I think I have reached the final rung on my espresso machine journey. After 3 years of enjoying a Gaggia Classic and 7+ years with my Alex Duetto I pulled the trigger on a GS3 MP from chris coffee.

My Alex was plumbed in for the majority of the time with standard 10" softener and filter cartridges and I did not experience any major issues with scaling or deposits.

The GS3 shipped with a free Mavea filter setup and flow meter. While the setup seems really nice the replacement filter price is almost 10x what replacement cartridges are for my current setup. The flow meter is probably not useful as I would likely need to replace filters based on the calendar and not volume.

Thoughts and experience with Mavea filters? Does it present any noticeable difference in the cup or for maintenance purposes?

Either setup will require a little bit of wrenching to get hooked up and that does not weigh into my decision.

Some comments, since it's been a week with no replies ...

shamun160 wrote:My Alex was plumbed in for the majority of the time with standard 10" softener and filter cartridges and I did not experience any major issues with scaling or deposits.

That is to be expected since that standard softener would remove nearly all calcium and magnesium, and you would have no scale-causing hardness. These conventional softeners do not not reduce the alkalinity (or the TDS) at all. If you start out with very hard and high alkalinity water you end up with soft high alkalinity water.

shamun160 wrote:Thoughts and experience with Mavea filters? Does it present any noticeable difference in the cup or for maintenance purposes?

There are different kinds of Mavea filters, but I assume you got something like this: https://www.chriscoffee.com/productdeta ... ode=106950

That filter differs from your old 10" conventional softener in that is a decarbonizing filter (aka WAC filter, aka hydrogen ion exchange filter) which reduces both the hardness and the alkalinity, and adds no sodium (nor potassium) to the water. It also includes the carbon filter needed for chlorine, taste and odor, and it has an adjustable bypass. The best way to use this system is to dial it in, testing the water and adjusting it so that you have carbonate alkalinity in the typically recommended ballpark ( 30 - 60 mg/L as CaCO3 ). Best to test both the GH (total hardness) and the KH (total alkalinity) using a drop titration test kit - for example the inexpensive API fishcare GH & KH kit sold online and in pet stores.

There is a caveat to using these decarbonizing (WAC) filters with water that is high in chloride and lacks sufficient alkalinity. Details on that here: /downloads/ ... pdated.pdf . ( La Marzocco would simply advise that you use an RO and remineralizing filter if your water has 30 - 50 mg/L chloride or higher. )