It all depends what you are wanting out of a machine, and for what purpose it serves. For example, i make straight espresso and nothing else, no milk drinks. That's why I'm completely satisfied with my flair 58+ and lucca solo with flow control. They both have exactly what I need out of a machine. All i need is temp stability, profiling capabilities, and simple to maintain machines, which is exactly what I have. I never use steam, so no need for a steam wand or dual boiler. Of course, this is just me and not most people out there are drinking nothing but straight espresso, so they're going to have other needs/wants out of a machine. I could see myself getting a Bianca or synchronika some day, but i don't think i would necessarily be gaining anything out of a setup like that, besides steaming capabilities and a hot water spout.
Get a LUCCA Solo, a Fellow Kettle, a Brita, and a nice grinder. You’ll be swimming in long black Americano goodness back to back to back. Oh and Clive coffee school will really help you.
It's not end game in a way, since it's a single boiler machine, but the functionality and price/perfromance of the Quick Mill Pop Up (Clive Lucca in parts of the States, right?) is incredible. The finish of some of the corners isn't quite where a much more expensive machine would be, but other than that it is as close to a perfect machine as you can get for that price. Heat up is 5 to 7 minutes.
Just throwing this out there... I'm primarily a filter person, but got interested in espresso last year. After learning on a Flair, I purchased a Lucca Solo (a Quick Mill Carola but with some aesthetic upgrades). It's an E61 single boiler that just pulls shots, no steam wand. I drink mostly straight espresso when I make espresso, but when I want a milk drink (or need to make one for friends/family) I use a Dreo. The Solo was $1300, a bit more with flow control, but you'd have at least $500 left over afterwards for a solid grinder, which has just as much of an impact on the user experience and an outsized impact on flavor. I can't comment on the sub's opinions on HX's, but I can say that a universal value across online espresso community is that having an espresso-capable grinder is quite important :D
brandaman4200
