I agree with you in general, Gordo, the only exception being when stove shops and manufacturers educate customers and steer them toward a certain stove for a certain use. We did that for decades, like "this one takes a long time to heat up" or "this one heats quickly, but has shorter burns"....even "hey, if you are going to burn 2x4's, you'd be better buying this one (usually steel)".....
As much as I respect Elk's knowledge, I cannot and do not expect a "consumer reports" style report because he is already burning 100% VC and does have an axe (however you rate it) to grind with them. Only by burning a bunch of other newer stoves - almost at the same time (or at least in the same winter) could even a rough comparison be made.
I am fairly certain that Elk will get those new VC's running like a charm. That is not the question. The question is whether my wife can get it running like a charm - no, Webwidow will not take offense at that because we often work out a technology test where if SHE can use and understand something, we consider it user-friendly.
We KNOW the stoves work. That is not even a question given EPA testing and field testing (which is usually done by employees of the firm). The only questions seem to be how user friendly the design is COMPARED TO OTHER MODELS and throughout various flue, weather and wood conditions. Only a bunch of users in the field can "rate" that.
My best example is the mid-size Avalon stove- we sold thousands of them. We never took one back. I may have visited 5 customers out of a 1000+ stoves and told them how to burn it. In the ten years after sale, I would guess that we sold an average of less than $50. in parts to each user (we started selling them in 1986)........
That is a pretty high standard, in my book. And, yes, a steel unit can tend to need fewer parts and service.
There are all sorts of perceptions at work here. There is always the said or unsaid "I paid a lot, so this stove should dance through hoops".....well, that simply is not true in the stove biz.....never has been. You pay more for style, weight, more parts, etc......but as I said in my little "choosing" article, money does not equal happiness (nor the lack of it) in the purchase of a stove.
There is also "I bought the best brand, it should work the best".....hmm, maybe that is why I have been trying to tell people there is no BEST brand, there is the best stove for a given situation and person.
On a slightly more technical note, I am as confused as everyone else because the technology certainly looks like it should work - and I loved the Acclaim (other than the fact that the early models fell apart from too much heat). It may just be one more case of trying to tune something up too high. Perhaps the designers and makers could have compromised more in terms of NOT designing for EPA, but for the average user.
In the end, the customer perception is everything. If 1/4 or 1/3 of the users end up unsatisfied, that is WAY too high of a %%%.
o am the stove was at 375 degrees (stove top) and a very nice bed of coals. Best burn time yet! I think the damper makes all of the difference. right now it is about 40 degrees out and I hav the damper about 1/2 way and the stove is performing very nicely. I am still learning the stove, but seem to be getting much more consistant results. I did clean the chimney prior to installing the stove, I am going to bring one of my bucket trucks home and clean/inspect again in a few weeks. 
