When It Comes To Refrigeration Is It Subzero Vs Everything Else

es347

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
1,577
35
970
Midwest fly over state..
I have an acquaintence who owns a retail appliance store and sells all the high end stuff. He is not a fan of SubZero due to their poor maintenance record. There are a lot of SS boxes out there that keep your beer cold for a fraction of what you'll spend on the SubZero fridges. What ever you end up with Steve, be sure it has a detachable IEC power cord.
 

RogerD

VIP/Donor
May 23, 2010
3,734
318
565
BiggestLittleCity
Just found this thread. I have a SZ 36" that I puchased in '07. It was my first SZ and I was concerned about reliability and noise because of comments that I read on other forums. But my experience has been more than good. Very quiet and reliable so far. I clean the condensor about once a year.

The largest difference between SZ and others is that the SZ keeps food longer without spoiling. I suspect it is because the tempeture is always constant.

I also have a wood panel on the front and I like it much better than SS.

Other appliances I purchased when remodeling were a Miele double oven, Miele dishwasher, and a Viking Induction 36" cooktop. I highly reccomend the Miele appliances,although I have found the rotisserie option in the oven not to my liking as the tempeture is set at 400 degrees,too high.

The Viking was the original design and had to be upgraded earlier this year at no charge because of warranty problems. The new unit is fabulous and I do not miss gas ranges one bit.

Roger
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
I highly reccomend the Miele appliances,although I have found the rotisserie option in the oven not to my liking as the tempeture is set at 400 degrees,too high.
We agonized over Miele vers Gaggenau and eventually went with Gaggenau due much sturdier rotisserie mechanism. Ours is completely programmable from temperature to all the various cooking modes in the oven (convection, bake, etc). Your comments makes me very happy since we use our rotisserie very often as it is a quick way to make a tasty meal.
 

rblnr

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 3, 2010
2,151
291
1,170
NYC/NJ
We did a complete renovation about two years ago. My conclusion, supported by consumer reports, is that the high-end brands are no better than anything else -- they're bought for looks. Not knocking this, but there is no performance justification for their price. But, they often look better.

Everybody does stainless now and most many have an option for paneling, so that's not exclusive territory of the Sub Zeroes, Vikings and so forth. We wound up with mostly Kitchen Aid (Whirlpool) stuff, w/a DCS stove and hood. Our cabinet builder built around the refrigerator in a way that it looks built in. Bottom line is that refrigeration, dishwashing, gas/electric cooking are all pretty mature techs w/gains mostly to be had in efficiency. Would love to post a pic of my kitchen -- IMO we saved money and lost nothing.

Must say I'm mildly horrified by myself subscribing to a thread about major appliances!
 
Last edited:

rblnr

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 3, 2010
2,151
291
1,170
NYC/NJ
don't know why, but didn't think you could post pics directly -- here:

kitchen..jpg


180 degrees away -- small bar sink, coffee maker etc. that you can't see

kitchen2..jpg
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
nicely done Bob.

I am still working on our plans for the remodel..

I must admit that all of you are causing me to shy away from SubZero although I am still inclined to go with a Wolf oven, stove and microwave
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
We did a complete renovation about two years ago. My conclusion, supported by consumer reports, is that the high-end brands are no better than anything else -- they're bought for looks. Not knocking this, but there is no performance justification for their price. But, they often look better.
Something tells me if they reviewed high-end audio gear they would say the same thing :D.

Seriously, I am an avid consumer reports reader and subscriber for multiple decades. Their review of appliances always has very good data but usually includes limited number of high-end units. So the data is directionally correct but not absolute. For example, we have a Viking cooktop in our current house and got the Wolf in the new house. Even though their specs and even some of the parts look the same, the two perform and act very different. The inner ring in the wolf for example, provides center heat that Viking does not. But then again, it takes longer to start than the Viking, etc. I don't look to CR to provide such subtle data.

BTW, the best thing in our new kitchen is something people don't talk about: a wood burning Pizza oven! I will write something on it but it has overshadowed all the other expensive appliances in our home in our eyes and that of everyone who visits!

The second thing is our counter-top hot water heater of all things. I will write something on that too one of these days :).
 

rblnr

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 3, 2010
2,151
291
1,170
NYC/NJ
Something tells me if they reviewed high-end audio gear they would say the same thing :D.

