I have not checked the alignment as I have been very satisfied with the taste of my espresso. It was a massive Improvement over the Mazzer Major Electronic I had been using previously. When the grind is the same as my Kafatek Flat MAX (shot extraction time is equal etc.) I can detect little/no discernible taste difference. This sometimes makes me often wonder if the benefits of extreme alignment are truly as critical to taste as some believe. I may have been lucky and gotten a well aligned one by luck of the draw but whatever the case, I am pleased with the grinder. I ordered mine through a local roastery that uses only Mahlkonig grinders and Mahlkonig changed the burrs from standard to Turkish at their facility here in the US, so they may or may not have gotten a bit of extra attention, I do not know for sure. When we were on the phone placing the order with the rep at Mahlkonig, he made mention of the improved machining of the grind chamber, better burr carrier and the difference that the newest Turkish prebreaker made in the grind. If you go this route, I hope yours works as well as mine has, it is a beast of a grinder.

Much appreciate your feedback.

I will be ordering the EK43s with Turkish burrs next week, hopefully I can find a good deal on it. I'll also get the mini black hopper for single dosing. Thank you all, for your insights, extremely valuable.

Save your money on the mini hopper, unless you just like the look, the throat of the EK is more than large enough to hold any single dose, more likely 2 or 3. Just put a cover or puffer on it to contain any chips that might pop out from the prebreaker while grinding. I bought the small hopper with mine and have never installed it.

Oh, I like how it looks in the pictures, online.
https://www.chriscoffee.com/products/ma ... ack-hopper
But it is good to hear from someone who went through the process and learned that it wasn't needed.

blondica73 wrote:Did you need to align the burrs?

Just an FYI, Prima offers different alignment services if you're not particularly handy but would benefit from the assurance of optimal performance. Is it worth the extra $300-$400? That I can't answer

For $300-400 you can buy a top-quality machinist's dial indicator and an appropriate base and do it yourself.

Stanford55 wrote:Just an FYI, Prima offers different alignment services if you're not particularly handy but would benefit from the assurance of optimal performance. Is it worth the extra $300-$400? That I can't answer

I'm fairly handy with tools. I found this on prima's website that could help.
https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/titu ... nment-tool

I strongly advice to get it with turkish carrier and coffee burrs. This is typically how the EK43S comes stocked.

The quality of the brewed and spro is just a tad better with coffee burrs compared to turkish. But what really matters in regards to dial in the spro spectrum is not as much the burrs as it is the carrier. To get even more Titus make a somewhat affordable one that gives even more room to play with.

Yes you should get it aligned as it's typically not that great. Getting a titus carrier would also improve it (most of the alignment issues is actually due to the carrier) and spare you allot of time and effort.

My understanding is that generally since the newer CNC machining of the grind chamber has been done that the burr carrier is more of a possible issue regarding alignment. I know Titus grinding has made an improved version of that part available for purchase. It is likely cheaper to have someone local true the face of your carrier in a lathe but i suspect the Titus part has some other improvements. Before doing all that work, I suggest you use the grinder for a while and see if it performs to your expectations, you might be surprised. Also I do recall someone on this board that did the grind chamber mod and then had problems only to find he had voided the warranty. The Titus burr carrier would be easily reversible. And be aware there is a tool listed on Mahlkonigs site for properly radially aligning the burr on the carrier so that will be another item needed if you start changing things.