Alright.... I just got the La Pavoni basket 15 min ago and pulled a shot. This is the first shot with this basket and I do have a few stray sprays here BUT.... This set up is under $150 at this point.
I'm pretty sure I'm stopping already.
I've pulled about 6 shots on this machine and what I can tell already is that I made a great choice in attempting this experiment.
The coffee is better than I expected faster than I expected.
I'm not sure who exactly this set up would be good for because it does help to have an idea of what exactly you are going for but I am prepared to say that it's pretty shocking what you can do with an $80 machine and a few simple mods.
Obviously with under 10 shots in I have a lot of dialing in to do but the potential is apparent to me and proven basically out of the box.
I'm happy with this little thing.
https://youtu.be/5BIpqMQkuNk