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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on November 24, 2009 at 11:16pm

Aurelia for the given options, but I'd rather have a DB as well, based solely off of personal preference.

-bry

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Permalink Reply by Brady on January 2, 2010 at 8:04am

As much as I hate to dredge up a zombie, I find myself in the position of quoting a couple of 2-group machines for a customer and could use a little more info on this product lineup.

As far as I can tell, the functional differences in the Semi-auto versions of these machines are:
The Aurelia has a bigger boiler (+3L).
The Aurelia has more power (4500W vs 3000W)
The Aurelia has adjustable water dispenser temp.
The Aurelia uses a soft-touch push-button for switches, the Appia uses rocker switches.

Both have NS's "soft preinfusion", steam levers, pressurestat control.

Said customer is interested in the simplest machine possible, the fewer electronic bells and whistles the better (after some expensive service calls to replace unreliable touch switches, flaky motherboards, etc). For this reason, I'm going to quote her both the Aurelia and the Appia, but want a good answer for the benefits that the extra $1000+ gets her to go with Aurelia. I think for her it will boil down (hah!) to boiler size and power.

She's a moderate-volume store. Nothing terribly progressive... she just needs a good machine that will be reliable and get the job done.

So here's the question: For those that have used both, is there any difference from a resulting-product standpoint between the non-WBC Aurelia and Appia?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Shadow on January 2, 2010 at 2:48pm

Well I can't comment on both as I have only used the Aurelia 2 group. Will say all positive things said thusfar are spot on. I find it a great machine to use day in and day out. Can also vouch for really good temperature stability and great recovery time. Never gives one single issue, as in steaming with both wands while pulling from both groups. The adjustable hot water tap is great as is the Smart Wand. I personally don't use it, but my wife did get started on it for a bit until she bit the bullet and started using the standard wand. Now the Smart Wand is used to heat cider and that sort of thing. I really like the control and fluid-like smoothness the lever steam control offers. Some like knobs, but I prefer the levers anyday. Later!

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Meiss on February 8, 2010 at 8:43am

For long-term consistency and value I would recommend the Aurelia. Have used many of them at different cafe's we've helped setup, others that we've sold them, and others that we've consulted for and they are just great machines. For the dollar I haven't found a machine that matches it - and I actually like it better than some LM machines I have used over the years.

Message me if you want more info about our experiences

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on February 8, 2010 at 9:08am

Boyd/Brady,

My two cents, a little late.

I support both Aurelia and Appia in the field. I've got several of both flavors. They use the same grouphead. The heat-exchangers in the boiler are a bit different, which is one of the things that contributes to the Aurelia's thermal stability. The Aurelia, though, as a fatal flaw in the button pads it uses, espessially the power/warmer/auto steam one on the left side. If it gets any moisture in/on it you're toast. I've had a couple of catostrophic service calls that required overnighting a whole new button assembly to resolve the issue. The Appia seems to be less prone to this issue.

From a mechanical standpoint they are pretty much the same machine, save for the boiler.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on February 8, 2010 at 10:36am

Jeremy Meiss said:

For long-term consistency and value I would recommend the Aurelia. Have used many of them at different cafe's we've helped setup, others that we've sold them, and others that we've consulted for and they are just great machines. For the dollar I haven't found a machine that matches it - and I actually like it better than some LM machines I have used over the years.

Message me if you want more info about our experiences

OK, Jeremy. Time to play "pay for your plug". Please provide a little more detail to back up your statement for the merits of the Aurelia over the Appia, since that is the topic of this thread.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Meiss on February 8, 2010 at 10:51am

Hey Brady- wasn't necessarily going for a sales pitch....

The Appia's that I have worked with always struggled to keep pressure up and stay heated consistently at the group heads when you started doing a lot of drinks in a short period of time. The bigger boiler and more power definitely make a difference here.

I have had a 3grp Aurelia Semi and a 2grp Aurelia Volumetric (2grp in our shop) that I have used over the last 5 years personally, and have never had an electronic issue with buttons. I do prefer rocker switches like the Appia, but everything else outweighs that simple preference for us.


Brady said:

Jeremy Meiss said:

For long-term consistency and value I would recommend the Aurelia. Have used many of them at different cafe's we've helped setup, others that we've sold them, and others that we've consulted for and they are just great machines. For the dollar I haven't found a machine that matches it - and I actually like it better than some LM machines I have used over the years.

Message me if you want more info about our experiences

OK, Jeremy. Time to play "pay for your plug". Please provide a little more detail to back up your statement for the merits of the Aurelia over the Appia, since that is the topic of this thread.

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