Hello again !

I was willing to wait for the Odyssey Espresso preorders, but I found a possible offer on Ponte Vecchio machines: a member of the German Kaffee-netz forum is able to order a few for a reasonable price (550€ & 450€ for Lusso/Export respectively, without shipping fees).

I've read almost everything I could find here (that's a lot).

The main reason I try to get another machine is for steaming milk. It seems like the Export is more than enough for my needs right now (maximum 2 or 3 shots/day during the week, and that's if I prefer it to the Robot).

To be honest, I find the Lusso visually more pleasing, even if it is bigger. I am unsure if the temp stability advantage is relevant for my use. The thing that bothers me is the 3L boiler: is it a bad idea to buy a machine with such a big boiler for a low volume use ?

The warm-up time still seems fast. Is it okay to fill a big boiler with just the minimum amount of water you need for less than 2 or 3 days ? I'd expect a slightly faster heat up time, but am unsure of the effect on the steaming power for example. The Lusso has a low-water detection which is a nice function to have (if the electronic brain doesn't fail*). Ideally I would like not to have to drain the boiler very often (I'll use bottled water at first, maybe 5L distilled water with rpavli's recipe in the future). If the machine ends up being unused for a few days I would siphon the content out (for the Lusso) or invert the Export over the sink (seems to be easy)

Any help is appreciated

Ordered a Lusso.

I guess I have to drink more coffee now just to justify buying a new machine

+1

3 liter seems big but remember the boiler is also the water reservoir feeding both the group and providing steam and water for the valves. The machine needs to be depressurized in order to be refilled.

The heating element needing to be immersed at all time to prevent failure, a smaller horizontal boiler would be challenging.

Another big advantage in my opinion is the way the group is fed. The thermosyphon on the Lusso is super stable and does not over heat. You can leave it on all day without any worries.
The Export has a dipper tube feeding the group. This means no hot/cold cycling, shorter brew path and the group is bolted straight to the super hot boiler.
I owned a Lusso but never had an Export. I've had or still have several smaller lever espresso machines that are dipper fed. Temperature management on those smaller groups is always a challenge. The Lusso got that under control.

Plus, the machine is super compact and pulls a classic lever espresso. Lusso all the way!

Hope my bias opinion is somewhat helpful!