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Permalink Reply by Al Sterling on March 4, 2009 at 9:05am

Chris....... you validate my home setup! Seems the Spaz and Macap have become a very good pairing for a small commercial setup at home. That's what I bought from Chris Coffee 3 years ago.

Chris Cockrell said:

I decided on the La Spaziale S1 VII. It ROCKS!!! It's a power house. Matched it up with a Macap M4. All is well....!

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• Working Tools_02 03 07.jpg, 263 KB

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Permalink Reply by boyd on March 4, 2009 at 6:43pm

I prefer Oscar for home used based on machine performance, bugdet and size....
Chris/Dale said:

Larry,
thought I'd share my opinion of the Oscar
The head of my company sold one about a month and half ago and used me to demo it....

here are the pros-
1. It steams and pulls simultaneously with plenty of pressure for multiple rounds.

2. I met Ben from Simonelli last year in Chicago at an Intelli jam And when the I competed in the Midwest RBC I met Johnny (both reps from Nuova Simonelli) They're both super nice and went out of their way to be helpful. I dig that in a company.

3. it can be pourover or plumbed in (regardless of which version you buy the difference is a part that can be ordered to change it over)

4. The portafilter is the same as the Aurelia (and it comes with two.) I dig having a commercial portafilter in my hand.

5. lots of space on top of the machine which has the ambient cup warming thing going on.

6. professional steam wand with an "analog type" knob (what i mean is you don't have to go full force, you can select just a little steam pressure should you desire)

7. I've searched through a ton of online reviews ( well it would be a ton if online reviews actually had mass) and have yet to find anyone who regretted their purchase.

8. It's well over 3 grand less than the 4500 price of the GS3 (most stickers are around a grand but shop around and you'll find it for much less than that) which will leave you with enough scratch to score a decent grinder



cons

1. It's kinda loud (which could be a good thing, if you have an upstairs neighbor who is also loud then your 4 AM ritual when getting ready for the early shift could also be a thing of revenge...)

2. No Hot Water Tap, if you're into Americanos you could steam your mater to bring it up to temp or maybe get a kettle. As I dont' do Americanos it's not really an issue for me .

3.There's no warning from the machine when your reserve tank is empty. so you have to keep a watchful eye on the tank to keep it full because it will stop mid pull if you dont.


long story short...as of last week this is my kitchen

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Permalink Reply by Chris Cockrell on March 5, 2009 at 2:40pm

Al...Sweet Setup. I'm very happy with the Vivaldi - can't say that about the Macap. The grinder is fine, its the doser noise - waking up kids @ 6:00 in the AM slapping the lever is not a good thing. I should have gone doserless.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31428932@N05/3331072809/

For sale: 2 month old Macap M4 stepless doser grinder/black. New $549 / mine $450 or a really good offer + shipping & ins. Contact me soon!

Chris


Al Sterling said:

Chris....... you validate my home setup! Seems the Spaz and Macap have become a very good pairing for a small commercial setup at home. That's what I bought from Chris Coffee 3 years ago.

Chris Cockrell said:

I decided on the La Spaziale S1 VII. It ROCKS!!! It's a power house. Matched it up with a Macap M4. All is well....!

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Permalink Reply by Al Sterling on March 5, 2009 at 5:33pm

Well Chris... here's the deal. If you did eliminate the "doser-clack-noise", chances are, and according to "Murphy's Law", you'd prob'ly trip over the cat with your hot drink, fall into a pile of pots, pans and dishes, and wake up both the kids and the neighbors. Rule number one; YOU CAN'T WIN. Rule number two..... "Well, there is no rule number two, so just refer to rule number one!" I don't know if you've realized just how clean the doser sweeps, but it's pretty much best-in-class in that department. I've been buying and using a 1" foam brush to clear the chute at the end of the grind cycle. I dump in a shotglass full of beans (about 16-18grams) and have the grinder pluged into a Time-O-Lite 0-60 second enlarger timer. I've always ground to order. The auto-reset timers are about $45 used, and are a great way to semi-auto the grind cycle. When I bought, the timers were only on the Mazzer Mini. But then, my grinder was only $350 or so new. Just don't "clack so hard." The doser will sweep clean anyway, and using the foam brush will clear the chute.

