I recently purchased a Olympia Cremina for my first Espresso Machine (1988 ) I then purchased a new Olympia Moca Grinder to match the set. I am new to this so my first question is what is the overall opinion of all of you on the quality and the ability for this combo to make great espresso. Thanks!

The combo including you or excluding you? Read up the various guides and FAQs on the site; and the combo will do you proud.

That should be a great setup. Now you need to work on technique and don't forget quality, fresh coffee.

Thanks for the response, I am enjoying working on the technique, with a manual machine it is easy to place the blame on the operator since I am pretty sure by reading the info. on this forum the machine is capable!

One question, I am trying a variety of coffee and find I need to re set the grinder for each type of bean. There are some where even with the Moca grinder set to the finest grind the water channels through the coffee, I use a calibrated tamper so I know the coffee is packed correctly, any ideas?

Stale coffee?
Failure to ensure even distribution (stir up with with WDT ie needle or whatnot and ensure even distribution and level before tamping)

Hey, did you ever figure out why you're having channeling problems? I also have a cremina and the newer moca grinder (bought them slightly used from another HBer) and I have the same problem with my fresh beans. I was starting to look for moca replacement burrs (unsuccessfully) and have just been using my Vario instead lately...