Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

    I see now how you are taking what I wrote.

    I do agree with you that the questioner should know the experience of the answerer.

    But this forum is not a uni paper.
    Are we meant to put citations and references in all our posts?

    Newbs come here for help.
    Usually we have to ask for more information because they dont know what they should be asking.

    We assume a certain lack of understanding and they trust us with a certain amount of knowledge.

    If I were to restrict myself to answering questions on only Expobar Levas and Sunbeam 6910s Id be conributing a whole lot less to this forum.

    Im OK with you being the appointed sceptic, as moved by rocknee.
    So I officially second the motion.

    All in favour?

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

      I think there is plenty of us sceptics here already without needing a sceptic in chief

      Doesnt matter the type of forum or the subject the web is full of good bad and ugly stuff you just need to apply a common sense filter but this place in the main is right up there for the good with only minor lots of the other two.

      Personally if someone has read something somewhere and can cite the source or point to it then I am happy to consider it but I seldom take any individuals opinion as gospel. Both read and experienced make up knowledge but experienced carries more weight.

      No risk of the following happening here either

      “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State. " J Gobels.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

        agree with luca

        too many times on these forums(including this one), things are stated, and read by the unknowledgable as fact

        whats wrong with some honest statements

        --In my opinion

        --a friend has one of these and says its????

        -- from my experience using this machine

        but sometimes what we get is

        ---all automatics are

        ---they make fake crema

        -- all supermarket coffee is crap

        -- if its more than 5 days old its stale

        we have a lot of knowledgable people attached to this forum, some with over ten years experience in the industry, Roasters, Repairers, Baristas (real ones), Teachers etc
        but at times their comments, or assistance, based on experince is questioned and sometimes critisized by some no it alls

        we have a fairlygood forum, dont make it like most others

        IMHO

        Graham








        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

          Great philosophical discussion...now lets get back to reality.

          As the Australian importer of the Splendor I can offer this piece of advice:

          It is a fantastic little machine for what it is...which is an E61 semi commercial (or "prosumer" for those that like to adopt yankspeak) clone with 1.3 litre boiler.....which makes really good E61 style quality espresso, delivers good steam,  and looks fantastic with one of the highest standards of build in the market so will look every bit the part in your kitchen. It performs exactly as it should.

          Only you can make the decision as to buy it or the other. A 400 Euro difference is a huge impost so there ***should*** be a corresponding difference in what you can do, or get from, the S1 either now or in the future as your interest or palate develops.

          If you think that you can get so much more from the S1, then that is the one you should buy for yourself but consider this, all too often in these forums the vocal people are always assuming that everyone is looking for the holy grail or has an expert palate when all too often this is not the case. So they send people who are looking for advice, on the hunt for stratospheric tech specs at the pre purchase side of things, just so in the end they can feel great when they make their 2 lattes for the day at home.

          Nothing wrong with that, just be sure  not to get too carried away in special interest forums that skew the market to purchase equipment that may not necessarily be the right equipment for the particular needs of the individual and incidentally, in many instances recommend only a small number of flavour of the month models around and around in a circle...not that I am saying this is happening in this topic, just that this topic has moved tangentially around tbe place and I guess I am just adding my 3 cents worth to the tangential bit.

          Regardz,
          Attilio
          first / original CS site sponsor.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1


            Firstly I whole heartedly agree with FC and I have found his recent posts to be refreshingly honest and direct.

            So the only thing I can add to this is that both machines mentioned are designed for vastly different duties.

            The La Spaziale is a commercial single group machine and is built to survive in a commercial environment.

            The Unico is a single group machine designed primarily for home use.

            That is quite a difference in machines.

            Heres my opinion. Im not a fan of the non-standard 53 mm protafilter of the La Spaziale, for no other reason than I like standardization. However, I am a fan of the adjustable brew temperature of the La Spaz due mainly to the fact that I usually have a different bean/blend/roast level every other week and constantly need to adjust the brew temp. That said, I manage on an E61-variant HX machine by changing my flush. SO its not that much of an inconvenience.

            Cheers,

            Mark.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

              Nice posts, Graham, Attilio and Mark.

              I see now how you are taking what I wrote.

              I do agree with you that the questioner should know the experience of the answerer.

              But this forum is not a uni paper.
              Are we meant to put citations and references in all our posts?
              Graham gave a pretty good response to this. Its not hard to preface or end your posts by saying "based on what I have read" or "a friend of mine has a" or "I have had a brief go at" or anything similar. I have made an effort to do that with all of my posts wherever I can and you can see by the length of most of my waffle that its hardly a great impediment to the creative process ;P

              Newbs come here for help.
              Usually we have to ask for more information because they dont know what they should be asking.

