I would take a close look at Bluestar. Most of the recently reported problems all seem to center primarily around the ovens, not the burners.

Thanks! Are Bluestar open burners? I've read some of the debate, but for our needs, I would prefer the ease of cleaning with sealed burners. Also, it scares me when I don't see pricing listed. The Bluestars I've seen online, along with Wolf did not disclose the price.

BS are open, and I am not at all persuaded that open are harder to clean than closed. I have had closed for a while and am sick of baked-on gunk. I don't know if you can find the Bluestar cleaning videos still on Youtube but it's worth a look.

**Bump** Anyone??

The online price I see for Bluestar 36" cooktop (not rangetop) is $1889.

Thanks Food.... ! I will ask about it when we are there tomorrow. Maybe they will have them in stock... ?? I was afraid to even ask about those or Wolf I didn't see a price on either when I looked. I have to have one soon, can't wait for an order but we;ll see what they say....doesnt hurt to look and add it to the list of considerations.

I recommend going to the AJ Madison site and researching there. It has a nice compare of different products and good filtering feature.

Here is a link that might be useful: ajmadison

Is simmering important to you? If it is I can say the simmer on the dual stacked DCS is fantastic.

MSRP on the 36" Wolf rangetop is $3750, the cooktop is $2070.

Thanks Sophie, you're right, it's a great site. I actually used it to send Hubby links to different cooktops I thought we should look at while we were out. It is easy to filter and navigate and has lots of info on it.

So we went to look this AM.... Again,, the cooktop replacement was a last minute decision so I didn't have the luxury of endless looking, researching, etc and needed something in stock. Out granite will be installed this week and I need the cooktop onsite for that. I eliminated the DCS display special, we just didn't care for this model's styling. We saw 2 Dacor's. I didn't care for the look of one, the other wasn't igniting on all burners, which made me think service issues and decided against it. I liked what he had to say about it though and would have considered it more seriously if it was operating like it was supposed to.

I looked at the Bluestar, loved the look, but my hubby didn't want to deal with cleaning it. The salesman was neutral but did say that a lot of people say they wouldn't mind the clean up, but after the 10th spill, they change their tune. I figured for us, Hubby was probably right and moved on.

We looked at Bosch, Fulgor(?) Jenn-Air, Gagg, Thermador, Monogram and most had things we liked and disliked and in the end ruled them out.

Our final choices were the 6 burner Viking Pro and the Wolf. I was seriously having a really hard time deciding. I was literally one minute sure I wanted the Viking, then the next it was the Wolf...I went back and forth for quite awhile then I let Hubby make the ultimate decision. He picked the Viking.

He preferred the overall Pro look better. He liked the knobs on the Viking. He liked that the BTU was a little higher on the Viking. He thought the 6th burner was a plus, (I thought the larger space between the burners on the Wolf was better suited for our needs though) I also thought the Wolf might be better suited with the ovens we're getting. The Wolf was also a display model that had a discount attached. While I loved the Viking and am certainly not complaining (grateful to be able to get a new one, period) I still wasn't sure we made the right choice. I'm sure all the doubts will disappear when it's here and installed though. Plus, I know if I discover I made the wrong decision, I can call him next week and change it, no problem. We saved 500 bucks on it because it was a non installed display.

Of your original choices, I would have said DCS for those dual-stack burners. Of your last two, Wolf or Viking, Wolf would easily be my choice. Had planned one until I decided a rangetop suited my needs better. The looks of a cooktop only get you so far. The burner performance is what will determine your long-term happiness.

Without research or experience, going just on specs I'd probably choose the Wolf over the Viking. One less burner but as you noted, more space for each. Four burners that simmer lower than Viking's one lowest. Maybe it's a non-issue, but I'd definitely recommend seeing if you can find reviews that mention simmer. On the plus side for Viking is the slightly higher power burner and that it's got two more 12K burners available. Tough choice.

I also like the Wolf name better, but that's at least partly due to prejudices ingrained from reading this site for years.

