Comparison - Twin Thermoblock Comparison

SloppyJoe

G'day folks, can anyone provide some feedback on differences between the new Gaggia Baby Twin and the newish Sunbeam Twin Thermoblock machine. They're both in a similar price bracket. Would love to hear from coffee-nistas who have experienced both or either one of these machines. Sweet Sloppy Joe 😃

askthecoffeeguy

I'm not familiar with the baby twin but I've owned a baby gaggia before and it was a good entry point into the home espresso marketplace. the sunbeam (EM6910?) is a great machine for home use, but not without its faults (refer posts on this thread regarding same) - but I've pulled some aamazing shots on this machine, and it has the added advantage of being able to steam your milk and extract a shot at the same time cheers, pat

SloppyJoe

Thanks pat, will follow said thread...although i may hold it a bit longer for a giotto or expobar minore...delayed gratification and all that 8-)

admin

Hi Joe -

slartybardfast

I had some problems with my EM6900, Sunbeam replaced it with the EM6910. I was hoping to break this one too (so I could justify buying a more expensive machine). But try as I might (and I've been trying pretty damn hard!) it just keeps on going and going, pulling perfect shots.I have recommended it to others who are just getting into coffee at home and they have been impressed with the machine too. For the money I definitely cant complain.

30in30

Hey Joe, So which machine did you go with? Proud owner of the Expobar for a year now and it is great if you're willing to part with $. After working on a San Marino commercial I decided to get rid of my humble Sunbeam Cafe Series Crema Thermoblock and went straight for a HX machine. Plenty of awesome prosumer machines out there and I've love to try out more but for now am content with what I've got 😉

...although i may hold it a bit longer for a giotto or expobar minore...delayed gratification and all that 8-)

SloppyJoe

Hey 30 I went with the sunbeam EM6910, no complaints yet, pulls beautiful ristrettos and I'm getting the hang of the frothing thing. As i do not yet have a grinder, it's a bit hit and miss with finding coffee at the optimum grind. But having lots of fun getting there ;D Have fun with your lovely expobar! Joe

30in30

The EM6910 is great value and fantastic buy at that price. Having a grinder makes a difference - nothing better than grinding on demand as you need it. You can get a couple of good ones that are well-priced and won't hit the pocket too much. I've taken the next step now and am about to start roasting my own beans 😉

admin

...thought I'd resurrect this thread out of historical interest [fyi, we also had another thread with all sorts of of Sunbeam 6900 problems] - just thought it might be interesting now that it's been around a few years now, what the overall verdict was with respect to the first serious Aust. designed mass market unit [ie the 6910]?

Rider

admin wrote:

...thought I'd resurrect this thread out of historical interest [fyi, we also had another thread with all sorts of of Sunbeam 6900 problems] - just thought it might be interesting now that it's been around a few years now, what the overall verdict was with respect to the first serious Aust. designed mass market unit [ie the 6910]?

Well, a couple of days in since A's resurrection but no reply. A few out there with plenty of experience (AM, ACog, Dizzy) but I'll have a crack first, then let them add, subtract, laugh at, or ignore ;D - I'll try and keep it short... :🙂 We owned one of these for 2 years or so and moved to a VBM in February '11. It was an upgrade from the Sunbeam EM4800C (Cafe Crema) and was an upgrade based on a more serious move into coffee. For our level of experience and expertise at the time we think the machine is great. We had a few problems with the collar, though I admit fault there, particularly with the first one. The Sunbeam is very unforgiving on overdosing and you will damage the collar. I managed this. In doing so, I also learnt a lot about the machine (as in how to fix it ;D). Milk texturing is on the slow side. Don't take it to a church get together...actually at a church get together you will be okay. Take it to your local footy club and you will be in trouble ;D. We always seemed to suffer from early blonding. ACog has started another thread regarding this (naked handle basis) and I really think he is onto something. I have mentioned this in his thread and also that I'm really excited to see if he is right (read shower/dispersion screen issues). If he is, I'll buy a second handy as an away kit. On that note, if ACog has the fix, it makes a massive improvement to the machine and I'd also like to be his manager 😉. On the brighter side, price. I know it retails for $799 but I don't know anyone who paid this. We paid $576. I know those who paid low to mid 600's with the 0480 grinder thrown in. This is why as an 'initial' step into a more serious world of coffee, this is the machine. An absolute positive is the self feeding and low water level indicators. The price range where this machine is pitched is against single boilers that have to be manually primed. Personal opinion only but I would NEVER buy one. While we read many stories about Sunbeam issues, how many stories do we read about blown Silvia boilers? The Sunbeam issues are covered by warranty, the Silvia issues aren't, yet it is the Sunbeam that gets slagged. Go figure ??? As A has asked for, verdict on the first _serious_ Australian designed mass market unit, I would definitely give it a pass plus, leaning towards a credit. Looking at its intended market, you have to give it at least that mark. It is no VBM, Minore or Giotto, but it is not pretending to be. At the price point it offers a very, very good coffee. Sure, it has its drawbacks, but at the price it offers a lot of positives and you can hardly expect perfection. Indeed, we have one of our own looking closely at one of those drawbacks (talk to me ACog 🙂). A couple of tweaks or work arounds have the potential to greatly improve the machine but all we ever hear is negativity. Thanks for brining the machine up with an open mind, A 😉 I'll leave the other experienced owners to play from here. Chris

Dry_bean

Rider wrote:

admin wrote:

...thought I'd resurrect this thread out of historical interest [fyi, we also had another thread with all sorts of of Sunbeam 6900 problems] - just thought it might be interesting now that it's been around a few years now, what the overall verdict was with respect to the first serious Aust. designed mass market unit [ie the 6910]?

