canuckcoffeeguy wrote:Since you like the shots from your MCAL -- how about getting your Faema working, then selling it. Use the money from the Faema sale to buy a new MCAL group.

Heh, I have already replaced the entire McAL group, just not every piece at once. I am almost convinced the machine is possessed. I have literally changed every last part in the group, including the group itself, with a new one. Yes, I tried official Dow 111 grease, and others. Again, I do not want to turn this thread into another analysis of the McAL problems, but if I decided to keep the McAL as an espresso maker, I would ditch this one and purchase a new one.

The plan is to sell the Faema (I can't really sell the McAL, I tried once (twice?), it is really hard to sell a machine that does not work, and I give full disclosure of the issues and current status) and then purchase something else. Is that a new McAL? I think my SO would commit me after all of the problems we had with this one. Is the solution a Elektra semiautomatica? I don't really have a preference for single boiler over double, or HX vs this or that. I have only owned two HX machines and one "hybrid" and one lever. The coffee coming out of the McAL is hands down better than the others, even my SO completely agrees with that statement. However, she does not like to operate the lever, which is required from time to time.

Given that, do I get a semiautomatica? Something else that comes close to the McAL in shots and frothing milk? After these few days of reading this thread, I think my answer to the question of "What do I want" is not so much a particular machine, but more of a taste. We really like the McAL espresso and I (a terrible barista) can make smooth micro-bubble foamy milk with it. I think we are after that taste, but we need a machine that does not need to be fixed every four days.