I have to tell you I tossed and turned over this last night. I hadn't done much research on the Wolf before going in (thought it was a non-contender due to budget) but I looked over the Viking information and thought I had a good idea what they offered. On this forum it seems people either love the brand, or hate it. For every good review, you read a bad. Although I haven't found a lot of scathing reports on Viking's cooktops (maybe I just haven't dug deep enough) like foodonastump said, you at least partially prejudice the brand after being on these forums for years. Other Appliance websites had several 4* reviews on the Viking.

The salesman, who wasn't pushing anything in particular and who seems to have been straight up with me on his opinions, said structurally the Wolf, the Viking, and the DCS win out. For reliability and brand reputation for cooktops, He said Wolf and Viking were both "up there" and either one he thought we'd be happy with. He's been selling appliances for close to 30 years and had most (if not all) the information in his head regarding features,benefits, reputations etc.... He was big on reminding us how "MOST PEOPLE" use the appliances so we didn't get hung up on a feature that, for us, really didn't matter in the end. I am fully confident that if I told him I was a gourmet cook (or striving to be one) he could have/would have pointed me to appliances that served that purpose better.

I know looks only get you so far, but it is a driving force when you feel the tug of indecision. With the assumption that either cooktop would do the job, it became about 5 burners or 6, use of space, styling, knobs, BTU's, price, reliability, and how we felt when we looked at the thing.... I've heard the Gagg name spoken very highly of on this forum and when he lead us over to their cooktop, I was excited....then quickly disappointed... I HATED the look. It could have been the best cooktop in the world but It just wasn't for me. All the Stainless and brass clashed in my eyes.... I didn't think it would look right in my kitchen. So, I think you have to like the look, although I agree it shouldn't be the first or only thing you consider.

I think my husband, having never read anything negative or positive on either brand. made assumptions that we were comparing apples to apples. He saw a bigger, beefier (manly) pro look cooktop with an extra burner and picked the Viking. I accepted his decision until we were walking out the door, and I got a glimpse of our Icon Designer Wall Ovens. I thought immediately that the Wolf's styling would go better with them than the Viking Pro look. There began my fretting.... That lead to more reading, and re-reading the hate some have for Viking and fear that this will be us. After all these years of waiting, and all the time and money spent (we don't have lots of extra money, these are big splurges for us) I just didn't want a disappointment.

Last night I told him I was concerned about the choice. He told me he is ok if I decide to switch to the Wolf. I totally agree that the Wolf name is more appealing based on what I have read on this forum, but not based on personal experience with either brand.

I LOVE the look of the Viking, it's beautiful, I loved the knob position, plus they were smooth and the burners fired up quickly and reliably. grates were heavy and seemed to stay put. The higher 16k BTU sounds good, but not sure it really matters over Wolf's 15K.... I did not get to play with the Wolf, it was taken off display due to some remodeling. It was there, on a shelf to look at only.

Although I didn't go ga-ga over the look of the Wolf, I thought it was pretty with a nice mix of Pro & Designer looks that blended better with the Icons. I thought the simmer feature was a good to have. I wouldn't miss the 6th burner and would appreciate the added space the Wolf would give us. The brand reputation is a huge driving force for me. Wolf just has a better one. I think if any appliance has the potential of being a disappointment in terms of reliability and customer support, it would be the Viking...based on what I have read here. I just feel, all other things equal, the Wolf has less change of being a disappointment.

I've come to the conclusion that for me to make a real decision I can live with I need to see the Wolf in operation. I am going to a store that has a live display. Maybe they will also have a live Viking too so we can do some real comparison. Hopefully this will allow me to make a decision I can accept and stop fretting over. Either brand can have a lemon.

Wolf it is. After comparing and seeing the Wolf in action we've totally switched gears. We felt so much self inflicted pressure yesterday that we didnt take enough time to truly compare our 2 final choices. It helped immensely seeing the Wolfs high and low flame While the Vikings Pro look is impressive and hubby was drawn in by 16k btu and the extra burner, we realized the Wolf is the better choice for us. Now to just tell the salesman....

Jan - please update with how you like the wolf once you have it installed and all fired up. Decisions are tough!