Pavoni - Professional

Honestly save $200 more and get a Bambino vs the plus. Learn making real espresso on it first - it's cheap, and you have money to get a good grinder. If all you are used to is a Nespresso, you really should get used to what you are doing before jumping into the deepend. I've owned several machines over the past 2 decades, including a HX e-61 Expobar, a La Pavoni Pro, and a PID'd Silvia. The Bambino is both easier and produces very good espresso with very little fuss. All my upgrades (portafilter handle, tamper, wdt, distributor, etc) have all come from Temu for less than $50 total. It absolutely will get your toes wet and help you figure out what is important to you. The fast startup is insane - you can take the machine from a cold start to a finished cappuccino in just over 3 minutes. Not having to plan when you want to make coffee (machine heat up times can be mitigated, but generally all the prosumer machines will have a 20-30 minute warmup time) is honestly great. If you need a grinder too, you can go for either the ubiquitous recommendation of a DF54, or if you think you can handgrind, a Kingrinder K6 will do 18g in about 45 seconds of grinding. It's really not bad at all.

A La Pavoni Europiccola or Professional could be a good option for you. It will last you a life time, repairs are simple and parts are easily found. Makes traditional espresso and built to last.

I don't quite agree with your criticism of the Cremina. Sure, it can dip forward, but in the year I've had mine, it's happened only twice, and both times were because I forgot to fill up the tank. As for the machine's heat, it isn't really a problem since it's stable and there's no need to touch it. Plus, it doesn't get nearly as hot as my Elektra MCL or my LaPavoni Professional since the boiler isn't exposed. The Vectis is an interesting machine, and I was considering getting one, but opted out due to a lack of a proven track record and a few issues noted in reviews.

I'm using a La Pavoni Professional. Essentially just a boiler, lever, grouphead, steam wand and portafilter. No buttons to fuss around with. Whatever you get, you should probably get an espresso grinder but I think your C3 should be serviceable? (I have one but I've never used it for espresso as of yet)

Before I bought my ECM technika profi over 16 years ago, I went through 4 machines that broke, brands included breville, krups and sunbeam. I now have the ECM and a la pavoni professional that will outlive me I'm sure.

A few months ago, I did the same thing. I started with a La Pavoni Pro with a piston pressure gauge. Just this week, 5 months later, I purchased a second hand Gaggia Classic with PID. It's been a very good way to learn. I started with a Timemore C3 hand grinder and upgraded to Eureka Mignon One 65 - it's a solid grinder.

You can grow into this craft in the second hand market too. Look for a second hand breville bambino or delonghi and a hand grinder. I started with second hand $200 La Pavoni lever and a $65 Timemore C3pro hand grinder. I bought a tamper. That set made good espresso. Eventually I wanted a decent electric grinder. I bought a Eureka Mignon Zero. But I think a second hand Baratza Encore ESP would work wonders and fit a tighter budget.

Do you like quiet? Consider the La Pavoni professional. Stylish simple, repairable… it’s not for serving a crowd, but I love my 1980s machine with hot rod mods… https://preview.redd.it/o9in1i187u7g1.jpeg?width=3386&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=148b50141c9718a82029485dfef5e8ae8a646c19

I use a La Pavoni Professional lever machine. Can't really say anything negative about it. Nice little machines.

Keep an eye on the used La Pavoni market. Much easier routine than the Flair, steams milk, can find one well below $1000. If you have any bit of grease monkey in you they’re maintainable forever — mine is from ‘79.

The Flair workflow is a pain, especially when making multiple drinks. I have one and a La Pavoni and the Flair only gets travel use. (Edit: Didn’t realize the 58 has a more “normal” workflow than the classic Flair). I bought my mom a Bambino Plus + Sette 5 years ago and she absolutely loves the setup. The machine hits a real sweet spot as a step up from a Nespresso, as the instant heat is EXTREMELY practical for exactly your use case (early morning pre-coffee caffeination), to the point where I’m shocked that nobody has really nailed that in the “step-up” machines. There are better grinder options today, and you have some choices with the machine (you can find a second-hand La Pavoni around that price range, or any of the options you listed). If I were to swap pieces of my setup for my mom’s, I’m fully confident I’d get a similar (or perhaps better) shot out of her machine with my grinder, but the gap between her Sette and my Mignon XL is serious (though the price sweet spot may be somewhere in the middle).

That’s really similar to my seconds setup. I’ve purchased second hand both a 1991 La Pavoni and a Profitec Pro 600. Both looked and worked almost new when I bought them except needing a bit of lubricant and a bit of wear on the on the Profitec’s drip tray. It pays to be patient!

I use my 600 just about everyday. I’ve got it on a smart switch so that it is warmed up in advance; so on workday mornings, it’s just easy to get a great no milk espresso out, especially if the beans are at least light medium roast. I use the La Pavoni occasionally on weekends when I want to work for it:) From most reports, it doesn’t sound like the Olympia Cremina offers a great deal more than the La Pavoni, but I guess in espresso it’s all about increments. I’m hoping that the Meticulous becomes a viable mass commercial product, at which point I may buy new! But I’m not holding my breath on that because my current setup works so well. The other option is to go the other way and get a Cafelat robot.

Most traditional coffee machines in that price are going to easily last 10 years with reasonable maintenance. Even much cheaper ones will last 10 years easily. My old gaggia classic which I just sold lasted me 13 years. It still worked like new and just needed some regular very easy maintenance. I’ve got a 1991 La pavoni that works perfectly. I went to the La Marzocco show room and after testing the Micra out, decided that the micra wasn’t for me. The coffee output was good, but was only comparable to any other PID pump machine, but has no lever like pressure control through the duration of the shot. I can live without lever like pressure control, but the cup clearance and non-adjustable OPV valve is a non starter for me at that price. You actually can adjust the OPV but it’s inconvenient and the sale rep told me it voids the warranty. Something g the the ECM synchronika 2 is cheaper as maybe has a better balance of features, offset by slightly longer heat up time.