Another vote for Therms, though our experience is only about nine months now. One selling point was that we wanted true fully integrated units, not the SubZero BI look with the large ventilation grill showing on top. That limited us either to the BSH columns, or the SZ 700 series. For us, the problem with the 700's is that they only come in one size, 27''. That would have given us more freezer space than we needed (we have a freezer, and actually a second fridge/freezer downstairs, so need for freezer capacity was not huge). On the other hand, we cook lots of fresh produce, and have teenagers going through milk, tea, juice constantly so we wanted more fridge space. The Therms allowed us to choose a 30'' fridge, and an 18'' freezer, which was about perfect. To date, ours have functioned well, though there is an ominous grinding if you move to use the "elevator" top shelf up or down. Haven't addressed it as we never do that anyway, it's a gimmick to us. I'm very happy with choice and would never consider going back to the SZ even if we could. Re other choices: Issues with Wolf oven for me personally, I don't like the rotating control panel, seems destined for early failure (my next door neighbor's has already had issues with it not rotating on command), and questions about the flaking of the blue interior. Those are certainly not major. I am a big believer in avoiding $1000 built-in microwaves. Hard to justify buying a unit that has the same MW "guts" built by Sharp or Panasonic as a $150 MW from Target. MW's fail early in many cases, I'm happy to just junk my Panny and replace for under $200 if necessary. Re Asko: I've never been able to figure out if this applies in any way to U.S.-purchased Aksos: from current.com.au (an appliance trade site) from late 2008: "FABRIANO, ITALY: Italian whitegoods manufacturer Antonio Merloni is on the brink of bankruptcy after applying for government protection by going into administration under a process know as the Marzano Law  an equivalent to the US Chapter 11 Antonio Merloni manufactures products under the Ardo, HomePub and Technogas brands, and also owns Asko Sweden. In an internal company memo obtained by Current.com.au, titled ÂAntonio Merloni group managementÂ, the business admitted that it will be filing for the Italian version of Chapter 11 insolvency." It apparently does not affect for example Australian Askos, sold by a different branch of Asko, so that may also apply to the U.S. Maybe antss or joboxes will know more.

The fist showroom we visited I actually did notice the hole pattern in the brass ring- the second showroom had the same AG range but the hole pattern was not the same and the grate pan was cut even closer than that of the range in the first showroom- when I asked the salesman if this was the new Wolf range he told me it was- as I inspected it closer I noticed that the grates had 4 feet instead of 3 as the one had in the first showroom, the wolf design was not on the side of the handle, and the handle was not oval. Upon insisting this could not be the new model, he admitted to me that this range had been in the showroom for almost a year. Obviously, Wolf has made some changes, the hole pattern in the brass ring- and an ever so slight enlargement of the circumference around the grate tray- as I say in my original post these changes still do not seem too good as far as proper air flow.

I don’t have the Modernist but have the Heritage Pro dual fuel. I’ve had a 30” range and have used it for 20 years with NO PROBLEMS. I love it. Am now remodeling my kitchen and am replacing it with the same range but in a 36” style. I liked the modernist style but have been so happy with the Heritage, that I didn’t feel it was worth with the extra $$ to go to the Midernist - and didn’t need/want all the computerized features. The latter, in my opinion, are just addl things to break, maintain and need updates. When looking for a range like this, the “biggies” IMO are 1) BTU range to go from simmer to high BTU output. 2) usable space in the cavity of the oven (note that Dacor ovens are typically larger than Wolf or Thermador). 3) continuous grates - which make a huge difference for cooking, moving pans around the surface of the range, and - frankly - safety (no tipping pots). Cleaning ease is also something to pay attention to. I’ve liked the Dacor for this as well and regularly use the Clean cycle. Hope this helps.

The OP wrote: "- We can have a 10" duct, but can not install external blower because there will be at least 3 ninety degree turns for the duct to go through the roof (kitchen is on the 2nd floor and there is another floor sitting above the kitchen)." I must have missed this thread. Just what effect is being assumed here such that the location of the blower is affected by the three 90-degree bends, so long as none are right at the blower. (Hint: Pressure loss capabilities of kitchen hood system blowers are minute factions of an atmosphere. Due to this, pressure losses on the blower intake side and pressure losses on the blower output side have the same effect, particularly when a 10-inch duct is to be used for a sub 1000 CFM requirement.) If one wants [relative] quiet in an open area. the blower should be remote from the hood and a silencer placed in the intermediate ducting. As widely noted here over the past decade or so, rated CFM and actual CFM differ by a significant factor, and one cannot address kitchen ventilation with only hood system parameters. The make-up air system parameters are equally important.