Hi all! Around one year ago my wife and I bought a Saeco Via Venezia inox after we drank a cappuccino from from a sacket which got us into coffee drinking.

Since then I have been reading myself into making a good cup of espresso as a base for a nice cappuccino.
At the moment I have upgraded the Saeco Via Venezia with a NP portafilter and I have a La Cimbali Cadet grinder to match it up. I was able to make some nice espresso's!
Not bad as I only paid 100 euro's for the machine and about 100 euro's for the grinder! (about 270 USD)

At the moment I would like to go a step up as the machine seems to leak water and steam from the grouphead when I toggle the steam switch. This results in a nice coffee explosion when removing the portafilter. Also the steamwand leaks water which makes it impossible to foam up milk properly.
There might be a cheap fix (perhaps an O ring?) but I don't really want to put more money into the device and I can't seem to loosen the screw in the grouphead.

Now I was looking into a new Rancilio Silvia V3 (2009 version) but I do read that it has some operating quirks. While still being a very good machine and alot users end up with a PID or an upgrade. Now I had to put in some effort to get decent espresso's out of my Via Venezia, but I don't want to end up disappointed paying so much for a Silvia if its not a clear step up..
To make things short; I was looking on a 2nd hand site and found a La Valentina Junior Plus Levette. It's a HX machine with E61 grouphead, almost 6 years old and it has been serviced by a dealer.
The asking price is 475 euro which is about $640 USD. Currently there is a bid for $510 USD. New price was over $2100USD.

What do you guys think?

Well I don't see any responses yet, but I read some more about the machine and decided to bid on it. Probably is a good deal.

For about the same price 2nd hand I can also get an Ascaso Steel duo professional or a Vibiemme Domobar which both are not HX machines.

I have had a La Valentina for approximately four years, and I have been quite happy with it . . .

Unfortunately it was sold to someone else. The seller also had a Mazzer grinder which he sold to someone who was also interested in his espresso machine.
Well at least this gives me time to read more about other machines which I might pick up around 600 USD 2nd hand.