I bought my Pharos new in June 2012 and have used it pretty much every day since to make espresso. I added a VDD adjustment system and aluminium bolt covers the following year. With these additions, the machine never seems to require re-alignment and it's easy to dial in new beans.

Although I am very satisfied with the grinds my Pharos delivers -- I get centred, non-channeling pours and nice tasting espressos -- what I have no way of knowing is how the grinds compare with other, more expensive grinders. I read about new grinders in this forum all the time, but as hardly anyone ever does side-by-side, blind comparisons, how am I to know if I would gain anything -- other than convenience -- from upgrading?

I know that EK43-type grinders allow high extractions from very lightly roasted beans, buy this is not of interest to me as I prefer medium and medium/dark roasts.

Has anyone any experience in upgrading from a Pharos?

Matt

From what I gather, people usually upgrade for convenience.. I feel like I've seen a handful of people move to the Compak K-10. I would consider perhaps trying out a flat burrs like the K30 or Peak. Espresso from the EK43 is different, not necessarily an upgrade per se, but it's certainly different.

There are some direct comparisons of the HG-1 to Pharos and following from that some comparisons of the HG-1 to several different motor drive conical burr grinders. Comparisons of flat burrs to conical burrs is another form of the apples to oranges exercise.

I 'upgraded' from a Pharos to the HG-One via the K10.

The HG-One produces a slightly better coffee than the Pharos when paired with the Izzy or Caravel - I only own levers so not sure if it holds true with other machines. The difference is small though, the big gain was in usability, ergonomics and aesthetics.

Still have the Pharos, its brilliant for quick changes of grind size, I pulled it out of the cupboard yesterday to make a Aeropress with a Colombian microdot I had just roasted, swung the voodoo daddy custom adjuster round to my aeropress setting and ground a perfect dose!

Have you gotten the catch cup mod? That's another milestone for the Pharos IMO, other than the adjustment and aluminium support stands. It's the best bang for buck grinder even with the VDD mods, and still is today.

In terms of grind output, it will be super hard to beat the Pharos. Where the Pharos really shines is you can reliably align it(especially with the catch cup mod), and it holds the alignment super nicely with the mod. If you get an electric grinder, you're getting a black box with unknown alignment state and there's almost no way to verify. Similar story for HG-1 but now you can actually see the alignment but it's slightly harder to align. Getting perfect alignment right out of factory seems like a lottery drawing - I don't have good luck with that to date. So ability to align seems important if you're in the camp that believes alignment is essential for good grinds.

I had the HG-1 with bare blasted Mazzer 83mm burrs. In terms of ergonomic, I don't think it's that far ahead of a VDD Pharos. The main difference seems you get a holding handle, but losing many others attributes. Ie: neccessity for RDT, WDT, and similar if not more effort in grinding(it wants to jump around without any mod). The stepped grind adjustment on HG-1 is really sweet though - the VDD mod is not too shabby either.

After years of use from the Pharos, you might want to clean the burrs(I think it's more prudent to do it every few months as residual does build up on the burrs/chamber surfaces). That will help improve things/grind quality.

I will agree that with the VDD catch cup and a set of DIY brass bolt covers alignment is a non issue. To get the residual off the burrs and lower bearing support I dribble the Pharos off the counter several times and have never managed to knock it out of alignment. If you have the catch cup mod you do not need the blind shaker which is being discussed in another thread, just use the catch cup. If you have a well developed eggs or pancakes flip in a small skillet you can get a nice rolling motion of the grounds in the catch cup.

Timely, got to order some aluminum parts and do my first alignment soon...:/ know who to call now:)