint flaking...

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg0404403419624.html

I guess EVERY range has problems. It's a hit or miss really.

Good God Nuny, you highjack just about every thread to tout NXR even when people are asking specifically about other manufacturers.
P.S. I saw one. I thought it looked cheap and I've read a lot of bad reviews...but you like it so go enjoy and please stop hijacking these threads.

I have read 3 bad reviews and one was entirely because of the "shipping" so I seriously doubt you have read "a lot". Unless 2-3 to you is a lot.

as for "Hijacking a thread" I have done nothing of the sort.
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"""If money were not a consideration, I am certain we would simply pick up a Wolf but money is a consideration! And that's a big purchase!""
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The OP stated quite clearly that money was a big consideration and regardless whether you think so or not the NXR is BY FAR the best stove you can get for under $2500.
nothing else even comes close.
You "saw one" did you? good for you, if you owned one your opinion might mean squat.
I just gave the OP another option is all, some of us don't have 4,5,6+ Grand to thrown down on a stove.

I add my opinion ONLY on threads that have concerns about price and the NXR beats ANY stove in its price range like a red headed step child.

I will do as I please thank you.

From an economist's point of view, I like to think about the price difference between two things this way: on the margin, what are you willing to pay for the features that the Wolf has? Also, what are those features worth to you, in the long term? Physically draw up a list of the different features that each range has, and figure out how far you're comfortable with going for the extra features that the more expensive ranges have. Good luck :)