Ben Z. wrote:I remember seeing astras in like every Italian bakery in CT/MA. Good machines. I think if you want a big step up you'll need to go with one of the new, fancier machines with profiling, etc.

That being said, I could hook you up with my Elektra 60s if you are interested. Rotary pump is nice, otherwise, the bigger advantage is probably just that it looks way cooler.

Primacog wrote:I used to have an izzo pompei my kitchen which was smaller than your kitchen. Needless to say, a single group izzo pompei is far bigger and heavier than most home based espresso machines but I never found it to be a problem.

The lever arm did block the upper cabinet door that was directly above it but it was no big deal - if I needed to access it, I merely pulled the lever down (keeping my hand on tbe lever just in the case I accidentally jogged it and released it while I was opening or closing the door of that cabinet).

5k gives you a lot of room to play with and many worthy machines to be considered. Since you want a machine that will elevate your espresso experience over what you already have and you seem to be partial to spring levers, I can speak from experience about the Nurri L-type SA spring lever as I took delivery of mine a couple of weeks ago. Since then I have been making the best espresso and lattes I have ever been able to make and more easily too - even compared to my izzo pompei that I had to sell to make way for it. You can control the temperature for the grouphead, brew boiler and steam boiler and you can control the level of preinfusion pressure that is supplied by a rotary pump. Ther are two paddles that you can use to vent the grouphead to end the shot or to switch on the rotary pump. The machine is consequently very versatile and it has the same la san marco type design for lever grouphead that the izzo employs. Furthermore it is a real looker.

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I had another look at your photo of your kitchen and the countertop does look rather shallow. Personally i would always prefer a lever macbine but if the size is a problem you could consider the Nurri GTO pressure profiling pump machine. It has a tiny footprint and has not only got double boilers but also a saturated group head.

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Pressino wrote:Looks like the Nurri steam wand might not fit under the cabinets...

The Astra is a wonderful compact machine (and made in the USA, if that matters) and you'd be hard pressed to find another equally robust yet compact e61 HX machine with steam wand. There are other ones w/o steam wands that would fit under your cabinet, but I doubt they'd make better espresso.

A Decent machine (without the tablet) would be nice and compact and, if you don't mind the computerized nature of the machine, would otherwise tick your boxes and come in under budget...

poison wrote:The GTO is definitely on my list, but info is scarce, I'm not sure I feel like waiting, and there's the unknown reliability factor. Definitely cool, and they changed the look a lot; they sent me a picture of the final prototype (and a request not to post it), which looks a lot more like their lever machine.

poison wrote:I do. The Micra's connectedness is more than I'd like, I certainly don't want to wrangle an ipad.

I think the Nurri steam wand would be in front of my cabinet, it should be fine. I'd definitely have to check dimensions before buying, though.