kaseki, thank you for the detailed reply. Yes, I too was surprised to see SER wiring but this is in the kitchen and runs through the crawlspace, so I think they had to use SER-rated cable when they did the last major remodel circa 2002 on account of the fact that the crawlspace is fully exposed. 6AWG actually is rated for 50A up to and the run is only 20ft - the breaker box is actually in the kitchen. Everything but the dyer and range lines are Cu, the latter two are Al. Not sure why they did it like that, the kitchen was stripped to the studs when they did the reno way back so they could have ran any wire they wanted with little difference in effort. Whatever, it is what it is, I am not about the change that. The current range is KitchenAid Superba that is rated for 43A draw, and in two years we have never had the breaker trip so I am pretty sure it is OK. The Samsung, Electrolux, GE, and Bosch induction ranges all require a customer provided 3-wire or 4-wire cable that plugs into a standard outlet. The Al wire connects to the outlet and that is already pre-existing wiring that was inspected at the time it was built, though 10+ years later may not be fully up to current code. I have ordered a brand new 50A-3wire appliance wire for the new range. I was also considering pulling out the existing cord and installing it in the new range, but it is kind of short and it will be a PITA to move the new range in place with it. The Al current connections are goo-capped, I know since i had to pull them to measure the strand diameter to figure out the gauge. I don't anticipate having to do any changes to the wiring, and at this point I have all info I need to hook up the new range when it shows up a month or so from now. Now I just have to figure out how to route a hood exaust to the outside. I love living in a 1930's vintage house, built like a tank, but limits some of the modern niceties you can get. The prior owners put in recessed lighting in the ceiling, so there is AT LEAST a 6" gap there that I think can be used to route the hood exhaust. The wall separating the kitchen from the dining room is only like 5" thick so I don't think I can run down into the crawl space, and the middle of my daughter's bedroom is right above the range so I can't route up to the roof either. Oh well, another day, another battle.

It would be good if we could get some postings from actual users of this range. I think I've seen a a couple of posts here. One was from someone who bought the Samsung (at Lowe's or Home Depot) and returned it for what seemed like shipping damage or infant mortality. The other was a very brief post from someone who was very happy with it. For the life of me, though, I cannot find either post. m s, did you find a specific passage in the User's Guide that says both oven sections must be powered on whenever the divider is in place? My recollection was that you had to turn on each section to use it but were not required to use both at the same time. That was the case with previous versions of Samsung's Flex Duo oven feature. Again, a question that an actual owner could answer for us. Reviewed.com has been around for a while. Their refrigerator reviews used to put Consumer Reports to shame for detail and clarity, but the their stove reviews have been a real mixed bag. Some are useful but others are no better than the product recommendation articles you see in flight magazines. In this instance, CR's discussion of this range was not much more helpful, either. If we can find a GW member who owns one of the Chef Collection slide-ins, there are three specific points/concerns that I would like to see addressed. One is the stovetop burners having only ten heat settings. There are other induction ranges like this including the otherwise fabulously engineered (and fabulously expensive) Miele induction slide-in. In theory, there might be a sort of logarithmic scale with more of the steps at the low end where finer adjustments are needed. Or, it could be like those GE ten-button coil burner ranges and cooktops of the 1950s and 60s -- if you needed a little more or a little less heat, you were constantly punching up and punching down to try to maintain the right setting. A second question is how fine the pulsing is at the low end of the burner settings. Induction ranges uses "pulse width modulation" (PWM) to simulate low heat settings. Some induction products use very fine modulation which is indistinguishable from a low heat setting on other kinds of stoves. Others use a crude PWM where, instead of a steady simmer. you get a noticeable pulse of OMG hot boiling followed by dead calm, followed by OMG boil, etc.). The older model freestanding Samsung NE597NOPBSR that I saw had the fine PWM, but it also used a different controller with nineteen steps. The third question is how the front oven venting works when you are standing in front of the stove cooking on the stovetop while using the oven. On most stoves, the oven vent is at the back, away from control surfaces and away from where the cook stands. On the Samsung, it comes out beneath the lower left corner of the oven control panel. That also is true of numbers of Frigidaire slide-ins, both induction and radiant electric ranges, too. I've noticed mixed reports on this design for the Frigidaires.

Unfortunately, I only learn about new stove releases when I happen to stumble across the news. I do know what you mean about being "somewhat underwhelmed by current offerings." Regarding your interest in a bridging element, we are going a bit off topic here, but if you are looking for an induction capable burner spanning griddle, you might want to check out the Zwilling website's clearance of their DeMeyere branded Plancha/Griddle/Teppanyaki. Here is the link. For me, this multi-layered, induction capable Demeyere griddle pretty much solves the problem with most griddles I've used --- that of being much hotter over burners than over the area between them. I've had no trouble cooking pancakes on the middle space and having them done as soon as the outer ones. I like the plancha better than standalone electric griddles like the Broil King because the DeMeyere heats just as evenly, sotres more conveniently, and also doubles as a really great roasting pan. If you want to check it out further, see this much longer, very detailed discussion thread on chowhound. There also is a rather short thread here at houzz in the cookware forum (only gooster, suzi/desterdance, and myself commenting there.) FYI, the clearance price is currently $119 with free shipping but, according to the chowhounders, you can get another 20% off by using the coupon code "yearend16."

Dont buy Samsung, Go out and buy the SGSX365FS from Thermador and thank me later!