tanem: it's a fair question. Thanks, sjeff and stephanie for vouching for me. I am a big fan of MA--but also of other small dedicated hood companies. It is based on my personal experiences--I only began making these observations after buying my MA hood (at full price!), having already owned a VAH hood. I do feel strongly about this subject, but it's mostly because I feel I can speak to a "minority" opinion that otherwise might get drowned out by the VAH crowd. Realize that VAH sells hugely more hoods than MA, Prestige, Independent, Metallo Arts, etc. Therefore, on a forum like this, questions about "what hood should I buy" tend to be flooded with VAH owners. They are happy with their hoods, which is great, but most of them can only speak from their experience with their one VAH hood, or at most, with their VAH hood compared with their prior OTR MW or downdraft unit. Thus, the VAH looks good to them in comparison. I had the same reaction going from my lousy downdraft jenn air, to our VAH. What I can speak to, that many others cannot, is how the VAH compares to a custom product like the MA hood. Not only speaking from experience, I've even tried (perhaps amateurishly) to quantify my opinion by measuring sound levels generated by my two hoods. That is one of the few posts I know of that attempts to do more than just offer blind opinion. I will say it again, I do not have any financial stake in MA, receive no special consideration (and let me tell you, after our kitchen reno, I am NOT going to be in the market for many years to come). What I do hope is that small American companies, who still take pride in their products, will continue to compete successfully with the big corporate guys. And, I will state it again as clearly as I can: it's not just Modern-Aire! If you are looking for a hood, you really owe it to yourself to check out Prestige, Independence, and Metallo Arts too. And I am confident that there are other companies out there as well. And, finally, I would never claim that someone who in the end chooses a VAH, or a Broan, or a Viking, etc etc made a bad choice--hey, I own one! So, tanem, please take what I say with many grains of salt, but know that I'm not shilling or spamming. Thanks.

"My current hood is (or more technically was) completely ineffective except as a noise maker and I never used it and had no particular venting issues." The logical recommendation based on the above statement is that you don't need a hood at all. Without knowledge of the pressure loss versus flow rate of the mystery hole in the wall, it would not be possible to specify a hood blower that would have adequate performance (if you actually wanted any). As for inserts that might fit an undefined enclosure, you might visit AJ Madison's web site to see what is available. You might also measure the wall hole you don't care about to ensure that the insert's duct size and the hole size match. However, unless this "building's common wall space" is rated for greasy air such that there is no fire hazard as a result of someone actually cooking greasy items using your insert, it may not be allowable to use the wall space for a hood duct path. Before doing anything I would inquire of the building engineering personnel (if any) what that common wall space is intended to do and what limitations there are on its use.

@aspen75, I have that same griddle that I use on mine. I understand and experience what you are saying and it is a bit of a disappointment. However, it has never hindered my cooking abilities on it. I mainly use my griddle for fish, shrimp, or pancakes (DH sometimes uses it for squash and zucchini) and because the heat ends up dispersing throughout the griddle, I never have issues with the food I cook. Sometimes I might have to move my fish or shrimp around as it cooks, but it still cooks. I'm still very pleased with my Wolf and so glad I went with it over gas, which we had before and which definitely had far worse hotspots. I have not tried a cast iron griddle on mine because I like the ease of cleaning the one I do have. Plus, I have a Blackstone on my patio just off my kitchen and I use it a ton in the spring, summer, and fall when I truly need a griddle ;)

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 ;)