Went to hearth shop today to look at the fireplace our builder is spec'ing for our new house--Heat & Glo 8000 TR Oak. We were disappointed with the flames--they were mostly blue and came almost entirely from the front/center of the log pile, leaving most of the left and right sides of the logs dark and lifeless. (I noticed later that even on H&G's Website, photos show the 8000-series flames restricted to the center.)

However, we really liked the flame/log combo of the Heat & Glo 6000 GLX--very realistic, with yellow and orange flames of different sizes and shapes licking up through many different parts of the log pile. The "brick" refractory looked good too.

But the 6000 GLX, at 36" wide, is too small for our family room. The salesperson said that H&G doesn't make a 42" model with the same realism as the 6000 GLX. (We did look at the H&G Escape 42, but we didn't care for the tallness and shallowness of the box or the narrow BTU range. And even though it's a "clean face" design, the logs/flames/refractory didn't seem as realistic as the 6000 GLX.)

So, is there another brand of direct vent gas fireplace at 42" or thereabouts with very realistic refractory, logs and flames? And preferably ceramic glass and a wide BTU range?

Thanks all!