I have seen these machines in development for a while, and today I saw for the first time the Esperto line available for purchase on La Pavoni. These machines are a premium version of the professional, with custom wooden knobs, a pressure gauge for the piston, and temperature strip on the group head. At a hefty price of 1686 euro for the default machine, is there anyone here that would consider purchasing this machine new? For me personally, I may have considered the chrome or gold boiler if I could purchase it for a little cheaper (~500-600 euro less than these MSRP prices) and if I did not already have a professional.

Operating these totally manual machines is a lot like playing a violin well, it is all done by timing, feel and experience. Gauges and temp strips are basically a learning crutch. These look suspiciously like an emphasis on bling over function.

Machines look aesthetically pleasing. I would have liked to see some mechanical or material changes to mitigate group overheating post 2nd shot. A spring version would be a great option justifying the added price.

Hello:
I have three older (ca. 1969/70 EPs), two of them the Shirley AR made models and the third one a practically identical IT made EP model, all with cast aluminium bases. One of them sees daily use and the other two are at present in line for refurb, the IT made one being 110v.

IamOiman wrote:... anyone here that would consider purchasing this machine new?

Based on what I have seen in newer La Pavoni models and read in over 10 years of HB membership, I'd say that (new or used) you'd be flushing your cash down the loo.

If received as a gift, IMO you'd be better off returning it and using the money for something worthwhile.

Just my $0.02.

CIV

redbone wrote:I would have liked to see some mechanical or material changes to mitigate group overheating post 2nd shot. A spring version would be a great option justifying the added price.

I would love to see a spring La Pavoni for the domestic line. Maybe even increase the boiler size to 1.8 or 2 Liters in the process. If they can do it with the professional though and add more weight to the easily slipping base I would buy that new.

Better yet revive the Eurobar which uses a thermosyphon and add a group spring. One could argue the LP Pub is that machine but it's on the large size vs a home smaller footprint pro-sumer machine. Similar to Lusso Club model with Elektra MCL group.

OldNuc wrote:Operating these totally manual machines is a lot like playing a violin well, it is all done by timing, feel and experience. Gauges and temp strips are basically a learning crutch. These look suspiciously like an emphasis on bling over function.

Agreed, i think for most home users a spring lever will be a much better choice

I totally agree that the home size spring lever is orders of magnitude easier to learn how to operate it. The design differences between the 3 generations of the La Pavoni cause no end of new user pain as well a being entirely manual.

The lever arm looks like a nice upgrade for my Factory g106. Maybe it'll be available as a spare at some point.

redbone wrote:Better yet revive the Eurobar which uses a thermosyphon and add a group spring. One could argue the LP Pub is that machine but it's on the large size vs a home smaller footprint pro-sumer machine. Similar to Lusso Club model with Elektra MCL group.

Yes, please!!

I always thought it is strange that La Pavoni did not keep the Eurobar as part of current lineup.