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For one, regardless of the manufacturer, do not buy a set. It will have more than one knife that you will never use, or is a duplicate of the other one in the same set. E.g .paring and peelingor fruit knives in the set.

Or most of the people use Santokus and shorter chef's knives exactly the same way, utility knives that are utterly useless except for cutting sandwiches in half etc...

As for the Sun brand, well it's a good one, but for that price there are better Japanese knives - Aritsugu, Masamoto, Tadatsuna, Hattori KF , Mizuno Tanrenjo , also if you do not mind carbon, you can get Takeda, Watanabe.

Blade profile of the Shun knives, especially the chef's knife is closer to German chef's knives i.e. lots fo belly, which isn't that popular with knife crowd and certainly not typical for Japanese chef's knives - Gyutos.

THe steel used in Shun classic line is VG-10 which is the same steel used by many other Japanese makers and based on my experience with those and Shuns, I prefer fwe others listed above.

Plus, there are better steels now.

Shun knife reviews - http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/ktknv/indexbymk....

Knife Steel FAQ - http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.s...

Kitchen Knife Steels - http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/articles/kk...

But, if you like it, then go for it.

Cutco is AMAZING!! They stay sharp for a very very long time, don't rust, are hand-made with the absolute finest quality materials, and are guaranteed forever. Not guaranteed for life; guaranteed FOREVER! I will not buy any other knife after using Cutco. I'll need to. If I ever have a problem with my knives, Cutco will fix or replace it absolutely free. They make perfect gifts too. People will always use knives, why not actually have good ones? I cannot recommend Cutco enough. Cutco products have ergonomic handles as well. Your hand molds into it, so they're great for arthritis. Plus, Cutco is made in America. Right in upstate New York. Older generations are loyal to Chicago Cutlery because that used to be USA-based. However, it's now outsourced to China. Many restaurants even use Cutco. My husband is a chef at his own restaurant. It's one of those where you can watch your food be made. Customers see his knives sitting there and ask about them all the time. He's more than happy to show them off. Cutco knives are the best, if you're looking for a good brand. If you want any old knife, go to Walmart, but if you're looking for something with quality, durability, something people are proud to stand behind, go to Cutco.

BlueAnge... is correct. Always try or at least hold in your hand the knife you want to buy. These are expensive knives and any reputable store should let you handle the knife before purchasing. I have a Wusthof and Henckels set at home. Very good knives but they are not cheap. Shun is an excellent Japanese knife. Try getting one and using it first before committing to buy a set. Wusthof would be a great second choice if you don't get Shun. Good luck, hope this helps.

Here's a good knife set includes 6 steak knives and forks, large chef's knife, sharpener.

Have you tried them out first? Always go to a good kitchen store and get them to let you try a knife in your hand before you buy, to be sure it feels right (you'd be surprised the variations that are out there, once it's in your hand). If you know you want one specific kind and have tried them, then I'd say get what you can afford. But always try first.