Espresso machine recommendations?

[MEmama]

DH wants very little, but has mentioned that he would enjoy having an espresso machine. It would have to be quality (we used to own a coffeehouse so we do know what we are doing and don’t want to settle for mediocre espresso) but he also wouldn’t want me to spend a fortune. 
 

I'm looking at maybe something like this: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/calphalon-temp-iq-espresso-machine-with-steam-wand-stainless-steel/6421854.p?skuId=6421854

Anyone have one you love?

[kirstenhill]

We used the reviews here when we purchased ours:  https://www.coffeegeek.com/

Nine years ago we had a budget of $1,000 to spend (it was a gift to us meant to be spent on an espresso machine), and we got this one:  https://www.chriscoffee.com/products/quick-mill-silvano-evo

Well, basically but an older version of it that came to under $1,000 at the time.   You probably know this, but the grinder is just as important as the machine when it comes to espresso, so if the budget is $300-400, you might want to allocate a minimum of $100 toward the grinder.  We had a crappy old burr grinder when we got the above machine, and even with our fancy machine, the quality of the coffee went up significantly when we bought a grinder in the $400 range a couple years later.

We really appreciated buying our machine from Chris Coffee, the retailer above, because they are very knowledgeable on the machines they sell and also sell spare parts.  We've owned three machines in almost twenty years of marriage, and if there's one thing I've seen is that Espresso machines almost always need ongoing maintenance..kind of like cars...LOL.  DH has replaced a few different parts in ours, and the employees at Chris Coffee were helpful in giving him suggestions as to what he needed or what might be going on with the machine.

[Spryte]

We have a Gaggia Academia. Love it. Big puffy heart love it. If you don’t want/need a super automatic, I still love Gaggia products. We’ve had this one … hmmm, 5 years? Refurbished machines have been fine for us.

Before this we had a Jura super automatic. It made good espresso, but the parts inside the machine were plastic. It needed to be sent off for repairs frequently. The Gaggia is mostly metal. No pesky repairs.

We’ve had good luck buying from Whole Latte Love. And definitely check out Seattle Coffee Gear’s review videos! Great resource.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Spryte

[Bootsie]

We have a DeLonghi semiautomatic that we love.  We did have a gasket problem when the machine was a year or two old and DeLonghi was great about replacing the part.  We have been so please that if we would look at DeLonghi for any further espresso machine purchases.