Perhaps Marshall needs a good conical

another_jim wrote:The trigger for this whole thread, the supposed lack of clarity of the DC Mini, may well be in the realm of the anecdotal and non-replicable.

Briefly,
1. What's "clarity"?
2. Are the anecdotal perceptions of differences in clarity real?
3. If they are real, can clarity "shortcomings" be accommodated by adjusting blend and degree of roast rather than simply accepting the compromise that Marshall has suggested? My anecdotal (possibly replicable, possibly not) experience says that greater clarity is possible with the DC. Very preliminary and not even based on the DC but experience with a machine of the same class.

Um, the link is to a post of three of us pulling shots of the DC versus the Elektra, and not being able to pick out which is which.

There's an odd observer effect here. The machines were set up to pull optically indistinguishable shots using settings at which each performed fairly well. A test where you flat out try to pull the best shot from each machine using the same coffee and grinder, would probably result in different looking shots, which would make blind tests hard.

Blind tests almost always fail to reproduce the reputed differences between two foods, beverages, hi-fi systems, assorted equipment, etc. This is so frequent that many taste mavens, audiophiles, etc, are giving up on them. However, I would hate to assert a difference in the teeth of a blind test that was well conducted. Especially when it was me who couldn't tell the difference!