OT: Espresso machines

I am a three year owner of a Jura E8 super-automatica machine with the milk frother and cooler.  I am surprised only one other poster mentioned owning a Jura as I expected more comments about that brand from this clientele. My E8 makes wonderful flat whites and espressos (my drinks of choice) and I use good locally roasted beans too. I was not cheap but I don't know how I have survived all these years without it...LOL

My son got me started two years ago. He’s got a fancy Italian machine. He started with Nespresso too, on a trip to Europe.
 

I came home from his place and bought a Mr. Coffee Espresso maker. I now use the original Flair lever press. I added temperature and pressure gauges to the Mr. Coffee machine while modifying the controls so that I can control the temperature and flow separately. The Mr Coffee doesn’t really make espresso very well, it uses only steam pressure. (Kind of a fancy Moka pot.) Hence the Flair. I use the Mr. Coffee to heat the cup and steam the milk. I’ve got a Baratza for pour overs, but went to a manual grinder for espresso. Spent big dollars on a German Kinu, love it. I hated the loud sound the Barstza makes in the morning when others are still sleeping.

My favorite drink is a good latte. I’ve been trying to do a latte art heart for two years now. I’m getting closer to. . ..

I’m ready for an upgrade, but hesitate to pull the trigger. The Mr. Coffee has a 51mm portafilter, like the DeLongi machines. The Breville machines use a 54mm. Part of the Flair’s genius is the tiny 1-5/8” portafilter all of the above are easier to get good coffee out of than the professional 58mm pucks due to their depth offering more control and dwell time. In my opinion.
 

I’m sure you’ll have fun figuring it all out, Mr. Squires.  

Olympia also uses smaller portafilters (49mm for the Cremina and 54mm for the Maximatic). Both are relatively simple and durable machines capable of excellent results. They aren't cheap, but they are all-metal and built to a standard met by few other machines in the market, and they are scaled for convenient domestic use. Used machines hold value well. The Cremina is a lever machine, which provides a simple and quiet operation. The Maximatic is a pump heat-exchanger machine, which heats brew water from the reservoir separate from the steaming boiler water.

...a friend back when Starbucks was growing like the fungus amongst us liked to refer to them as 'shooting galleries', a reference to his growing up in NYC....

It's a good thing ( Thanx, Martha ) that the tariff terror is subsiding somewhat...
I'd find the most remote cave poss if the coffee imports pancaked and put the US in a major withdrawal fit...😏

Erik - if you’re looking for a smaller footprint and reliable machine, I’d suggest you look at the  ECM mechanica. I have several of their machines (Synchronica (2)  and the Mechanica) for different locations and like them because they’re built by Germans, designed by Italians and ALL of the parts are replaceable. I’ve never had an issue with any of them, but like the idea of being able to use them for decades with modest upkeep. 

2 lattes or espressos in the morning before I do anything. It’s a safety thing,