enjoy! malkoenig makes some terrific grinders as well as compak. my current gs3 pairing is a (love it or hate it) m3. i love it but others don't.

imo, quality matching conical to gs3 is not easy or cheap and what's right for a shop is not necessarily right for a home setting. personal preferences vary considerably from what i've read around here, but in the end you'll find what works for you (and your workstation) functionally, geometrically, and aesthetically.

i second what Dick Green says re macap m4. my old macap currently grinds for drip and acts as a backup in the event of mro requirements on the m3.

Peppersass wrote:I hate to admit my error, but hopefully it will do you some good:

Despite warnings from members of this site, I originally bought a Silvia and a Macap M4, which is pretty-much identical to the Mazzer Mini. I sold the very-flawed Silvia after less than a month and upgraded to the GS/3, but kept the M4. I quickly discovered that the M4 was not consistent enough to reliably produce good shots (possibly due to the small burrs and varying hopper loads).

<snip, snip... read entire post here>

I urge you to do whatever it takes to get a better grinder as soon as possible so you can truly enjoy the marvelous machine you just bought.

Better late than ever for any compliment I guess. I think this was a great post and precisely why I am - er- patiently waiting for Versalab to arrive before making my final decision on a GS3 upgrade. I have been using the mazzer mini for many years and - despite my best efforts to the contrary - it is addicted to clumping. I suspect the M3 will make a definite difference in the shots I am pulling on my Vivaldi 2 (which already have been quite good in the 5+ years I have used it).

Pharos?

I don't have the depth of experience (or pocket) to compare the Pharos to the other electrically powered, electronically controlled burr grinders... but if you are able to take a day off work to set up the new GS/3 you may have the patience for this device. I sure love mine and it is in a price class that your bride may not notice.

Joe

Italyhound wrote:Better late than ever for any compliment I guess. I think this was a great post and precisely why I am - er- patiently waiting for Versalab to arrive before making my final decision on a GS3 upgrade. I have been using the mazzer mini for many years and - despite my best efforts to the contrary - it is addicted to clumping. I suspect the M3 will make a definite difference in the shots I am pulling on my Vivaldi 2 (which already have been quite good in the 5+ years I have used it).

Nice! Keep us updated on your M3. I have been using an Mazzer Mini E doserless and getting a lot of clumping and it's very hard to prevent channeling despite my best efforts using the WDT method and what I feel are adequate tamping pressures.

I was looking at the M3 and really like its uniqueness as well as hearing about the apparent grind quality.

Hi.
Where can I read about comparing the auto vs the paddle version of the GS/3?
Theodore.

In this thread:

Decision time. La Marzocco GS3 auto or paddle espresso machine?

I am leaning toward the paddle but haven't decided since my wife likes the push and forget convenience of volumetric dosing. I spoke to a tech at Chris Coffee who told me to expect to swap out the group paddle o-rings about every 18 months and that it wasn't hard to do. Haven't said that, he advised that I get the volumetric which you can program a preinfusion time. The automatic backflush would be nice but I dont have it now so it's not a big deal. The paddle makes it more of a manual machine and from the discussions it seems harder to get the benefit of the paddle's line pressure preinfusion if it's not plumbed in but people have overcome that.

The linked thread is not current. If someone has any updated opinions, please share it there although nothing has changed AFAIK, but for me its personal preference and no amount of additional research will help that - both seem very very nice to me.

Good luck.

Thanks.