Anna Series

Lelit anna with pid would be great to pull consistently good shots. Gcp without the mod is not that good as compared to anna

I know! lol. My wife has been super and gifted me the grinder for Christmas. I also considered the Lelit Anna but was put off by the lack of control over pre infusion etc. The Gaggia is great if it works for you. I was just put off by the need to invalidate warranty in order to get anything out of it.

OK, if I'm being fully honest, I had this exact machine and I upgraded and I have not regretted it since. If you're only using it for espresso, it's not worth the upgrade, but if you're wanting to use it for steam wand and consistency within shots, it's worth the upgrade. I had to Lelit anna 2 and then I upgraded to a Sanremo You in October 2024. if you have the extra money and you'll use it every day i say do it!!! if not, you could always upgrade to the Bianca that's a great machine but again the steam wand is gonna be the exact same as the Anna.

You're coming from a pretty competent entry level machine, so your budget is tough. The Lelit is probably the best of the 3 for usability, but I don't think you'll notice much difference in output, and the workflow will be slower. I don't really like the BDB (cheaply made, common failure points) but they offer *a lot* for the money, especially here in Aus - you can regularly get it for $1000-$1200. Expect issues after 5 years and you can decide whether that's a worthwhile investment for you. Quick Mill Silvano is an interesting machine that flies under the radar a bit here. At $1650ish it's a decent chunk over your $1000 - but it's not much more than a Silvia... Good built quality, 58mm, PID controlled, steam & espresso at the same time. Ticks a lot of boxes.

I like the setup - but why go for a dual boiler version if you just occasionally need milk? I’d go for the cheaper Lelit Anna with PID to check temperature.

I went from a Lelit Anna to a Lelit Bianca and, without changing a thing about my prep process or grinder, the difference was night and day. My worst shot with the Lelit was better than my best shot with the Anna. I've had it for almost 3 years now and it remains the best purchase i've ever made.

I've had an Anna for 7 years, making 2 flat whites back to back twice a day, and I absolutely love it. I got a precise fit tamper for it and have never felt I've missed anything at 57mm. In terms of maintenance I backflush weekly and descale monthly and haven't had a single issue until this year when I've had to replace the steam valve stem. It's also a compact, beautiful machine. Can't recommend highly enough.