Thank you all for the help, I am going to do some thinking this weekend and purchase one of the two. For some reason I keep telling myself to get the VDD because I love how it looks, but I know the Casa is a quality machine inside and out.

Tough choice all around.

Over on CG a member with the screen name Canon (member here on HB too) who has experience with some nice machines posted this comment in a thread:

"Of course everyone has an opinion and there are many variables in those opinions. I don't claim to have all the answers but I do know that Wayne's (cal blacksmith) experiences closely mirror mine. I really enjoy trying new machines and I am now into my 4th machine in two years not including an Olympia Cremina that is being restored for me. Three of the machines were PID double boiler machines and with the exception of one of them all were good. However, I sold my most recent PID machine (Speedster) and bought a smaller La Cimbali Junior DTI to use while our kitchen is being revamped. This is the first HX machine I have owned and while the flushing was somewhat of an aggravation initially it soon became routine and less so. However I can honestly say that the quality of the drinks are consistently the best that I have ever had with any machine. Doesn't make sense but in my mind it is real. There are a couple features of this machine that irritate me a bit but what hits the cup is not one of them. Not sure I can let this thing go when the kitchen is done. Have no clue what to replace it with that will improve the drink."

Hope his insight helps.

Source:
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/espres...380#543380

Eric, thanks for the link to Coffeegeek.

It's always nice to be validated by people with better access to more machines, and the posts by other Casa owners dovetail so neatly with my own experiences. The thread also provided a link to another discussion about clarity vs body in high quality machines which was not only interesting but perhaps germane to this one as well.

One of the things which makes the Casa special is how it gets both of those things so right; and perhaps even more remarkable is the balance it strikes between the two. My feeling, based on somewhat limited experience with the other machines, is that the Casa was far better at each than either the Vivaldi or Brewtus; and at least equalled the GS3.

What makes excellent machines so much better in these respects than the merely very good? Beats me. But there you go.

BDL