I am researching a new machine and one of my shortlist is a maximatic. I wondered if any users would post their thoughts on the machine. What grinder it's paired with, what machines you can compare it to and how the coffee tastes compared to your previous machine and/or grinder.

Thanks.

"New" in the sense of buying one that is not pre-owned? Or "new" meaning "different from the one you have now"? Olympia has been moribund as a company in the past year or two, and parts could be an issue.

Actually, there is new money in the company and they have a good distributor in the UK (Londinium).

Development work continues, with several things in the pipeline and changes to the Cremina (see post in lever section with factory shots).

Olympia have also been continuing to support their machines and you can in fact see several in for refurbishment in the shots referred to above.

I have heard very good things about the Maximatic, though I prefer lever machines, myself. I'm also an Elektra fan and would probably buy their Semiautomatica if I was in the market for a semiautomatic, but the Maximatic is likely to be less challenging to use and somewhat better built.

If you're ever down in London, try to pop into Londinium. They may have one there you can try and its certainly worth ringing them or dropping an e-mail.

Cheers

Mike

I have been in touch with Londinium and they have even offered to arrange a factory tour if required, but I'd thought in light of the lack of reviews anywhere very much, I'd seek users views of the machine compared to previously owned (non-Olympia) machines.

I am considering other machines as well but there are generally loads of reviews and forum posts, about these, readily available.

Hi Steve

I bought my maximatic for $520 and for that price I'm convinced it is a very good deal. But since the new version is sold for roughly $3500 I would look at other machines instead. Personally I read a whole lot of positive comments about the elektra A3 (or the automatic version T1) which is in a similar price range than a new Maximatic.

I owned a Gaggia Classic previous to the maximatic so I thought that might be a meaningful comparison for you. I found the Classic to be a solid machine that is able to produce decent to good shots - and with some temp surfing or later the pid it is possible to reach a acceptable level of consistency. Though I haven't been able to get good shots from any coffee that is really sensitive to changes in brew temperature - so I mostly stuck with brazils and a particular 'wild coffee' (bonga forest from ethiopia) that produced good shots. I attributed this difficulty to the well-documented fact that the Gaggia has a large intrashot temperature drop (somewhere between 6 and 10°C!! for references see links to alt.coffee here and here or directly on HB here ). Additionally I also tried to pull the shots at a very slow flow rate (ristrettolike) so the temperature drop would be less dramatic (I don't have acutal numbers to quantify this effect).

After a few weeks of training the HX-flush with my maximatic I felt pretty confident to get somewhat consistent results with it. And it was finally possible to explore the more finicky coffees that exhibit sharp changes in flavour when changing the temperature. Additionally I also felt that that the maximatic made it possible to get some clarity in my shots (in the sense of a well-defined flavour profile where you can recognize single components instead of tasting a decent but fuzzy flavour mix). Plus I enjoyed having steam available any time I wanted it - I don't do a lot of milk drinks but often use the steam to heat up demitasses half-filled with water.

And since you asked; the maximatic paired MUCH better with my Compak K10 than with the Gaggia MDF - but this doesn't come as a surprise considering the reviews these grinders are getting. I would by all means get a top-notch grinder first before investing $1500 plus in a machine. Though in your case it may be more difficult to judge the merit of a better grinder. The opinions seem to vary widely about how much of an improvement there is, when switching from a mazzer mini-e to commercial sized flat-burr grinder or a large conical.

And as Mike wrote too, since sometime now (maybe half a year) there's fresh money/ownership in the company. And they actually seem to take costumer serivce seriously and also renewed their webpage.

Greets
marco

I have a 1983 Maximatic (badged as a Pasquini Livietta). The machine has extraordinary build quality, has the ability to pull great shots, and steams like a beast (more powerful than my Wega Lrya with ~2x larger boiler). It's very heavy for its small footprint, because of the heavy steel frame and the heavy construction of the boiler.

I got mine on eBay for under $500, and at that price it was a very good value IMO. The machine came to me loaded with heavy scale so I took it apart and scraped out the boiler as best I could. The fact that it works so well in the semi-scaled state it's in is a testament to the build quality of these machines, but at $3k or more I would likely pick something else myself.

As far as grinder pairing? I have started to wonder why people ask this question. The simple answer is "get the best grinder you can get". Does x machine pair better with y grinder or with equivalent z grinder? I guess it depends on your tastes and your needs (i.e. some folks want a pretty grinder, some want a smaller grinder, some want the greatest beast they can lay hands on). For reference, I have an assortment of high-end grinders that all produce fine results with the Olympia machine (or any other decent machine).

timo888 wrote:"New" in the sense of buying one that is not pre-owned? Or "new" meaning "different from the one you have now"? Olympia has been moribund as a company in the past year or two, and parts could be an issue.

In both senses. I need a new machine and since secondhand Olympias are generally rarer than hen's teeth in the UK I have little option except buying one new.

marco and jon, thanks very much for your posts I really appreciate them, very helpful.

[It's really no surprise the Gaggia machines are so unstable since new, colder water is being pumped into the boiler as the shot is extracted.]

If you found a used one in good shape, it would be a good deal. But if you're spending $3000+, I think you'd do much better elsewhere. Although Olympia may be functioning again, this has only happened recently after several years of near non-existent customer support. I'd want to be sure that I could buy a gasket or basket if I needed one. Of course, if you're fixated on that little Olympia logo, then there's only one machine for you. Michael

I have both the Cremina (1987 &91) and the rebaged Maximatic (Pasquini Livietta 1988,1992). I have had great service from Olympia over the past year and a half. I have bought gaskets plus other assorted parts - delivery within a month. Both machines pull great shots - almost as good as my commercial gear. If I were buying new I would look at other options just to see what's out there. I'm a keep it simple machine guy, the less parts and wires under the hood, the better for me. I find the underneath pics of the GS3 rather daunting for instance. I have a scace device which was very helpful in determining my flush and wait routine. Great machines, good luck
-Ian