Kobe is a Japanese company but manufactures the hoods in Tawain. Not sure about Zephyr

Zephyr is a South Korean company manufacturing in South Korea.

Both are good but I lean Kobe.

I was all set to buy a Kobe when I found a great deal at liquidator for a high end range hood.

Update:

I went for the RA2 from Kobe. I called both companies and it seems that both my Kobe and the Zephyr are made in Taiwan.

So far, I'm pretty happy with my hood, it works very, very well.

@gigelus2k13 - are u still happy with ur Kobe Hood?

Lights still function well? how is the sound level?

The hood has seen plenty of action during all these years and it continues to work relatively well — no complaints about its ability to move air.

Interesting that you’re asking about the lighting; about a year ago it started malfunctioning, sonetimes it’s dimmer, sometimes it’s even flickering. My guess is that the LEDs are just fine, it’s the supply that is going bad. If it becomes unbearable, I’ll either fix it or replace it with some other supply.

Noise level wise, the fan still sounds like when it was brand new, although I can feel some vibration on the medium speed. Maybe a deep cleaning of the fan assembly is in order.

@gigelus2k13 - thanks for getting back...