Well, they're both good products - if the DCS is really $3K less than the Wolf, that's an excellent deal. I've had a 30" DCS all gas for 5 years and I'm very pleased. DCS has dual stacked sealed burners - all the burners have an incredible simmer and the cooktop is easy to clean. The Wolf AG has semi-sealed burners but the Wolf DF has dual stacked sealed burners similar to the DCS.

I have no idea if it really is $3000 less than Wolf -- that is just what he now believes.

There was a thread recently which was primarily about rangetops and ovens, but it had some good discussion about sealed vs open burners. I've linked it below.

Here is a link that might be useful: previous thread with discussion of sealed vs Wolf's open

I guess my big question is, "are they comparable?"

I can see how Wolf might have a better resale name (but that's not my motivation with this kitchen)

Is one a better range?
Does one have a better repair record/customer service response?

The DCS with grill and griddle, has 2 burners @ 17,500 BTUs and 2 @ 12,500 BTUs (unless you have LP, and then the higher output burners are @ 15,000 BTUs), while the Wolf has all 4 @ 16,000 BTUs. So will this make any difference to you? I like having all the burners with the same power so I can use each burner as I like, depending on what else I'm doing on the rangetop, and which suits my needs best at the time.

Wolf supposedly has pretty immediate and wonderful customer service, but I don't know that I've heard anything bad about DCS. I really recommend seeing them in person to see which kind of top you'll like dealing with best. I decided I wanted to be able to take parts out to clean them, rather than trying to scrub stains or empty crumbs or spillovers in place. It seems that both are very good ranges, so it'll be a matter of your budget and preference regarding sealed vs open. Past those things, you may prefer the construction, layout, look, or feel of one over the other.

I went with all burners, and have a rangetop, so don't know enough about the oven, grill, or griddle comparisons to offer any help there.

Best wishes.

I guess my big question is, "are they comparable?"

In terms of performance, I really don't think you will see a lot of difference - certainly not $3,000 dollar's worth of difference. If the price differential is really $3K - then its a no-brainer to go with the DCS.

Thanks for the input -- I will absolutely go check them out in person so see what the grates (and everything else feels like) Our local appliance store also does cooking classes and demonstrations and they are very good at what they do -- I just like to have information before I start asking questions -- so I know what questions to ask.

Also I can get a firm(ish) idea of the price differences.

In may last kitchen I chose a cooktop that had differently sized outputs and it was one of the things I did not want to do again.

We also do have LP so that affects things.

Online it looks like the 4 burner w/grill and griddle on the DCS has the grill griddle to the right side and the burners grouped. Wolf has grill and griddle in center and burners split. I think that the Wolf would be better for capturing smoke off grill and also fitting big pans.

One more thing regarding grates...Do the DCS one come 2 together? I'm happy that with the Wolf, I move them around one at a time, since moving or cleaning a span of 2 would be pretty heavy and awkward.

The burner configuration can be very important, and I, as someone who uses large pans, would agree with your assessment that having the burners grouped in 2 rather than 4 together would be better.

Have you looked at BlueStar at all? It was my 2nd choice, and it's higher output and lower price was tempting, but the more open burners and the variation in burner output leaned me toward the Wolf. I can now see an advantage to the more open burners, and, moreso, the cast iron components, but still believe I chose right for us.

In All Gas, there were several folks on this forum who had trouble with Wolf, mainly, running the burners while the oven was going. Keitel and Plumorchard were two that I remember got rid of their brand new Wolf's for that reason. Keitel got a Bluestar and Plum got an American, and they're both happy now.

The DCS has a stainless top, that is probably easier to clean versus the black porcelain painted steel tops on the Wolf. I think the DCS has slightly larger oven interiors.

I strongly believe in different burner sizes. The smaller circle of gas flames (the cap)fits smaller pots better- less gas goes up the sides of your pot.

5 brands of All Gas ranges that are good: DCS, Capital, Wolf, American, Bluestar. Wolf offers an open burner (semi-sealed), and Bluestar is a very open design- it's top is neither thin black metal, or stainless sheet, but all cast iron. It has the best burners (star shaped pattern that shoots straight up into the pan, instead of a circle of flame that shoots out sideways. The other brands are sealed and may have other features- gliding racks, rotisserie, self-cleaning oven, dual convection fans, wok burner offered, more indicator lights at controls.. etc.

Just be careful of how big the sealed burner 'caps' are, you don't want them all to be too big. It's not just the 'simmer' that suffers on a small pot, (good copper pans can make up for that), but using medium to high on a smallish (7") pan and seeing the gas just go out and up the sides.

"I strongly believe in different burner sizes. The smaller circle of gas flames (the cap)fits smaller pots better- less gas goes up the sides of your pot."

Isn't this the point of the dual ring, as the Wolf has? The inner circle of flames is much smaller than any sealed burner cap I've seen, and if turned up so that the outer ring comes on, the flame can be kept low enough so that it doesn't go up the outside of the smallest pan I have. And because all the burners do this, as well as high heat, equally, I am free to arrange my pots and pans as I need to.

Just to clarify, I have a DCS range with all large burner caps and yes, if you put a small pot on it, the flames will go up the sides BUT with a small pot you don't need to crank a burner all the way up - the trick is learning how low to keep the burner not how high. Anyway, in response to this, DCS did downsize some of it's burners on the newer models, but frankly I like having all big burners and just adjusting the flames accordingly.