Hi Dave, You might be very right about everything you say and I appreciate your strong opinion.
I've used some other 2 boiler e61 machines and they felt/performed the same to me as the brewtus. Haven't been inside. Its a generic recipe and they seem the same from the outside. Not sure what you mean about e61 maintenance hassles, the only issue I've had was that one time the brew lever gasket failed which was 2 minutes to replace. Is there a particular e61 box you like? Or is it just "anything but brewtus"? There are certainly things inside the brewtus that piss me off, like how all the spade connectors turned brittle and cracked after n-years (where n is large.) How the original group gasket and internal O-rings aren't silicon. The zip ties that held the insulation on the boiler. The POS brew pressure controller (new version better but still pretty hokey.) And I really don't like how the pump is attached. But overall its been really simple to deal with at home. I've never had to send it anywhere. Some part fails I can pretty easily order another. I felt well served by being able to upgrade to a pid kit when my original controller went out. I thought that was really classy even though it didn't really improve the coffee. New controller isn't so expensive because its shared by multiple vendors. The brewtus (and similar e61 boxes) are cheap to own because the internals are cheap and shared. I SUSPECT those new super-electronic machines will be very expensive to own after 10 years, like an off-warranty bmw. Hardware might be good but a bunch of proprietary electronics will be a nightmare. I have also used a variety of home volumetric dose machines and *I* have never been able to get the shots I wanted. I felt constrained. Certainly was a setup problem that we couldn't overcome but that was my experience. Also the little portafilters (s1, dream) piss me off. I pulled only a few shots on the Dream and really really didn't like the interface. That stupid screen and the stupid buttons. The dream might be awesome inside but I think the GS3 is lots nicer to use and seemed to me to make the better espresso (fighting words!) with the brew pressure control. I'm clearly a fool because I would indifferently trade my B2 for a different brand of dual boiler pid'd e61, but no way would I take a dream or s1. I'm sorry to hear the slayer isn't perfect in every way. I don't know where you're going with the 'pointless thick slabs of metal' comment because thick slabs of metal are intrinsically cool in themselves. The slayer sure does present itself well and the one I used was an absolute joy to handle. Ditto for the synesso (which I'm also in love with so please don't badmouth it.) Eric On Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 10:07:27 AM UTC-7, Dave B wrote: > DO YOU mean "superb"? > > > Rocket, quickmill, and profitec are all better choices. > Fit and finish, design all of that. 2 identical sized boilers in > brutus?? LOL. NO one does that. > BTW replacement of electronics should NOT be a routine, period. > > La spaziale *dream* a far better value than LM. full information on a > touch screen. everything else is 10-15 YEARS behind > > BONUS!! NONE of the e61 maintenance hassles! > > *"five figure cost" WTF? * > > *IN re: SLAYER:* > > 1) Poorly designed, ILL-fitting sheet metal. > 2) ALL the expensive electronics mounted UNDER the boilers, vulnerable to > water leaks onto 240 volts -- and destruction. > 3) Money spent on thick slabs of expensive metal, serving no function > other than decoration. > 4) Poor parts support -- VERY slow. > 5) badly made wire harnesses, too short / too long, etc. > 6) ridiculously over priced. > > (from a guy who works on them, ME) > > On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 6:19 PM, Eric Christoffersen <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> Hi Mark, >> >> I'll share my opinions. >> >> The brewtus is pretty hokey inside, so won't call the construction >> 'suburb', but at the same time I've found it to be very maintainable for >> many years. As in, I'm managing to keep it limping along just fine for >> years now. At this point to me the brewtus is like an old can opener, an >> old appliance. You'd need to have something wrong with you to desire a >> different can opener. Brewtus gets the job done. I'm sure there are others >> that do so in the same price range. >> >> I find a real difference between the best café coffee and what I make at >> home, but its not enough of a difference for me to care about. I did buck >> up and get a used Robur grinder and for me that made a huge difference in >> consistency (and huge reduction in kitchen sound level.) >> >> In my experience while the grinder isn't more important than having a >> decent machine, it is much more magical and worthy of desire than the >> machine itself. I got to use a Versalab M3 with the brewtus for a week, it >> was the hugest PITA to use - wife complained, but it did make delicious >> coffee. Won't say M3 was better than robur but was different. Brewtus is >> good enough to appreciate those differences which itself is pretty crazy. I >> have a Lido 3 that I use for pourover at work (just a melitta #2 cone.) I >> used the Lido 3 a few times with brewtus and again flavor is excellent with >> brewtus, not better than robur but different. I wouldn't want to hand grind >> in the kitchen though. >> >> I have a friend with an upgraded GS3, with same beans it can pull a >> better ristretto. But delta is not nearly enough to give me upgrade-itis. >> Downside of GS3 is big entry price, I think it is ugly and then ~$250 and >> transport hassle every so often to get that preinfusion control rebuilt. >> LaMarzocco is fantastic about parts and service though. Fantastic. >> >> If I was in the market for a more expensive machine than a brewtus I'd >> look for a Synesso or Slayer, those would maximize pride of ownership for >> me and they're f'ing gorgeous inside. That is pretty far out along the >> lunatic fringe though. Wish I knew someone that crazy. >> >> My Brewtus does go down with an issue every few years. Once or twice my >> wife has suggested we get a different machine. Each time the fix has been >> <$100, and that is sweet bullet dodging compared to the 5 figure cost >> of a real upgrade. >> >> I think the Brewtus is a pretty damn good deal. No regrets here. Don't >> skimp on the grinder and don't skimp on the beans (which are what really >> dominate the cost of ownership...) >> >> Eric >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Brewtus" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> <javascript:>. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/brewtus. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
