Moderator note: The following two posts merged in from the OP's additional thread on the same topic

I've had the Delonghi Dedica EC680 for 3 years now, it's my first espresso machine. I changed to an unpressurised filter basket early, and recently upgraded my grinder to a DF64.

Now I'm not sure if I should upgrade the Dedica itself. Will I see a big improvement in the quality of shots going from the Dedica to a $1500 prosumer machine?

I'm not unhappy with the quality of espresso I'm getting now, but I wonder what I'm missing. I don't want to have spent $1500 only to see marginal improvements. Can people who have upgraded chime in and share their experience?

If you're pulling classic espresso, you're unlikely to get the kind of change you got going from a pressurized basket to a standard basket with any machine upgrade. From there it is incremental in the cup, on average. You probably could gain a bit in variance, your worst shots won't be quite as "off". If you're happy with your espresso, I'd consider buying better beans as a way to noticeably improve (or at least change) its flavor.

If your not looking for a double boiler why not a Silvia it's a solid machine and has a very long track record and parts are easy to get. I know the aesthetics are not the best but the coffee in the cup is outstanding.

Chris