When It Comes To Refrigeration Is It Subzero Vs Everything Else

rsbeck

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
848
11
0
Steve, if it helps you decide, the factory authorized Sub-Zero repair service in your Area is Box Appliances....

http://www.boxappliance.com/Services/

We recently had a problem with our Sub-Zero, the same one you are contemplating, and we are well past our warranty period, but Box got Sub-Zero to cover everything except a $50 service call charge.

Box Appliances took care of everything with excellent service.

So, at least you'll know that in the off-chance something goes wrong -- in our case, it was a drawer that was bent (we think our housekeeper stepped on the drawer pull in order to reach the cupboard above) -- the Sub-Zero repair service in your area is good.

I had another concern. I was afraid that with a window in the unit, unless our refer was well organized, it would only show our dirty laundry so to speak.

It's really not a concern. The unit looks good whether your shelves are organized or not.

The vegetable drawer really works -- keeps veggies perfectly.

Personally, I wanted to go with two separate units -- the biggest Sub-Zero refer next to the biggest Freezer.

I wanted volume, volume, volume!

My wife wanted esthetics and she won, but this thing still holds a lot of stuff.

It's a great compromise between looks and capacity.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I had another concern. I was afraid that with a window in the unit, unless our refer was well organized, it would only show our dirty laundry so to speak.

Rob, that is my wife's biggest concern as well.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
What is the cost of that SZ beast today? When we went shopping a while back, I thought we heard $16K. We paid $12K I think for our 30+30 Thermador.
 

rhopkins

New Member
Apr 28, 2010
45
2
0
Oh, I had to get into this one just to vent. We bought a Sub-Zero when we redid our kitchen eight years ago. The designer selected it and it has been a parade of repair people ever since. Annually it throws out another trouble code and then you get out your AMEX.

I now know why they make it so easy for the repairmen to fix... Not so easy for us. Five times we have had to empty the freezer and fridge part just so the tech could troubleshoot the problem and then come back to fix it some other day.

It's also noisy. It whines, gurgles, and squeaks - generally limping along until it's next repair.

What a piece of junk. Definitely NOT the best.

IMHO.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Now that a fellow Canadian has chimed in, I hope Steve finally believes in what we are saying about quality of Subzero :D.
 

DaveyF

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2010
6,129
181
458
La Jolla, Calif USA
Steve, might try a Traulson refrigerator. They are pretty much used in commercial applications but have a very fine residential line as well. ( they also make glass fronted units )
Personally, i don't like Viking ranges... :(too much heat into the room and on the food..Good for restaurant applications maybe..Also, I have been told they are fairly unreliable.:(
I have a built in Kitchen Aid Architect series refrigerator, which IMHO looks great and has been very reliable. I would suggest a 48" unit if you have the space to fit it.
I made the mistake of going with the 36" unit and now have to use a separate freezer:mad:. Most 36" units really don't have a lot of storage space, particularly in the freezer section.
An alternative for the ovens might be the Dacor line...I like them almost as much as the Gaggenau line.
( I have a Gaggenau island hood and it is superb) BTW, you might want to incorporate some appliance garages...my wife just loves em:cool:
 

DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
3,947
306
1,670
Monument, CO
I have heard and read endless reports about Sub-Zero's lack of QC, poor reliability, and generally average at best performance. Thermador /Bosch has much better performance if you are looking at very high end fridge's, IMO. This is also from our neighbor the custom home builder, our original builder, friends/owners, Consumer Reports, etc.
 

rhopkins

New Member
Apr 28, 2010
45
2
0
I wanted to move to California about ten years ago. My career was headed that way as I was working with some of production people for The Rolling Stones at the time and they were in Los Angeles. My wife wasn't so keen. She was finishing her fellowship in Gyn/Onc and had some offers to go south but they all made her nervous for some reason.

So, as with all marriages, we compromised and stayed in Canada.

Still, I have vivid memories of one interview in Miami where they set us up with a real-estate agent. She showed us some of the possible places we could live and one was a condo on the beach. 3,500 sq ft. with windows on three sides and a private elevator BUT (and this was the uber-cool thing for me) you went down to the lobby and walked out onto the beach! You just can't get that in Canada!

To this day I joke with her when the first snow falls - "Do you remember that condo on Miami beach? We could have been living there BUT NOOOOO!!!!" : )

OHIP is different for Gyn/Oncs now. They cooked up an APP which is basically a salary and not fee for service. In the process their salary increased by a factor of 2.5. It has it's own issues but many of them were moving to the US for dollars and they had to stop that somehow. Now I think most are paid more in Canada than the US - at least the ones in academic centers.
 

rhopkins

New Member
Apr 28, 2010
45
2
0
There is a Gyn/Onc in Toronto who practiced there for a few years and returned to Canada. In the non-academic setting they still make massive dollars and she was in this camp. Not heart surgery but getting up there. Certainly more than in Canada! She wanted to be closer to family though.

In the academic world, I don't think they do make more in the US, or at least when she was looking that was the case. It also depends on which academic center.

She didn't like the idea of just cutting all the time though. In the academic centers they work in clinic or the OR 2.5 days a week. The rest is their own time. For us, it's working out well because she has so much flexibility in her schedule and is still paid very well. They also get 8 wks paid vacation and 2 wks paid educational leave. The OR shuts down for 2 wks about now.

I went into the wrong career...
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I went into the wrong career...

me too

most of the great gyn onc groups here are all private practice based and make north of a 7 digit income. The big group here literally covers all of northern California
 

MelanieM

New Member
Aug 1, 2011
4
0
0
When we redid our kitchen we looked at SubZero as well as the other brands like Thermador, KitchenAid and GE refrigerators. We ended up going with a separate refrigerator and freezer by Viking. We liked the Miele refrigerator but not the freezer, so we went with the Viking separates. The other option for a freezer, you can get an under-counter freezer and have it hidden with cabinet doors.
 
Last edited:

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