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Permalink Reply by Jared Rutledge on September 28, 2009 at 3:59pm

i worked on an old brasilia 3 group gradisca a few months ago, wasn't a very good machine. shots ran really hot. it might not have been maintained well, though, i'm not much of a tech.

i would highly recommend a used la marzocco, or if you have the money to spend, a synesso. nuova simonelli might be worth considering if you can get a PID unit, but la cimbali or brasilia i wouldn't mess with

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Permalink Reply by Brady on September 28, 2009 at 5:29pm

You are correct - service is key. Ask around... find out who are the best service techs in your area and limit your choices to their preferred manufacturers.

I know guys around here are reluctant to work with Cimbali... having more to do with difficulty in dealing with the organization than the machines themselves. No exposure to Brasilia myself. La Marzocco typically has great support within the tech community. Astoria is well supported in my area and popular with most techs I've dealt with - they make a solid and reliable (if somewhat no-frills) workhorse in the Argenta.

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Permalink Reply by MilesT on September 30, 2009 at 6:39pm

I use a 3 group Aurelia (two of them actually) We're very happy with them and they've been nothing but reliable. Nuova has good service as well. You can call (Ben??) right up and he'll always try to help on the spot if he has time. Finding a good, experienced tech is hard. We've finally found one after looking for about 3 yrs. With tech guys you kinda get what you pay for. Talk to some roasters in your area to see who they've worked with.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Shipley on September 30, 2009 at 8:58pm

We really like our Aurelia, its a solid well build machine and has proven to be reliable. All espresso machines break down, the quality of local service and fast availability of parts should be high on your list of considerations.

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