I have a 36" Gaggenau KG-291, which I've had for four years, and like extremely well. Unfortunately, the price on this unit has sky-rocketed in the last few years, so it's well above your $2,000 maximum.

If I were buying a cooktop today, I'd be inclined to go with a 36" Thermador model. It has a burner arrangement very similar to the Gaggenau, has the control panel along the front edge, the same as the Gagg, and the star-shaped burner elements look as though they'd provide more even distribution of heat across the bottom of a pan, as opposed to other cooktops with just a single large ring of flame.

I particularly like having the large burner in the middle with an extra large grate. It makes it possible to use an extra large skillet or griddle at the same time the other burners are in use (I use a 13.5" round griddle). The slim control panel along the front doesn't get in the way when using a big pancake griddle or other over-sized pan on the center burner. Other brands (Miele, for example) have a large control panel in the front middle of the cooktop that takes up about the same space an entire burner would occupy. Consequently, the control knobs get in the way when using a large griddle or over-sized skillet.

i really like my 36" dcs cooktop. simmer feature(on all burners) is excellent. price was excellent. no c/o.

Thanks so much for your input. I will check out both recommendations.

BTW...did you buy locally or online?

we have a dacor 36" (5 burner preference renaissance model) and absolutely love it. nice variety of burner size/btu's, especially the very low simmer. easy to clean, had it just over a year, so far so good. we got ours through the kitchen remodel designer we used, but dacor prices are pretty much the same everywhere.
good luck.

got my dcs cooktop at usappliance.com. no complaints at all.

I have the 6 burner Bertazzoni drop-in. Love it.