Beautiful machine, stellar performer, easy to fiddle with- unless i win the lottery, this is the last machine I will ever need.
Positive Product Points
Solid Construction Beautiful Very Easy to work on Great Support Quiet
Negative Product Points
These are details, but- Heavy Hands on (if you are not hands on, this could be an issue)
Detailed Commentary
I had a Capressso S8 for about 2 years and was getting disappointed by 2 things: - solid but unexceptional espresso - sealed box design meant that it had to go in for service if anything went wrong.
So, I upgraded to the Vetrano. Went with the Vetrano since it was beautiful, rotary (quiet and no refilling), and looked like something that I could put a wrench to if things went wrong.
The machine is fabulous. I am not fully capable of realizing the best that this machine can offer, yet. Getting there. It makes great espresso, my very worst shots are still palatable. It makes stellar latte's. Absolutely stellar. - routine maintenance is a breeze. - it is easy to work on the important bits and this has been important. The folks at Chris Coffee have been very helpful. I have had 2 basic issues pop up. 1) solenoid valve sticking- if i forget to do some backflushes and/or exercise the hot water dispenser, the solenoid seems to stick causing very slow boiler refills. After getting the right tools for the job, it takes a few minutes to take the machine apart and remove the solenoid to unstick it. 2) I also had a line blockage between the pump and the boiler. 10 minutes with Chris Coffee (Roger I believe) and 1 minute with a pliers and it was fixed.
I do not count the above maintenance as a negative. I think that any machine getting reasonably heavy use is going to wonk out once in a while. As long as I can get under the hood and fix this stuff I am totally happy. It lets me feel that much more in touch with the machine and let's me see problems coming. (also, was able to adjust the pump pressure in about 5 minutes, which is mostly just getting the housing off, since it had dropped over 1 year of steady use).
And, the ventrano cleans up real nice and looks beautiful.
I would recommend this to any moderately serious espresso nut with the budget. The hands on nature of keeping it humming at optimum levels would put it over the top for obsessive types. Fortunately, my family has the budget for such a machine; for those with a tighter budget this is a pretty expensive piece of coffee machinery. Worth it, but in absolute terms, still expensive. Plus, if you are buying a Vetrano you better be buying a really nice grinder to go with it making the spend pretty steep.
Buying Experience
This was bought as a gift for me ("honey, what do you want for your birthday?"....). The buying and after sale experience from Chris Coffee was superb.
