The Wolf CT36I/S is online. I presume the /U stands for no frame as opposed to the /S which is stainless framed. I haven't seen or heard of the "U" model, nor is it on the Wolf site. It is a very nice looking 5 burner unit, with one non-boosted 4,000 BTU burner. But it is very pricey--about $3,795 MSRP. I would think you must have a strong desire for matching Wolf appliances to have this one, as there are many comparable models at over $1,000 less--some at almost $2,000 less. Greg

Thanks for the links. Those are interesting. The Wolf burner is a different design from those videos, but I don't know if it is now better or worse (although it does seem to address some of the complaints). I also don't know how different the cooktop burner on the bluestar is from the range burner shown in the video, but my hunch is they are the same. The idea of an open burner being more even has always made sense to me and appealed and the videos seem to confirm one's intuition on this. As for the Capital on the website mentioned above, they do have a rangetop, but I don't think they have a high end cooktop in gas which would work better for our current kitchen (although their rangetops would look better here than the rivals rangetops from what I can tell because it seems to be a little more slim). In any event, we don't have a Capital vendor here and so even if it were the best product (and it sounds like many feel it is) and it matched, service would be enough to scare me off probably based on where I live. Thanks again to everyone for your input! ps for Miele reliability, it is only one datapoint, but my mother in law's works hard and is like new. She is going to be appalled that we bought something else. (And given how nice hers is, I thought that would be the direction we'd go, but my wife surprised me by picking the Wolf and I felt like given that each one had strengths and weaknesses I felt like this was a good choice, but I also felt any of the three she'd picked I'd have been able to say that about).

sherri1058: I pretty much agree with you: reliability is key for me, but neither the online reviews nor Consumer Reports always gives one a clear bottom line, at least for me. Negative reviews may overly influence me. But re. the function of appliances these days: I think many digital interfaces are way over-designed with too many layers to go through to set it -- that's what I want to avoid on my oven choice! sjhockeyfan: Thanks for your input -- I appreciate it. Most of the negative comments have been from the Benchmark flex users, I think. I am trying to "gang" purchases as much as reasonably possible, but expect that will still mean 2-3 brands, at minimum (Bosch cooktop and/or side swing oven + DW, for example). htc2015: I was given links some time ago (sorry, did not save) that assured me that there were no significant health risks, except some potential risks to a pacemaker user. I am hypochondriacal and have had cancer, so I took this seriously.

Thank you all for great info! Wolf's cold spots in the middle is a little bummer. I wouldn't expect this kind of design on 5 way bridge cooktop. The elements suppose to be made by French company Jaeger Hiflux. Their Crescendo model is quite different from what I have ever seen in induction cooktops. Check this out.. http://www.jaeger-sas.com/#!induction-en/cl7w Anyway since Wolf has no flex in bridge mode then we might take another look into 36" GE Cafe model which was #3 on our list. It has only one no flex bridge mode, but it's much cheaper than Wolf or Miele. That model has many positive reviews including #1 on CR rating (99 out of 100). On both GE & Wolf we like simple, clean interface. GE is better with 17 vs 10 levels on Wolf. On GE minus side is power sharing (not quite sure how much problem is that in real use) and only 1 year warranty vs 3 year on Wolf. However much bigger problem on GE Cafe is SS color. My DH says that specific color is clashing with our choice of Silestone Kensho countertop (light gray). I don't see it as bad but we might loose it on that argument. No question the decision between Miele vs Wolf vs GE Cafe is giving us more headaches than any other appliance.