# ECM Mechanika IV, Technika V or just Sage DB?



## Andrew B (Mar 22, 2021)

Having been lurking on this site for many months, and contemplating an espresso machine for much longer, I finally made the trip to Bella Barista last week. A huge thanks to BB for taking the time to chat, and all of his advice. It was however a surprise and has left me wanting to bounce a few ideas and questions.

I arrived expecting to leave with a Lelit Bianca and Eureka Specialita. I am new to espresso, but enjoyed using a 20 year old Krups thermoblock during lockdown. Expecting to make two to four lattes a day, with the very occasional after dinner espresso. (Also think steaming milk for my son's hot chocolate could be useful.) I had concluded a dual boiler was the right choice, given budget. I am limited to 42cm under cabinet space, which unfortunately means moving the machine whenever the tank needs filling. For this reason I was contemplating a machine that could be plumbed. (Will be installing a BWT filter and tap anyway.)

We saw and listened to the Bianca and were not inspired. BB's recommendation was an ECM Mechanika IV Profi, which was a left-field surprise. It is a beautiful machine, and appeared to be even quieter than the Bianca. