Nice machine Jake!
How does that compare to the Salvatore that you previously had?
~~~Hi mp! You complimented me on this new machine on my espresso restoration thread (Futurmat Rimini) and I never answered you. Yes I remember. I've been waiting for when i start back on that machine and post some new pics, to answer you=:-)...but I'll answer your question here you wanting to know my opinion of the Salvatore One Black vs. the Quick Mill Vetrano
They're both HX machines, both use a Sirai P-Stat but I paid extra for the Sirai in the Quick Mill (about a $60 upgrade). both use a 58 mm commercial thermosiphon group but the Quick Mill uses an E-61. Also, the Quick Mill uses a roatary pump whereas the One Black has a vibe pump. Although the One Black made fine espresso with the vibe pump and comm. thermosiphon group, with the E-61 and the rotary pump, the rotary pump is so quiet, you can hear when the water stops flashing coming out of the E-61 group, the vibe pump on the One Black was so noisy, it was next to impossible to percieve when to time the end of the water dance...when doing a flush
I don't know if I can say the espresso tastes better coming out of the E-61 over the commercial 58 mm group the One Black has, just as it was hard to say the if the espresso tasted better from the One Black over the PID'd Gaggia Classic the One Black replaced. It will be easier to service the E-61 since it is right there out in the open whereas the One Balck's commercial group, to get at it to service the filter screen, it will be harder beacause of the way Slavatore fitted it to the machine...but how often do you have to fuss with the group filter screen?...not very often if you use soft water
Another advantage of the rotary pump in the Quick Mill is it is easily adjusted to affect group pressure changes. On the One Black, Slavatore did not use any type of mechanism to adjust group pressure, so if you wanted to change group pressure (I never did) you would have to fit a rheostat to change current going to the pump. For some, this was a show stopper on the One Black but it never bothered me. I checked group pressure with a guage fitted to a PF and it was high. 10 + bars IIRC, but it made damn fine espresso
I have to give props to Salvatore for essentially making a custom built machine as he is a machinist and cuts his own tubing for the boiler, the boiler end caps. it was well put together and the quality showed when you took a good look at it. The one downside of the One Black was the fact Salvatore positioned the water reservour directly over the boiler, and the boiler laid in a horizontal position which meant the water res picked up the boiler's waste heat. This heat reclamation meant that you could not leave the One Black plugged in (turned on) 24/7 as the water reservour would get too hot, eventually, so Slavatore stated in his instruction manual for the machine *not* to leave the boiler on 24/7. IMO, this was no biggie, although I leave my Quick Mill on 24/7. With the One Black, I got into the habit of turning it off when I wasn't using it. Because the boiler was so small (1.3 litres) in the One Black, it could get up to operating temperture in 7 minutes. No kidding, the machine can be stone cold and you can pull a shot with it 7 minutes later
Other differences between the two?...the Vetrano (Quick Mill) uses double wall steam and hot water wands, the One Black didn't. What that means is with the insulated wands, you don't have to be concerned with getting burnt fingers touching either wand, now that's a big deal if you ever got burnt mis-handling a steam wand that isn't insulated, and I have, more than once. IIRC the boiler on the One Black is 1.3 litres, the Vetrano is 1.7, and the Vetrano's boiler is insulated. The One Black isn't. That's a nice feature as the boiler will run less often as it is losing less heat. Less heat loss means a cooler kitchen and less electricity use, but I doubt even with the high cost of electric these days, the One Black used significantly more juice. I really doubt it, plus it was kept off when not in use whereas the Vetrano is left on all of the time. You may wonder why I leave the Vetrano on 24/7....one time having a conversation with one of the techs at Chris Coffee, he told it was better for the machine to leave it on all of the time, primarily he claimed I would avoid problems with the heater gasket leaking from expansin/contraction. Makes sense I guess, plus it's always ready to pull a shot
Salvatore did not use a vacuum breaker on his boiler. the Vetrano has one. What that means is when you first turn the One Black on, you have to keep the steam wand open so the pressure can evacuate until its up to steam, you don't have to do that with the Vetrano. I think Salvatore set up his machine that way to keep it simple, so he didn't have to route a vent/water line to the drip tray like the Vetrano has. Salvatore is a smart engineer me thinks, employing the KISS method, plus it keeps the costs down. At the time of purchase, the One Black retailed for $1000, my Vetrano starts at over $1500. So you might wonder, is the Vetrano worth $500 + more? I gotta admit, having a rotary pump sure is nice, plus the chromed E-61 is beautiful bling, and you do have to look at this machine sitting on your counter top day after day. I like bling=:-)
It's hard to compare the two because they are built to two different price points but I have to admit, the rotary pump factored heavily in my buying decision when I had to buy another HX machine, and I considered buying another HX from Salvatore, but to get a rotary pump and an E-61 group in a Salvatore machine, you have to spend $3 K. I dropped about $1600 for the Vetrano
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while...
