I've traded in my Profitec 500 for a Profitec 600 a few weeks ago and am very happy with the choice. I've had my pro 500 for almost 2 years with almost no issues other than replacing a few parts that were covered by warranty and very easy and quick to replace. My experience with the 500 made the trade-in upgrade to a Profitec 600 a good choice I was confident with. The big difference between both machines is the 600 provides easier brew pressure adjusting, a quiet boiler pump and steaming power similar to the best coffee shops. Profitec makes reliable machines with capabilties of drinks you'd find at third-wave coffee shops. I wouldnt put my money on believing the Breville dual boiler could deliver that. P.S. a friend of mine had a Breville dual boiler for a while and upgraded to a ECM Synchronika (a machine with the same steaming power as the pro600) and loves its performance much more than the Breville. This is very much an invetment decision and if you want coffee shop style drinks.

I don't know Homeslice. I don't think the BDB will be a limiting factor in anyone's ability to make drinks that are equal to the ones that are served in cafes. You get great control over the extraction and though it steams relatively slowly, it is easy to make great milk with it. But don't take my word for it, ask around:

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If you don't get 2 bar steaming from your machine you won't get the frothing quality similar your best local metro third-wave coffee shop. It's very much a dependency on power at that point, not just speed. If your idea is to make drink very similar to coffee shops (not in the same style) than the components need to be there. 0.5 bar doesn't give the silky milk to a 2 bar and never will with the best barista skills.

Interesting. Most commercial machines that I know of run a steam-boiler pressure in the 1.3-1.8 bar range or so. As one example, the workhorse La Marzocco Linea "has an operating pressure of 1.3-1.5 bar"

Boiler pressure is only one factor in "steaming ability". Tip size and geometry, as well as flow and temperature losses to the tip are also very important.

homeslice wrote:0.5 bar doesn't give the silky milk to a 2 bar

Are you implying the BDB only generates 0.5 bar of steam pressure? Do you have a reference for that?

The BDB (920 version) steam boiler temperature is adjustable from 265F to 285F. My understanding is that you need about 270F to get 2 bar of steam pressure. Of course the other factors mentioned by Jeff in the previous comment likely vary between the BDB and PP 600, and will also impact steam performance.

Jeff wrote:Boiler pressure is only one factor in "steaming ability". Tip size and geometry, as well as flow and temperature losses to the tip are also very important.

+1

And boiler size and element power are also big factors. A 7 liter boiler and a 4600 watt element on a 2 group LM linea classic is a Mack truck in terms of steaming power and inertia. You can steam a pretty big jug just on the inertia you get from heat capacity of water in that boiler. And 4600 watts is probably enough power to regenerate steam as fast as it comes out of a 4 hole steam tip.

Many people do steam fine microfoam with 1 bar or less of gauge pressure given the right tip. If the tip is too big (too many or too large orifices) and the element power is insufficient for that tip then you may see your pressure drop significantly before you finish steaming. If that's the case you should try a smaller tip (fewer holes, smaller holes, or both.)

The relation between element power, steam orifice size, and pressure drop was nicely explained by the late professor Robert Pavlis a few years ago: Optimal steam tips

Thanks folks for all the info. I appreciate it. Ultimately went with the Profitec. This is a purchase that I want to appreciate looking at every morning when I pull my shots, and the Breville wouldn't give me that joy. At the end of the day that's pretty much all this is about, so I ended up getting the machine that I'd be happy with for a long time.

Hope you enjoy the machine. I have the same so send me questions or feedback on your time with the pro600. I've found tricks on using the machine to its best.