There are several others on this site who know more about hoods than I do - I'll be interested to see their responses. My understanding after serious shopping around was that both "Broan" and "Best by Broan" are good, but "Best by Broan" is the better product. I have a 1200 cfm Best by Broan island hood that I'm very happy with, however it is not "infinitely controllable". Best wishes.

Thanks chefkev - I'm interested too. The "infinitely controllable" just means the motor is rheostat controlled, not a three speed blower.

I went to the Broan site and to AJMadison, opened the PDFs.

Many things are good.
- Capture volume in the canopy (18"h)
- Dual blowers
- One 10 inch duct or two 6 or 7 inch ducts.
- Blower:
-- external blower -- many size options
-- in-line blower -- many size options
-- "1200 CFM internal blower is included on "T" models."
-- internal blower -- other size options too, I think.
Designed to duct out of the hood shell in either horizontal or vertical direction with any blower configuration.
-Variable speed control remembers last setting.
-Heat Sentry detects excessive heat and adjusts blower speed automatically.

Page 5 of the Install pdf shows Ductwork if blower is internal OR inline OR external.
Page 4 of the Install pdf shows Blowers
HLB3, HLB6, HLB9, HLB11, -- inline (I remember these were good options when I did my survey of the market)
331H, 332H, 335, 336 -- exterior
but doesn't mention the internal blower options. (Interesting, and worth a phone call to broan tech support, to find out if they say there is necessarily more noise when the blower is internal, even when the duct is only one foot long.)

Page 16 shows the internal blower, an SV08097 model. Not sure if you put one only or if you can have two. Somewhere else I saw two internal blowers.

On other pages between p4 and p16 there is more information about the internal blower option.

I think the big reason Broan does not have a following here is that they are a faceless conglomerate that controls a huge percentage of the market and that does not do ANYthing to please the designer market. They buy up companies constantly and take decades to integrate them into the Nutone-Broan family, all the while making it look like the purchsed company is still a competitor. E.g. next year, Best-by-Broan will end its distribution contracts with the upscale market (this is public knowledge), and they will sell through any channel. So not only can you order a Broan E60 and a Broan HLB through a big box store, but soon all the "Best" products too. Another fan company purchased by the faceless conglomerate is Venmar (search on Venmar).

That's all, ta da gotta go...

so whats everybody's verdict on this?

it is loud