I think you have to have reasonable assumptions and understanding about how the appliance model works. When you talk about "best" appliances you still have to have an idea of what your budget is and what brands you are going to look for. To some people best might be the best of tract home appliances, e.g. GE Cafe or Profile. or to some it might mean a lot more. Where you could outfit an entire kitchen with GE Cafe series after rebates/discounts for about $10-12K, that would get you one SubZero refridgerator on the high end.

High end brands tend to have very little options for getting discounts with the enforced MSRP type situations. If you're willing to go floor/display model hunting, that might yield some discounts. But I guess the million dollar question first - what is your tight budget?