Solo

So the Lucca Solo is what I would recommend if you are interested in flow control, it’s an E61 machine rather than a saturated group head!

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

A Decent. I’m perfectly happy with my Lucca, but software person, I want to tinker with the bits.

Hey! Sorry I never responded to ya Personally, we love the Lucca. It's been a work horse since we bought it. Haven't had any issues so far. I would say my biggest complaints would be the tamper included is not wide enough (still need to find a better one) and for some reason no dosing funnels would fit the included double shot basket. Ended up purchasing a different basket in order to actually fit a dosing ring. LMK if you still haven't made a purchase and I can shoot over exact measurements.