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• foam tip poly brush for Macap grinder.jpg, 107 KB

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Permalink Reply by Chris Cockrell on March 5, 2009 at 6:50pm

NO worries Al...just looking for the right fit. Nice site - nice music!

Chris




Al Sterling said:

Well Chris... here's the deal. If you did eliminate the "doser-clack-noise", chances are, and according to "Murphy's Law", you'd prob'ly trip over the cat with your hot drink, fall into a pile of pots, pans and dishes, and wake up both the kids and the neighbors. Rule number one; YOU CAN'T WIN. Rule number two..... "Well, there is no rule number two, so just refer to rule number one!" I don't know if you've realized just how clean the doser sweeps, but it's pretty much best-in-class in that department. I've been buying and using a 1" foam brush to clear the chute at the end of the grind cycle. I dump in a shotglass full of beans (about 16-18grams) and have the grinder pluged into a Time-O-Lite 0-60 second enlarger timer. I've always ground to order. The auto-reset timers are about $45 used, and are a great way to semi-auto the grind cycle. When I bought, the timers were only on the Mazzer Mini. But then, my grinder was only $350 or so new. Just don't "clack so hard." The doser will sweep clean anyway, and using the foam brush will clear the chute.

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Permalink Reply by Larry Prochazka on March 6, 2009 at 4:05pm

Hello Chris,

I was in Bali and just got to your note. Thanks for the tips on the machine. I met Julian (Northwest rep) and Gianni (passionate and delightful Italian) at the Mountain Region Barista championship. As I took a class through the ABC school in Portland, they offered me a discount on the Oscar. Thinking this would be a machine purchase that would last!

I'm now exploring a grinder to match with it. I have a couple but think I need more adjustability. Currently, I'm using the Starbucks Barista grinder with my Estro and Barista machine.

Got a chance to sip some really good Kopi Luwak in Bali. WOW on that!

Thanks for the tips! Larry

boyd said:

I prefer Oscar for home used based on machine performance, bugdet and size....
Chris/Dale said:

Larry,
thought I'd share my opinion of the Oscar
The head of my company sold one about a month and half ago and used me to demo it....

here are the pros-
1. It steams and pulls simultaneously with plenty of pressure for multiple rounds.

2. I met Ben from Simonelli last year in Chicago at an Intelli jam And when the I competed in the Midwest RBC I met Johnny (both reps from Nuova Simonelli) They're both super nice and went out of their way to be helpful. I dig that in a company.

3. it can be pourover or plumbed in (regardless of which version you buy the difference is a part that can be ordered to change it over)

4. The portafilter is the same as the Aurelia (and it comes with two.) I dig having a commercial portafilter in my hand.

5. lots of space on top of the machine which has the ambient cup warming thing going on.

6. professional steam wand with an "analog type" knob (what i mean is you don't have to go full force, you can select just a little steam pressure should you desire)

7. I've searched through a ton of online reviews ( well it would be a ton if online reviews actually had mass) and have yet to find anyone who regretted their purchase.

8. It's well over 3 grand less than the 4500 price of the GS3 (most stickers are around a grand but shop around and you'll find it for much less than that) which will leave you with enough scratch to score a decent grinder



cons

1. It's kinda loud (which could be a good thing, if you have an upstairs neighbor who is also loud then your 4 AM ritual when getting ready for the early shift could also be a thing of revenge...)

2. No Hot Water Tap, if you're into Americanos you could steam your mater to bring it up to temp or maybe get a kettle. As I dont' do Americanos it's not really an issue for me .

3.There's no warning from the machine when your reserve tank is empty. so you have to keep a watchful eye on the tank to keep it full because it will stop mid pull if you dont.


long story short...as of last week this is my kitchen

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Permalink Reply by Chris/Dale on March 6, 2009 at 7:06pm

Glad I I could help

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Permalink Reply by Jason Dominy on March 7, 2009 at 7:31am

Two words: Rancilio Silvia.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Warnock on March 7, 2009 at 7:20pm

i say an speedster or maybe an old gs series brought to 2009 spec


ooopps........ sry i was dreaming again

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Permalink Reply by Brandy Smyth on March 10, 2009 at 2:59pm

I have a la Pavoni pubv1 machine at home and love it. It was around 3,000 but will last my lifetime, great thing about this one is I can also travel around to events and use it to do festivals ect extra income. Oh and my dinner parties...... yeah great! They are pretty affordable on www.coffeestuff.com

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