              We assume a certain lack of understanding and they trust us with a certain amount of knowledge.
              You dont need citations to ask questions! On the other hand, it strikes me as a bit arrogant to presume to make judgments for people and one might ask why you, or anyone else in particular, should be doing that for any particular newbie. Particularly when its very easy to simply lay out what your opinion is and why you think that and leave it to them to decide.

              If I were to restrict myself to answering questions on only Expobar Levas and Sunbeam 6910s Id be conributing a whole lot less to this forum.
              Quality > Quantity.

              Besides, I always found it a little sad that so much of the discussion on this site is about machines as opposed to coffee. I thought that the machines were just a tool to get to the end goal of consuming the coffee? If you want to contribute to the forum, why not contribute more about coffee as opposed to machines? I mean, Andy puts so much work into sourcing all of this great coffee for everyone; its kind of sad that the cupping room gets less traffic than the machines.

              Im OK with you being the appointed sceptic, as moved by rocknee.
              So I officially second the motion.

              All in favour?
              Does the position come with a paycheck? ;P

              I dont think that we would need a sceptic if people disclosed the information upon which their posts were based.

              Cheers,

              Luca

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                Originally posted by luca link=1223757405/20#20 date=1223990730
                it strikes me as a bit arrogant to presume to make judgments for people and one might ask why you, or anyone else in particular, should be doing that for any particular newbie
                Im a little upset that you use the word arrogant in relation to me.
                Ill admit that in years past Ive come across that way in person but have for many years tried to avoid such an impression and thought that here, in writing, I dont post in an arrogant manner.

                The reason it upsets me is because its obviously an impression you have of me in general, because if you check, I have not actually given an opinion of the two machines in question; therefore I have made no no judgments in this thread.

                Originally posted by luca link=1223757405/20#20 date=1223990730
                Quality > Quantity
                Agreed - Ive always thought the succinctness of my posts showed my leaning towards this.


                Originally posted by luca link=1223757405/20#20 date=1223990730
                If you want to contribute to the forum, why not contribute more about coffee as opposed to machines?
                I dont consider my palate good enough to contribute more about the coffee itself; I do contribute about the coffee within my self-imposed limitations.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                  Hi TG,

                  I put that comment under your quote about newbies not knowing what to ask and having to trust us to refer to the arrogance of presuming that because you know more you should be able to make decisions for other people, as opposed to giving them the information, suggesting what you would do and allowing them to decide for themselves. It was not intended to be a general statement about you.

                  One of the wonderful thing about actually doing cuppings in real life, as opposed to reading and writing things on the internet, is seeing the surprise and joy in the eyes of newbies as they realise that theyre actually a lot better at it than they think that they are. You would not have a gagillion dollars worth of equipment and access to some of the best coffee that Australia has to offer if you didnt have a fairly decent palate. I bet that you have a much better palate than you think that you have.

                  Cheers,

                  Luca

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                    Fair enough.

                    I think I tend to do as you suggest and supply information for them to make up their minds.

                    I know Ive suggested they list their requirements so that they can assist themselves in their research.

                    Maybe I dont do it 100% of the time, but horses for courses, sometimes they just want an answer.

                    I know my palates improved from "good or bad" to more subtle descriptions like "nutty", even sometimes the particular type of nut.

                    But I have done a cupping session with a renowned cupper of note and it only proved at that time that I have quite a long way to go compared to some.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                      I have had a La Spaz for the last 8 months. I have not used a Splendor Unico so I cannot offer a comparison but I can say what I like about the La Spaz.
                      - it makes good coffee - I guess they all do with a good operator. Its easy to change the brew temp. Its relatively quiet.
                      - it is very easy to use- yes the volumetric stuff is a bit overkill but it is so simple my partner makes herself a coffee if I am not there. This all helps to justify the bench space.
                      - its quick - I can make a flat white  in under 2 minutes inc giving the machine a reverse flush. When I am late for work this is a real plus - do I have time another cup - of course I do, it only takes 2 minutes...
                      - my kids use it for noodles, I make hot chocolates at night, herbal teas on tap, boiling water for the stove. It earns its place on the kitchen.

                      Is it overkill? Is it overkill to have 25kg of beans on top of the cupboard, a roaster under the bench, 2 grinders.....just to make a drink? Of course. But its a cheap hobby. If I bought a coffee on the way to work each day it would cost the same. Or so I tell myself.

                      The cost of the machine is only a small factor - this thing will last over 10 years. Maybe 20, who knows. Spread over that time it is a small amount per year and it gives me a lot of pleasure. Certainly I dont expect to buy another one. Buy the one you like.

                      Chris

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                        Wow, what can I say? Thank you for the tons of answers. You are very very nice!

                        I made I mistake. The S1 for 1400€ is not the Vivaldi but Mini Vivaldi, the not-plumbed version. I can’t use a plumbed coffee machine right now due to my kitchen setup.

