Various things people have said have made me wonder...
It seems like no-one is very happy with their equipment choices right now.
So...

What is your ultimate home machine?
Is it a 1group Synesso?
A vintage 1961 E61?
A plumbed-in Brewtus with PID, active heating, remote rotary pump?

I'm starting to lean towards a rebuilt and heavily modified two group Linea.

That sounds more like a question of "what is your ultimate commercial machine that you could put in your house if you remodeled your kitchen entirely?"

Maybe my ultimate home machine would be a hot-rodded versalab M3 that wasn't operated by an idiot. By hot-rodded, I mean, "not an ugly wannabe avant garde body."

That's like asking what your favorite commuter car is and suggesting answers like "McLaren F1" and "Ferrari Enzo," no?

I'd tend to disagree. A two-group Linea actually doesn't take up a lot more space than your average microwave and I gotta say I'd prefer the Linea. I mean, If I had said I wanted a three group Mistral... well yeah - that's ridiculous.

To explain my choice...

I want a machine with a rotary pump and I want a machine that is plumbed-in. Add to that a machine that I can use for experimenting with various coffees and which I can thus easily tune and which I can bang out a lot of shots on. It would also need to periodically do a half-dozen quick drinks for friends.

At this point I'm talking high-end consumer or commercial.

Looking at the high-end consumer machines, the reality is that I would have to modify any of them to get to the point I want. That being the case, the total cost is getting dangerously close to a used Linea. And a used Linea is easier to modify and less stressful emotionally to tear apart.

I'd consider a one group, but the one group Lineas have never impressed me, and the two group is less than twice the size.

Add to this that, with some work on your modifications. you can turn the Linea into pretty much the state of the art espresso machine.

Thus - to me - it's the ultimate home machine.

Then again, if I had to choose, the only major appliances in my kitchen that I would choose ahead of an espresso machine would be the stove and the fridge, so...

Malachi, a $500,000 car fits in the same place, generally, as a $50,000 car. The difference is the price. a 2 group linea, as I understand it, costs about 10 times more than a *nice* semi-commercial machine. ~$10,000 vs ~$1500, right?

I mean, sure. The ultimate home microwave is probably a commercial one. the ultimate freezer is a commercial walk-in one. The ultimate home oven--also commercial. I guess this is somewhat paradoxical. You can call it the ultimate home machine, but it's not really a home machine, and there's not one single home user who will ever buy one except if it's chump change to him. You're not a real home user. You realize that, I hope? :p

$10k?!
Nope. Not even new much less used.
The last one I bought had been modified by Schomer (banjo tubes), was in great shape and the total (including shipping) was a little under $4k.

Why does an LM Linea 1 group cost $7.5K??? how could the two group be $3K cheaper? are you talking about some sort of discount/used price?

Throughout I've actually been talking used.
It's one of the advantages of commercial equipment and one of the reasons I'd be willing to rip it all apart.

And you should be able to get a 1grp Linea EE for about 6k new.

ah, OK. well in that case, I want a used synesso 1 group in 5-10 years. if that's possible. I guess by then it won't be as cool as it is now, but still an amazing machine.

I'm curious, what makes you prefer Linea over Synesso? I've only seen Lineas in person, myself, and always from the wrong side of the bar. I guess to that end, I like the idea of the Cyncra rather than preferring it for some experiential reason.

I haven't read much criticism on the Cyncra, though. I've really appreciated reading about how responsive they have been to others in the coffee industry and their cooperation with them at SCAA and stuff... Is the Linea still a finer machine?

malachi wrote:It seems like no-one is very happy with their equipment choices right now.

I'm happy. See me smiling?

I'm comfortable working with a range of equipment. It seems that most professionals are heavily biased towards dual boilers, and understandably so in a commercial environment where capacity and consistency under load are paramount. But how important are these two factors in the average consumer's kitchen?

Personally I'd love to see the SCAA competitions use more "challenging" equipment to further differentiate the baristas' skill. Chris, you've spent too much time behind the bar. Maybe it's time that you see how the 'other half' lives, eh? Contact me offline, I have a surprise for you. If you agree, we'll announce it publicly.