I'd reassure you regarding your choices. I have been so totally happy with my MA experience and I'd hope you have the same. Several comments: Yes, MA just resells blowers. I chose a Fantech inline blower over the Hy Ex which was their initial recommendation, mainly because my contractor and HVAC guy were not enthused about going out on our steep roof for the install. I suggested an Fantech instead and they were completely happy with that decision. When I made the decision, Jeff Herman, my MA contact, said that they could sell it to me, but likely I could save a few hundred $$ on price and shipping by finding the blower online. After looking around I was getting totally stressed out by having to figure out if the websites were legit, if I was ordering the right backflow damper, duct adapter, rheostat etc etc. I finally contacted Jeff and said hey, I know it will cost more, but can you just send me whatever it is that I need and just take this off my list of worries. The small markup was totally worth it for the peace of mind of knowing that someone who knew what they were doing was doing to make the order. Jeff was totally willing for me to buy it on my own, so adding to their profit was clearly not the motivation. Regarding the decision of internal vs external blower: I think the logic is somewhat different given your short duct run. Normally I'm a huge fan of remote blowers. However, a big reason that this has worked so well for me was the ability to use the Fantech LD10 silencer along with our FKD 10XL blower. The silencer does a great job of eliminating any motor noise tracking down the ductwork. Without it, I suspect a significant part of the advantage of a remote blower might be lost, expecially if the blower was only 9 feet from the hood. Absent the silencer, the advantage of the external blower without a silencer may not justify the cost. I totally found that MA was focused on the best product for me, not squeezing a few hundred dollars more out of me. I'd tend to trust their advice, although if it were me, I'd ask for Jeff Herman's opinion, who I think is the gospel when it comes to ventilation. If Jeff says go wtih the internal blower, I'd do it. But, no matter what, I think you'll love the MA hood. It's neck and neck with the Lacanche range as the favorite part of my new kitchen. I cannot imagine a better ventilation choice based on my experience.

A "sanitary tee" is a specific kind of pipe fitting used where waste is involved (hence "sanitary") that allows one pipe to join in with a main run (a "T" shape). It is different than a "straight tee" in that the way it is shaped, flow down the main branch doesn't have as much of a tendency to flow into the branch.

thanks for the information... I think one of my biggest questions was just weather not I could stick in inline blower on any hood that did not come with a blower...because I was finding the a lot of the hood that come without blower specify that they only work with internal blowers are only work is remote blowers but I thought I'd be able to hook an inline up to any of them. I really like the look of the wolf hoods...and there is a shop near me that sells a lot of used wolf appliances including hoods that often include blowers for pretty good prices. I might give them a call and see if they can source of 42 in hood without a blower and then I can just pick up an inline blower somewhere else. and as you mentioned about the inline being quieter... That's literally the only reason I would want an inline blower or a remote blower is to make it a little bit quieter in the kitchen. if the blower is in the hood then it's going to take an immediate 90-degree turn to go through the top cabinets and then out the sidewall about 8 feet away from the hood...and I think from what I've been reading that the 90-degree turn in addition to having a blower right there in the middle of the kitchen is going to be really loud. so now I am exploring whether or not we might remodel the bathroom upstairs which would allow us to do a straight shot from the hood up through the attic for in line blower and then out the roof to vent

Tyler, so how is it going with the cooktop/hood? We are planning a remodel and considering a similar situation. We are in Florida, so I’d like to avoid MUA if possible as it is painfully humid and hot AF here 360 days of the year and one of my main goals of this remodel is to keep the hot air out. We have an older 1959 home, 94” ceilings. Our kitchen designer wants to put a 36” wolf gas range-style cooktop in front of a 104” window with a 6” backsplash/ledge using a wolf or zephyr 48” ceiling mounted hood at 600 or 700 CFM. So if the cooktop lands at 36”, that puts the vent 4’8”away from the countertop on the ceiling. I’m looking for functionality of suckage (sorry, I never made it past geometry into trig, so “suckage” is as good as it gets for me—lol) and if I have to use a different island hood that hangs 36” above the cooktop, so be it. I’m curious how it’s going for you, especially cleaning the window after cooking. Is it a daily chore or weekly? (I don’t see the window as a cleaning issue, when I cook, most of the splatter winds up on me or flies sideways, but rarely backward—but I’ve been wrong before, and I’ll be wrong again). I just don’t want to make the hood mistake. Any and all input is appreciated ;)