Well, a couple of days in since A's resurrection but no reply. A few out there with plenty of experience (AM, ACog, Dizzy) but I'll have a crack first, then let them add, subtract, laugh at, or ignore ;D - I'll try and keep it short... :🙂 We owned one of these for 2 years or so and moved to a VBM in February '11. It was an upgrade from the Sunbeam EM4800C (Cafe Crema) and was an upgrade based on a more serious move into coffee. For our level of experience and expertise at the time we think the machine is great. We had a few problems with the collar, though I admit fault there, particularly with the first one. The Sunbeam is very unforgiving on overdosing and you will damage the collar. I managed this. In doing so, I also learnt a lot about the machine (as in how to fix it ;D). Milk texturing is on the slow side. Don't take it to a church get together...actually at a church get together you will be okay. Take it to your local footy club and you will be in trouble ;D. We always seemed to suffer from early blonding. ACog has started another thread regarding this (naked handle basis) and I really think he is onto something. I have mentioned this in his thread and also that I'm really excited to see if he is right (read shower/dispersion screen issues). If he is, I'll buy a second handy as an away kit. On that note, if ACog has the fix, it makes a massive improvement to the machine and I'd also like to be his manager 😉. On the brighter side, price. I know it retails for $799 but I don't know anyone who paid this. We paid $576. I know those who paid low to mid 600's with the 0480 grinder thrown in. This is why as an 'initial' step into a more serious world of coffee, this is the machine. An absolute positive is the self feeding and low water level indicators. The price range where this machine is pitched is against single boilers that have to be manually primed. Personal opinion only but I would NEVER buy one. While we read many stories about Sunbeam issues, how many stories do we read about blown Silvia boilers? The Sunbeam issues are covered by warranty, the Silvia issues aren't, yet it is the Sunbeam that gets slagged. Go figure ??? As A has asked for, verdict on the first _serious_ Australian designed mass market unit, I would definitely give it a pass plus, leaning towards a credit. Looking at its intended market, you have to give it at least that mark. It is no VBM, Minore or Giotto, but it is not pretending to be. At the price point it offers a very, very good coffee. Sure, it has its drawbacks, but at the price it offers a lot of positives and you can hardly expect perfection. Indeed, we have one of our own looking closely at one of those drawbacks (talk to me ACog 🙂). A couple of tweaks or work arounds have the potential to greatly improve the machine but all we ever hear is negativity. Thanks for brining the machine up with an open mind, A 😉 I'll leave the other experienced owners to play from here. Chris

Evening Chris, Have never owned a Sunbeam espresso machine so will stay right away from that area. I feel I must jump to the defence of Silvia and the issues of blown boilers, I owned my Silvia for close on 10 years, with never a boiler problem, sold it 18 months ago and the new owner is still using it daily, my son in law has owned a Silvia for 3 years without problem. Not sure what is going on, perhaps Rancilio have changed some build/material spec's or perhaps these machines are finding their way into the hands of somewhat less geeky types who are simply not giving them the bare minimum of TLC they require. What I'm trying to say is of all the people I have know who own a Silvia not one of them has had a boiler problem. There was a bit of a price war on Silvia machines about 6 months ago that generated quite a bit of ill feeling and resulted in a lot of negative reporting on the Silvia/Rocky combo, my feeling is that in their price range they still represent good value for money.

Rider

Dry bean. wrote:

Not sure what is going on, perhaps Rancilio have changed some build/material spec's or perhaps these machines are finding their way into the hands of somewhat less geeky types who are simply not giving them the bare minimum of TLC they require.

Hey DB, I don't think anything has changed but essentially I think the second part of your comment there is correct. That is why I mention that for the 'intended market', the Sunbeam is a great opportunity. The people who are getting into coffee tend to be less geeky than us and therefore the forgiveness is built in. The price war on Silvia and associated rants is a different area in comparison to good or bad machine. I only brought the Silvia up as, really, when saying whether a machine is good bad or indifferent, there needs to be a yardstick and the Silvia is the closest thing to it. Having said that, I have not used a Silvia. Oh, and what I would like to add in general is, I really don't like the term 'appliance' being used for the 6910. I see it all too often, and if anyone insists on not calling it a coffee machine, can we agree to use Admin's term of 'mass market unit'? ;D

C-man

just wondering how stable is the temp on a thermoblock? Old thread I know