Hi Folks.
I have stalked this great forum for some years but never joined and posted, so let me start by saying a big thankyou to all of the knowledgeable people here who have taught me so much!
4 years ago purchased a BES 920. I have been very happy with it's performance, however I only make 2 coffees a day and it has been in for repair twice since the warranty expired. Given this track record and the cost of parts, when it began to misbehave again I decided it was time to cut my losses. This is not to bag Breville. It seems to me machine reliability is pretty much luck of the draw. Read for long enough and you can find a nightmare storie about almost any manufacturer!
After reading many helpful posts and failing to convince my partner that a $2500 shiny Italian device was just what we needed for our single daily latte, I settled upon the EM 7000. I was a little nervous given that it is a dual thermoblock rather than boiler, but I have to say that I am very pleasantly surprised. After 4 years with the Breville there are a few things that jumped right out at me as advantages.
1. The quality of steam production on the EM 7000 is far better than my BES 920. I could never use a jug large enough for 2 mugs of latte on the Breville. Well, to be fair I guess I could, but after a fortnight of steaming I would end up with 2 flat whites
2. Despite being a bit of a gimick, the steam temp sensing wand is really handy.
3. If I am not mistaken, the shot size settings are based on volume of water pumped rather than time. Will stand corrected if this is not so.
4. Far easier to accomodate those that are happy to risk being ostracised for blasphemy by requesting their tasty beverage 'extra hot'.
5. Smaller footprint than the Breville.
6. Very fast startup.
On the downside:
1. Pressure meter much smaller than the Breville, though still very readable.
2. No backlight behind water level indicator makes it harder to read.
3. Not as pretty as the Breville, though neither is any oil painting.
The price of the Breville has dropped drastically since my initial purchase (Originally$1499 with grinder, now on sale around $799 standalone) and I picked up the EM 7000 for $599 plus $99 for an extra four years warranty, so not a huge difference price wise.
I am located on the Qld Sunshine Coast. If anyone is interested and technically minded they are welcome to my retiring BES 920 FOC for parts. It still functions, but is making some pretty outrageous noises, the coffee will not pump until after the hot water has run for a while, and the plastic ring inside the group head is broken. It does come with a brand new unopened water filter though
Cheers!
I have stalked this great forum for some years but never joined and posted, so let me start by saying a big thankyou to all of the knowledgeable people here who have taught me so much!
4 years ago purchased a BES 920. I have been very happy with it's performance, however I only make 2 coffees a day and it has been in for repair twice since the warranty expired. Given this track record and the cost of parts, when it began to misbehave again I decided it was time to cut my losses. This is not to bag Breville. It seems to me machine reliability is pretty much luck of the draw. Read for long enough and you can find a nightmare storie about almost any manufacturer!
After reading many helpful posts and failing to convince my partner that a $2500 shiny Italian device was just what we needed for our single daily latte, I settled upon the EM 7000. I was a little nervous given that it is a dual thermoblock rather than boiler, but I have to say that I am very pleasantly surprised. After 4 years with the Breville there are a few things that jumped right out at me as advantages.
1. The quality of steam production on the EM 7000 is far better than my BES 920. I could never use a jug large enough for 2 mugs of latte on the Breville. Well, to be fair I guess I could, but after a fortnight of steaming I would end up with 2 flat whites

2. Despite being a bit of a gimick, the steam temp sensing wand is really handy.
3. If I am not mistaken, the shot size settings are based on volume of water pumped rather than time. Will stand corrected if this is not so.
4. Far easier to accomodate those that are happy to risk being ostracised for blasphemy by requesting their tasty beverage 'extra hot'.
5. Smaller footprint than the Breville.
6. Very fast startup.
On the downside:
1. Pressure meter much smaller than the Breville, though still very readable.
2. No backlight behind water level indicator makes it harder to read.
3. Not as pretty as the Breville, though neither is any oil painting.
The price of the Breville has dropped drastically since my initial purchase (Originally$1499 with grinder, now on sale around $799 standalone) and I picked up the EM 7000 for $599 plus $99 for an extra four years warranty, so not a huge difference price wise.
I am located on the Qld Sunshine Coast. If anyone is interested and technically minded they are welcome to my retiring BES 920 FOC for parts. It still functions, but is making some pretty outrageous noises, the coffee will not pump until after the hot water has run for a while, and the plastic ring inside the group head is broken. It does come with a brand new unopened water filter though

Cheers!

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