Sorry for only getting back to you all now.

Thanks for all your input which I found most informative. My knives
have broken tips and are simply getting long in the tooth and frankly
since I do so much cooking, I deserve better. In a sense I was
deliberately vague about what I wanted because I expected one brand
name to be THE best, but I guess it's not the case. I'm not bothered
with steak and carving knives. Most of my work in the kitchen is
chopping veg and cutting meat.

brooklyn1 & Neil: Please don't start throwing knives at each
other. :-)