Some people would also through viking in to that mix and maybe NXR or American (I think those are the others I am thinking of).

I didn't go with a range, but a range top and we went with BlueStar. Loved the look, but really loved the open burners and the easy cleanup. After having it for almost a year now still love it for those reasons.

I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the top tier ranges. None are perfect and each has something to offer. It will all come down to what you like and prefer in the end.

Phil

When I went range searching a year or so ago, I thought Wolf, Viking, DCS, Thermador. I ended up with a Bluestar and couldn't be happier

>None are perfect and each has something to offer.

Very wise words.

Viking offers similar advantages to wolf, being brand recognition/resale and large service network but wolf offers in addition probably the best quality control of any of the pro range makers.

NXR offers cheap price, but little else if anything stands out. It really is not in the same league. It is a Hyundai in a Lexus/Benz/BMW league.

I adore my bluestar and would buy another without a single hesitation. The Platinum edition seems particularly alluring.

To answer your question,

I chose it because I bought a new home and although I overall liked my Viking that I owned, I was a bit underwhelmed with the residential style burners. So I chose the bluestar because it was the only one with commercial style burners at the time(now capital and american have offerings), and as a very big bonus, it looked very similar to the Viking which was a good thing as I like a pro style range to look the "pro" part.

This post was edited by tyguy on Thu, Nov 21, 13 at 3:28

Last spring we looked at all you mentioned. After making all of the comparisons in person and through research online, we were ready to purchase the American Range Performer as offering the best combo of quality and cost. We had to back off on the purchase because we discovered at the last minute that the oven door handle would protrude too far in our unique L-shaped configuration and block a drawer from opening. Otherwise, we would have bought it.

We ended up with one of Wolf's last AG open burner ranges. I've been very pleased. But, I do not know that I would purchase the current Wolf model with the closed burner.

I would never buy BlueStar again. We ordered a custom build - BlueStar by Marcus, a six-burner 36" range. It leaked gas since day one. Sometime later the range caught fire while I was cooking. We returned the range to the distributor. BlueStar had never bothered to pick it up, so that the cause of fire could be discovered. The distributor ended up scrapping it. We didn't appreciate the way we had been treated by the factory while this was happening and purchased a six-burner 36" range by Capital.

Now we have more powerful open burners, with low simmer on all of them, shielded igniters that don't admit liquids and don't have to be replaced every so often, a rotisserie in the oven, and when it comes to cleaning, the overall design just makes the job easier.

A word of advice: Do your research before buying!

Why hasn't Consumer reports rated Capital ranges? They rated every other high end pro style range.

I have CC (48" 6 burner/ grill) rangetop and i'm very happy with it. I say if you want a high power range top, that's the best choice. Otherwise, Wolf seems to do a good range (with oven). If I'm didn't need gas burner for wok cooking, I may consider a good induction range.

Thanks for the feedback. I especially like hearing about the downsides because you never hear about them from the dealers!

We purcahsed our Blue star 36" 6 burner range 3 years ago and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Powerful burners, customizable configuration, cavernous oven and no high-tech electronics to go bad.
I can't speak to the other ranges, but we love our Bluestar.

I looked at all of the above plus lacanche, bertazonni, aga legacy, ilve and la cornue cornufe. My finalists were the open burner wolf and the cornufe I bought the latter due to a combination of high style and good function. A few were eliminated due to reliability, service concerns or inferior specs, and a couple of them I just did not care for how they looked.

Best range of them all for the money is an Imperial. Wolf and Viking aren't worth their price unless you care more about name recognition than performance. If you care about both, go with a La Cornue or Aga. I have no personal experience with an Aga, but those I know who own them love them.

This post was edited by rs100 on Sat, Nov 23, 13 at 20:56