[davidgould]

I had a Ponte Vecchio Lusso spring lever machine for ten years. It made lovely coffee but required a lot of maintenance, replacing piston seals, pressure stats, sight glass seals, pressure guage. I also had to remove and cap the ports for the low water sensor due to leakage and to re-wire it a couple times due to burned switches and connectors. It caught on fire once. The build quality was "rustic", panels with sharp edges, blobby solder, rust under the chrome, cover that had to be leaned on to make fit when reinstalling it.

I had a love-hate relationship with it, the group head design was very forgiving, it required almost no technique to pull a very good shot, could be left on for a long time and be instantly ready, powerful steam, heated up fast etc. Really an ideal home machine except for being a total POS.

Every few months when I had to repair it I thought about replacing it but there really wasn't anything out there with the combination of shot quality and ease of use and small kitchen practicality. The E61 machines are large, require good technique, use a lot of water, generate a lot of heat and probably are not that much more reliable as they are also sort of craft workshop built. The Silvia is overrated and very fiddly, it can make great shots, if the stars are just so. Manual levers are fetish objects for collectors, coffee hobbyists, and masochists.

What I really wanted was a modern design built with modern processes, ie a Tesla, not a Fiat 124 Spider from the 60's.

Enter the Breville 920XL dual boiler. It makes better coffee and is even more forgiving and consistent than my old Ponte Vechio. It heats up fast and steams well. I don't love the tamper as much as my old rosewood and brass one for the Ponte Vecchio, but the magnetic tamper holder is one of those tiny details that makes me happy every shot. Two years in it's been perfect, except for just the tiniest steam wand valve leak recently. Time will tell, but since I got it at Costco, I'm out nothing if it's a problem.

[_urga]

"The Silvia is overrated and very fiddly, it can make great shots, if the stars are just so."

The Silvia works perfectly every time. But you need to know something about making coffee i.e. roast, grind, dose, tamp, temperature, time, yield, steam, pour etc.

[davidgould]

So you are agreeing with me?

The Lusso and the Breville will make great shots if your grind and tamp are even close. My wife and child both could regularly make great shots after a few minutes demo with either of those. I do adjust the grinder from time to time as the coffee ages or when we get new beans, but that's it.

I don't think that would be possible with the Silvia.

[_urga]

No, the Silvia is an excellent machine.

Professional coffee machines are just tools. It's the barista who takes responsibility for making coffee.

You can get perfect shots every time with the Silvia. It's not difficult. You just need to understand what you're doing.

If you enjoy your Breville though, that's great!