I come on here about 1to3 times a week and rarely post anything. When I do it is in response to what I know about which at this point is gas stoves because I spent a year researching them. I usually mention NXR's because very few people know about them, in fact less than a year ago I had never heard of one either but fortunately saw a few owners of NXR's on this website that got me interested in them. There are no NXR showrooms near me either, there are several along the East Coast and several on the West coast. My wife & I were going to Florida to visit friends and I thought I would check to see if there was a place to see, touch, feel, slam and bang an NXR stove along the way. We found a place in Tampa Florida, was about a 2 hour detour for us but decided to stop by and check it out, glad we did because we were sold as soon as we saw it. The place we bought it from said they have sold quite a few over the years and have never had one come back. He then opened the oven door and stood on it with his full weight, probably about 190-200# just show how well built the stove was. We bought one from them because they had as good a price as any we had found anywhere ($1799.00). I can basically guarantee the NXR is better than the 3 you listed but I fully understand not wanting to buy something sight unseen, we didn't.

thanks so much for your valuable input :) I would have not known what you meant about the countertop until last week when I stopped in a Lowes and one of the woman sales persons there told me that I had to realize there would be a space in the back because they don't butt up against the wall. I think she said the best way to go was have the countertop guys add a wood ledge of some type to go to the wall, then make a removable piece of quartz the same as the countertops that can easily be removed or changed if we ever had to replace the range in the future, the extra piece could be adjusted smaller to fit even a range being 1 inch deeper. Otherwise if it was one continuous piece across whole cabinet bank, then we would be limited years later with the size range, or be forced to replace the countertop. I think we are buying Silestones Lagoon Quarts that has the look of off white marble. As for the size pans that fit say on the right side both front and back burners at the same time, I'm having the same problem with my freestanding :) Guess I can't get away from that on either choice :))

From my stove shopping last fall, it seems you can't get all of your specifications in a freestanding range for less than $1.5k but you can get everything (except for stainless-surfaced stovetop) in a slide-in model which you can use as free-standing range You do know that a slide-in can be used as a freestanding stove? (Don't confuse them with "drop-in" ranges). Also, you do know that you can buy a rear-filler strip and/or a thin backsplash/backguard as an accessory for most slide-in models? (And, if you will have fully exposed sides, you can get usually get side panel for the slide-in models that don't already have them.) GE, Frigidaire, Whirlpool (and its sub-brand Maytag) all have gas slide-in models with almost everything you want for less than $1600 (including an accessory back-guard if you need one). Some are down closer to $1k in price. Check out Lowe's.com and AJ Madison.com. "Almost everything" that is, except for having the stainless-steel finish on the top instead of the black top. When I was shopping last fall, it seemed that either some design cartel had decreed or else some marketing survey company had persuaded all major manufacturers that all customers in this price range must have black stove tops on gas ranges with stainless steel fascia. If you want a sub $1.5k gas stove with a stainless steel finish and absolutely must have to have an integral backsplash without any oven controls on that non-removeable back-splash, I know of only one readily available brand: Premier Pro (offered at AJ Madison, Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, etc. etc. but you have to search for it.) But: (a) these stoves are very, very basic; (b) they are $1400 to $1500 for one with an oven window on a stove that is otherwise very similar to the $200-$400 models from other lines (although the Premier Pro's will have one larger burner rated at 15000 btu-hr); (b) complaints are about design, poor function (including uneven oven heating); and (d) there are complaints about poor build quality. For example, Costco offered Premier "Pro" stoves for a few months last year at costco.com. The reviews were negative and the number of returns apparently prompted Costco to drop the line. (You can find the reviews if you use costco + premiere pro + range + reviews" as your search string.) And, the stovetops on all stainless Premier models are black. This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 15:43

I have a GE Monogram dual fuel. Have had this range in 48", 36" and now 30" (we move and renovate a lot). Nice compact cooking area with little wasted space, oven is sufficiently large for my needs and the convection works very well, (I also have a convection/micro for smaller cooking chores). Biggest front burner puts out enough power; I can get a good sear on meats. Knock on wood, have not had any mechanical issues except on the 48"- the fan for the convection was broken on install. It was repaired and did not malfunction again.