Excellent machine. Well built, attractive and fairly easy to use.
Positive Product Points
Built very well. Lots of power. Excellent looks. Excellent output (but definitely finicky).
Negative Product Points
Expensive. Getting excellent froth is proving a bit trickier then getting excellent (but not god-like) espresso. Details below...
Detailed Commentary
The Livia is a very attractive machine that looks every bit of it‘s high price tag ($1k). The beauty is more then skin deep...a look inside shows a near pro machine built like a tank.
As other reviews and Mark has stated, this is a finicky machine. I‘m of course still working on getting better and better espresso (a recently purchased Vivace Ergo Tamper has greatly helped this quest) but have found that even though I can get very good and ocassionally excellent shots from the Liva, micro-foam is another story.
When first purchased, I replaced the plastic steam tip with the included four-hole metal tip. Lots of ruined milk followed. I put the plastic tip back on and though it froths pretty well, it does‘nt do the really nice microfroth I‘ve seen from pro machines. I‘m sure this is a steam-tip issue (there seems to be plenty of steam power) and am going to try making a tip after reading postings in alt.coffee
