Warning....OFF TOPIC....but it was asked here....
Hatchy wrote:
Thanks attilio - sound advice. Would you be able to say where info about what was the good units and what were the bad ones could be sought from?
In my opinion the best commercial espresso machines of the day (60/70/80's) were Faema. That really was their golden age. After the E61 and E66 models they didnt move straight on to elecromechanical operation as a lot of others had, and as a consequence they were much more complicated internally, but they were the best espresso machines around. For me, Prestige and No Stop models were the ones. Other manufacturers had moved to the type of simple electromechanical operation you see in bezzera, rancilio & others of the era, which in their day in this market were ultra common and around in big numbers. They were simple and presumably far less expensive, but they were the coffee destroyers of the time. This is only a guess on my part but presumably faema priced themselves out of the market (???) or were mismanaged etc and went out of business. They were brought back from the dead atleast twice (rescue packages) before the manufacturing company disappeared into oblivion, leaving only the name. Today the right to the name is owned by another manufacturer. Others may have differing opinions on "what were the good units" and that's ok. Why do I think they were good units? The coffee they produced was as good as any modern good coffee machine. They were well set up and didnt need modifying to produce the goods and perform well. They were reliable in service. Would I have one at home (or any commercial size machine)......NO....Big, heavy ostentatious units, large power draw (for home use), long waiting times to get to operational temp (& therefore expensive power draw per unit coffee), large bench space etc etc etc, for no apparent (to me) advantage for home use coffee. But we are all individuals and I undertand opinions differ according to your background. With equipment importer and repairer hat on, I view them all as nothing more than a means to an end, the cup of coffee, and I look at performance and reliability in service. Your criteria are different, but no less important to you 😉 Hope that helps.
