I’d go Lelit Elizabeth I reckon.
There’s the Arkel Coast machine which just came out and looks interesting but it’s very new and not sure how good it is. Saturated group and I think possibly has profiling.
There’s also the Profitec Move priced between those two, again though a new machine and not sure what it’s like.
Nice to see lots of non-E61 DBs between £1-2k though!
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ikawa Roaster
I have read that the Elizabeth is a bit flimsy and the build quality not as rock solid as the Rancilio or Profitec machines, for example. I would be open to one though if it cropped up.
Yeah that’s fair, at the price point though it’s good value.
I edited my post before you replied but there’s the Profitec Move as a consideration. Nice looking machine too.
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ikawa Roaster
I stumbled across the Gaggia Classic GT the other day, no idea if it’s any good but in theory if it’s like the standard Classic then it may well be easily repairable.
Yeah I like the look of the Profitec Move but it seems expensive to me. It does very similar to the Silvia Pro X for £400 more. Same for the Coast - £200 more than the Move and you get flow profiling.
Diminishing returns for a two flat whites a day, 4 times a week guy like me. I’ve even questioned whether dual boiler is overkill!
It’s more that I’ve had it 5 years and fancy a change, plus want to move away from E61.
I did originally like the idea of going to a Profitec Go but I somehow talked myself out of it a few months ago. Wondering if it might be worth going back there.
What about the QM pop up - https://www.espressolane.uk/product/quickmill-pop-up-pid-1-boiler-matt-black-on-order/
Not bad spec for a single boiler and flow control. Am toying with this or the Sage dual boiler (with a few mods).
Really the only improvement from your Mara that you’ll see in the cup if you’re not into any kind of profiling is going to be from a saturated (or similar) group.
For that you need to spend a fair bit more (that Arkel machine has one apparently).
Anything else is really only likely to aid efficiency of making milk drinks, be slightly lower maintenance and be a sort of ‘sidegrade’ rather than an upgrade.
I would say save the money and spend it on good coffee instead but seems like even that’s becoming harder to find lately.
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ikawa Roaster
Looks interesting, initial searching suggest their build quality might be lower than other brands but I’m unsure.
To be honest I want to move to a saturated head like you’ve said, something with a more finite temperature control and solid build quality. I’d be happy to look at a Go or an SPX at this point - the others look like too much money to do a quality of life sidegrade like you said.
I’ll keep this open in case anyone has a suitable machine for sale over the next couple of weeks otherwise I might go for a new one.
The Go looks to be very good build quality and should be as a Profitec product. I also think that the benefits of dual boilers can be overstated as a home user as a single boiler will generally require less maintenance, heat up faster and often not take any longer to make a milk drink once you take into account how long it takes to clean the portafilter and fill your milk jug.
You’re right and I had a good second look but I don’t like the styling of it all that much (polished stainless, odd comic sans looking fonts), plus the water tank seems a right-side removal which wouldn’t work with my setup unfortunately!
Appreciate you making me aware though, thank you!
Tin hat time, but for me, the best dual boiler value wise is the Sage DB. They revamped the internals in late 2022 by changing both boilers and reverting to compression fittings to stop the issues of O rings degrading. Priced at £1249 I have seen it for £1050 at Clumsy Goat for example. 2 year warranty from Sage, with ongoing repairs from Coffee Classics. You would need to check that they are discounting current stock though as one or two still have the black version which went out of production ages ago
To be fair a friend of mine who makes most of his purchasing decisions based on what John Lewis have on display ignored all my advice and got a Sage DB and he’s been really happy with it.
He’s also not had any problems with it. It pains me to say it but it’s also not the worst looking machine when compared to some of the £500-£1500 options out there.
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ikawa Roaster
There are two Sage DB’s for sale on the other forum atm which priced well.
Pound for pound the SDB is the best price machine available with temp stability up there with high end machines.
I’ve just seen you can get it with the Smart Grinder for a few pennies under £1100. Could gift that to my cousin. Very tempting…
I went from a Sage Duo Temp to the MaraX and the Duo Temp felt very flimsy, that’s the only thing that’s holding me back.
