I can't speak to Koch or Crystal cabinets, however we purchased starmark cabinets for our kitchen reno. 18 mo ago. We absolutely love them. They are knotty alder. With 2 kids and 2 dogs they are holding up wonderfully thus far. Initially I was concerned with the wood being softer, but haven't noticed any issues and the kitchen definitely takes it's fair share of abuse.

another photo. Our cabs have 3/4 inch plywood boxes and 1/2 inch plywood shelves, soft close on everything, full extension drawers, roll
outs, trash/recycle, fridge surround, we opted no glaze just went a shadr darker on stain, also added double wood pegs on doors. The knots are so striking in these cabinets...the photos don't do the cabs justice. No problem with delivery.
They were a week early and nothing had to be returned.

This post was edited by wonderrn on Sat, Oct 5, 13 at 12:59

I have Fieldstone cabinets, which are made by the same company which makes Starmark; I've heard the two brands are equivalent, but carried by different places. Ours have plywood boxes, Blum soft close, full extension drawers, etc--we picked cherry with a toffee stain. Ours are only a year old, but we are very happy with the cabinetry both in appearance and construction and don't have any issues at all. We did have to have one cabinet replaced when the contractor ordered the wrong size, and Fieldstone had a replacement shipped within a week or so.
The link shows a pic from a previous post; my kitchen is second from the bottom. Sorry, not great quality, since it's from my cell.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fieldstone kitchen

I've been very pleased with the quality of my Crystal inset cabinets. Due to sales and the dealer I chose for quotes, my Crystal quote was far below the Fieldstone quote and below the Wellborn quote.

Thanks guys for the input. After further review, both Koch and Starmark look to be fairly close to each other in quality/fit and finish.

We recieved some sample doors both from Starmark and Crystal.......and I must say the Crystal looks and feels so much nicer! My wife loves them and they are significantly heavier than the Starmark. Crystal gave us a Knotty Alder and also a Beach. The Beach is surprisingly heavier than the Alder by quite a bit. Must be a very dense type of wood.

We are trying to firm up the pricing for both and also see if we can get them a little tighter in numbers. The Crystal will definitely be higher.....but it's just if we think it's worth it or not.

I wish we could of found some of your pricing gooster! Hopefully our supplier can get a little more competitive.

I have had Crystal Cabinets for 8 years and THEY'RE STILL gorgeous. I've since moved out and the new owers LOVE them. They're 3/4 drawer inserts with solid wood interiors and dove tail. I have had the plywood drawers and when water hits them, they swell worse than the fiberboard. It's worth not having to deal with cabinets after 5 years. I've kicked myself for not going with them for my bathrooms. Ask to see what the finished product looks like. It's worth doing your homework.