                        I add more buying options:

                        Splendor Unico – 1000€ (1900AUD)
                        Expobar Office Leva – 1100€ (2100AUD)
                        Bezzera Domus Galatea – 1300€ (2500AUD)

                        Expobar Minore II – 1400€ (2700AUD)
                        Spaziale S1 Mini Vivaldi – 1400€ (2700AUD)


                        I read all the answers so I got some questions:

                        - Quality not quantity: My needs are not to make a lot of coffees per day. In fact I think that I’ll make 1-2 cups per day. Some weekends I’ll make 6 to 8 cups due to the visit of my friends. So I’m no looking for quantity but for quality.

                        - Heat-up time: One aspect that concerns me is the machine time to heat-up. It is possible that some days my friends and I go out to lunch or dinner and then want to go home to take a coffee, so I can not wait 45’ or 1 hour just to heat the machine. 15-20 mins will be acceptable. So, dual boiler machines (S1, Minore II) takes more time to heat up than HX machines (Splendor Unico, Bezzera Galatea, Office Leva)? If HX are faster… which is faster?

                        - Cooling flush: I’m looking for a dual boiler machine for 2 reasons:
                        1/ No need to cooling flush like HX machines.
                        2/ Exact and optimal water temp.
                        The 2 reasons (well, perhaps is the same) are due, as I said, to get quality. The fact that I don’t understand in HX machines is: how do I measure the optimal temperature to brew the coffee? Perhaps the water is 100ºC or perhaps is 90ºC… and does it makes a big difference in taste, isn’t it?? In conclusion: can a HX give the same quality shots than a Dual Boiler?


                        Again, thank you very much.

                        Cheers!

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                          My Vivaldi II is plumbed in and given how much water goes through it I think it is a good choice. I think it is possible to use it with an external water tank with an adjustment for the brew pressure which would be lower without the mains pressure input to the pump. I think this would most likely be a temporary setup as the external tank would be large and annoying to fill but they do this in the US.

                          My Spaz heats up in about 20 minutes - the brew boiler much quicker but the  steam boiler takes about 20 minutes. I run 2 double cup flushes through the grouphead to get things at an even temp for this first cup. Later in the day I just use 1 double flush to preheat my cup.

                          One of the Spazs few annoyances is that you cannot simply use a time switch to turn it on 30 mins before you get up. You can buy a timer for it as an external unit but it is expensive for what it is and IMHO not worth it. There is a mod you can do to use an external time switch but it turns on in its programming mode - not much of a problem. Again I dont think it is worth it as the warm up time is pretty good. Any time switch would need to cope with the hefty current it pulls.

                          As for the black art of the HX flush my answer is that its up to your taste buds - try a shorter or longer flush and see how it tastes. It will taste different, but "better" is up to you. I dont think there is any such thing as absolute correct brew temp. My machine is marked from 91 to 97 degrees but exactly how accurate that is is open to debate - do we mean boiler temp or temp at the top of the coffee or some other spot? When I shift it from 93 to 91 as I did today to me it just means I have lowered the brew temp by about 2 degrees, not that my coffee is actually at some magic number - its just a relative adjustment. So you can do the same thing with an HX. However I know my main squeeze would not tackle an HX to make herself a coffee but she is happy to use the Spaz. I dont think people should underestimate how important it is to involve ones spouse in the delusion that all this equipment is necessary to make that 60ml of brown stuff in a cup. This is the secret of true happiness:-)

                          HTH,

                          Chris

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                            8-) Thank you cjhfield. Your post is very informative to me.

                            ---


                            Could anyone tell me the differences between Splendor Unico and Galatea Domus? Not tech specs ( I know) but real life things. A difference of 300€ seems a lot to me, so I must suppose galatea it is much better (?)

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                              Could anyone tell me the differences between Splendor Unico and Galatea Domus? Not tech specs ( I know) but real life things. A difference of 300€ seems a lot to me, so I must suppose galatea it is much better (?)
                              I can’t comment on the Slendor

                              But as an owner
                              I love my Bezzera Galatea for these reasons

                              Beautiful build quality
                              Easy inspection if required
                              (About 6 screws from underneath and the whole outer casing comes off in one piece)
                              Easy to fill with water by hinged panel on top
                              Sexy looking in the kitchen
                              Strong dry steam
                              Very reliable
                              Ohhh and it makes superb coffee

                              KK



                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Splendor Unico vs Spaziale S1

                                Thanks Kosmo!

                                not sure what happens, but i can not find a Bezzera Galatea review on the net and i see very few comments in other forums. It seems that is not a very popular machine? Strange. The look of the machine is amazing.  (last night I dreamt with the machine  :-[)   :

                                In my search for more info Ive read some cons about galatea:

                                - more noisy than other machines.
                                - coffee shots are not as good as giotto premium.
                                - difficult to get good microfoam due to 4 hole tip.
                                - too big.

                                More opinions please.  

                                By the way, is it quick to heat up?

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X