Seriously, I am an avid consumer reports reader and subscriber for multiple decades. Their review of appliances always has very good data but usually includes limited number of high-end units. So the data is directionally correct but not absolute. For example, we have a Viking cooktop in our current house and got the Wolf in the new house. Even though their specs and even some of the parts look the same, the two perform and act very different. The inner ring in the wolf for example, provides center heat that Viking does not. But then again, it takes longer to start than the Viking, etc. I don't look to CR to provide such subtle data.

BTW, the best thing in our new kitchen is something people don't talk about: a wood burning Pizza oven! I will write something on it but it has overshadowed all the other expensive appliances in our home in our eyes and that of everyone who visits!

The second thing is our counter-top hot water heater of all things. I will write something on that too one of these days :).

The stuff that's really worthwhile to me is the stuff that gets used and adds fun like your pizza oven. As for CR, yeah, they don't review everything, but at the end of the day, what does a refrigerator do? Keeps stuff cold or frozen, and should do so quietly, consistently and efficiently. Many out there at a range of prices fulfill these parameters. There may be subtle differences, features, etc., but none have added anything worthwhile (fun or functional) to my life. Such are my values anyway. About the only thing I've noticed on stoves is some do very low heat better than others. In any case, I've always been able to cook pretty much whatever I wanted in the 10 Manhattan rentals I lived in over time, using stoves/refrigerators ranging from, say $800 down to about (apparently) $10.

As for high-end gear, I think it's a different animal, but maybe I've just more successfully deluded myself :)

Thanks, btw, for the compliment Steve. I'm not judging anyone else's values -- for me though, I just don't see any real performance/utility/usability gain in the high-end stuff -- it's primarily looks.
 

brianherlihy

New Member
Apr 21, 2010
106
2
0
New York
Steve. As you know. I am redoing my whole place - gut renovation in NYC. I deliberated on the same issue you are going through. I found so many contradicting reports that at the end I went with what I thought looked best (for my place it was subzero as my loft has an industrial look).
I think everyone's comments here are consistent with what I found. Of the Bosch(s) I paid more attention to Meile as that is what our distributor had. I wished I loafed at Gag. stuff more. They both have great hinges (better than subzero) but Meile's US customer service gets a horrible rating (subzero is dependent on local distributor).
One thought you might want to consider if you have the room. For the same price (or close to it) you can do a 30" glass fridge over freezer and 48" sis by side. I have no garage or basement so I wanted as much space as possible.
Also check out Blustar ranges. They make commercial ranges and have now ventured into residential. Not as much luxury as wolf but if you like commercial ranges this is the one. 22,000 btu (wolf highest is 16k)
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Blustar has the best specs/burners by far. Unfortunately, they also have had some of the worst service records of any of the pro companies. This comes from participating in the main forum where these things get discussed for over a year (Gardenweb). They have changed guards trying to improve but the stories were really bad. I took a unit apart and played with it and found that the attention to quality simply is not there. Serving restaurants and home consumers are different. An oven that gets too hot to touch is fine in a restaurant but if it burns a baby's hand is a no-no-. Look at the oven door gasket on Blustar and compare it to Wolf and oven and you see that the former doesn't protect the whole door so it is gets much hotter, etc.

Oops we digressed outside of fridge topic again :).
 

brianherlihy

New Member
Apr 21, 2010
106
2
0
New York
Hi Amrim - i cannot comment on the quality of the Bluestar yet as my place will only be done at the end of July. i think the Wolf's finish if at a much higher level than the Bluestar and i struggled with that when i made the decision. I also hear you on the heat, but that is the trade off when you get an oven with the potential to cook at those heating levels, you are sitting much closer to a commercial oven than a residential oven. Beyond the baby factor, there are a lot of advantages to having a range that can cook at these levels. Beyond the heat you have to have proper ventilation (industrial ventilation - which i am lucky enough to have being on the top floor). i cannot say i have taken any of these ranges apart but agree with you that the bluestar is definitely built more in the fashion of a commercial oven (though i don't think that would be of less quality). with the 60" range, bluestar offers a white glove service where Bluestar comes out and services your range personally.
Steve on the SZ Pro - it is a beautiful piece. my point was i wanted the glass only available on the Pro (in 48"), but and since i had the space, i got the glass on the 30" and the 48" stainless steel at about the same price as the Pro. this way i can put the 'neat sutff' into my 30" and the less neat items into my 48" - if you haven't made the choice, i think amrin's suggestion on the GAG is worth investigating - as i said, i was struggling on my decision and thought the SZ fit my kitchen better and i am crossing my fingers that i made the right choice.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Brian I solved my high heat performance another way :). I will create a different thread so that we don't divert Steve's thread too much.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing