I come on here about 1to3 times a week and rarely post anything. When I do it is in response to what I know about which at this point is gas stoves because I spent a year researching them. I usually mention NXR's because very few people know about them, in fact less than a year ago I had never heard of one either but fortunately saw a few owners of NXR's on this website that got me interested in them. There are no NXR showrooms near me either, there are several along the East Coast and several on the West coast. My wife & I were going to Florida to visit friends and I thought I would check to see if there was a place to see, touch, feel, slam and bang an NXR stove along the way. We found a place in Tampa Florida, was about a 2 hour detour for us but decided to stop by and check it out, glad we did because we were sold as soon as we saw it. The place we bought it from said they have sold quite a few over the years and have never had one come back. He then opened the oven door and stood on it with his full weight, probably about 190-200# just show how well built the stove was. We bought one from them because they had as good a price as any we had found anywhere ($1799.00). I can basically guarantee the NXR is better than the 3 you listed but I fully understand not wanting to buy something sight unseen, we didn't.

I left my review on AJ's site for the Samsung FTQ353IWU already, but it has been very solid over the last 6 months. The glass top is not so bad, really. I found a few sprays of Windex w/ Vinegar typically does the job. I think the price is rather reasonable for all the features that come with it. My complaint about the burner placement/sizing still stands, but I feel like that's a minor issue when it works well in every other aspect. Good luck!

For six-burner 36" ranges at less than $3k, the only choice that I know of is the NXR mentioned by Deeageaux. It just barely fits in the sub-$3k price range currently costing $2999.99 from Costco and several web retailers and regional stores. (That, btw, is a delivered-to-curb price.) The 36" NXR has six full range 15k btu-hr sealed brass burners. (Most other sub$3k 36" wide stoves use aluminum burners, instead.) As Deeageax says, there have been numbers of threads here about about NXR stoves, although most of them are about the the 30" models (which is what I own --- it costs about $1000 less.) Some friends of mine have had a 36" model for four years. Near as I can tell, the burners and oven perform the same as on my 30" model except for having two more burners and a bigger oven. Be aware that the convection fan housing projects out into the oven just enough to prevent you from using a full size -- 18 x 26 --- sheet pan if that is something you want to do. AFAIK, all of the other stoves in the sub-$3k 36" wide category are only five burner stoves. Bertazzoni -- also mentioned by Deeageaux, and Italian made, also costs $2999 (delivered price, IIRC), From postings here at GW, I gather that the oven has some limitations in size and how low the heat can go. (275F sticks n my mind but that might not be accurate.) IIRC, the burners are an 18k btu center burner, an 11k burner, a couple of 6k burners and a really small simmer burner. Berta also has a six burner unit but I think that was priced in the $5k to $6k range. My recollection is that it has aluminum burners. Verona -- another Italian made stove that costs (I think) between $2500 and $3k depending on the colors you choose. It might have only five burners and will be kind of similar to the Berta. I don't recall seeing much, if any, postings about it here. I also vaguely recall a Verona DF model with twin ovens, but I think that is up in the same price range as your first choices if not a great deal more expensive. Fisher and Paykel also has a 36" range in the $2500 price range, also a five burner stovetop. I had the impression it was an F&P/DCS response to VIking's less-expensive "Designer" series of appliances, Frigidaire also has a couple of "pro-style" ranges in the $2k to $3k ranges. When I went stove shopping last fall, Lowe's (I think) had a 36" Frigidaire "Pro" on display and priced around $2200 (as best I can recall). It had five burners which I recall being 16k btu, 14k btu, 12kBtu, 9k and 6k. The oven was small (as with the Bertas) and manual cleaning. I don't believe it had a convection fan, It had a stainless steel top with deeply recessed burner wells. Should mean stuff won't burn on as much and that it will be easier to clean. Never seen a review or discussion of it, so no first hand info on how it cooks. If you've got a little bit more space, Frigidaire is still making 40-inch wide stoves with twin ovens, convection, and self-cleaning oven. The stove top controls are on the cooktop surface (which is why it is a five burner not six burner unit.) These enjoyed some popularity here at GW about a decade ago. A friend has one and it is still going strong. She says it is easy for her to clean. If the current models are the same as hers, the burners are a a bit lightweight: 13k, a pair of 10k and a pair of 5k. I think Sears also had or has some of these under its Kenmore and Kenmore Elite brands. IKEA also had a 36 inch "Euro-style" gas range that ran about $2500 and was called the "Praktful." It was a shallow counter depth model made for IKEA by (I think) Fratelli Onofri in Italy. It may have been discontinued. My recollection is that it likewise had a five burner stovetop. There were postings about it here and at Chowhound a couple of years ago. Premiere Pro stoves have been discussed a number of times here and the majority opinion seemed to be they were not very good products. Costco had them in the on-line store for several months a couple of years ago but dropped them. My recollection is that the reviews at Coscto.com were strongly negative on build quality and function. (My memory from my stove shopping was that there was only only one positive review by a Costco customer.) I heard that Costco dropped them because they were getting too many returns. There was a thread here about a year ago that discussed "Premiere vs NXR" is you want to search further. When I was stove shopping, I also looked at the Cafe stoves like the one live_wire_oak has. While they are in the sub-$3k price range, they are 5 burner 30" wide stoves and not available in a 36" width. This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Jun 9, 13 at 16:41

Well ours is without question made of 304 stainless. But honestly I don't really see a problem using 430 SS either, depends on the way it was built as in some cases the 430 is better because it holds a weld better and can bend to certain specifications better without cracking. A range made of 430SS inside your house is not going to rust anyway, that is pure nonsense. I DO however think that 430 SS could have more adverse reactions to acidic type foods such as say Tomato Sauce or Lemon juice Vs 304. maybe if you sat it in a corner of an abandoned house for 30 years maybe, but if you use it everyday in a house with AC it is not going to rust, but it very well could have more staining with acidic foods. I think that 304 stainless is critical on a BBQ grill, but not so much on an indoor stove. But I am still glad mine is made of 304 Stainless anyway. But there are many things made of 400 series stainless that work just fine, never rust, one I can think of is most "Food Slicers, Deli meat slicers etc" are made of 400 series stainless. Car exhaust pipes are usually made of 409 stainless because of the better welding and heat resistance. I once had the pleasure of meeting an old guy out in California, he lived in the middle of no where on many acres of land and when I met him I drove through the classic old gate with elk antlers on top and his house was built in around the 1830's, was an old adobe that was built by a Mexican General when California was actually Mexico. House still stands today with the same tile roof, just one addition was added on about 100 years ago but other than that was all original, No AC. He had as his stove a old wood stove that was thickly enameled color of like a seafoam blue/green and all the corners and edges were all Stainless Steel. Had to be a 400 series stainless because I don't think the 300 series was even in use yet. That stove looked like it brand spanking new and at the time I saw it was about 90+ years old. Not a speck of rust on it, of course it was thick as hell but still the surface was still like new. I actually find products "Made in USA" about 75% of the time to be pure crap in every way. I bet 95% of the world views items "made in USA" exactly the way people like Deeageaux does about China. In general about every product I see with "Made in Germany" tag on it is probably about the only one I can generally count on being very well made, I can usually count on a high price for that item also. Most of the working parts in the NXR come from every place except China, it is basically just "Assembled" in China and who better to assemble than those that have been assembling things for decades. Also it is probably the larger brand name companies that are forcing retailers not to carry a quality product that cost far less, that happens all the time in every category of product.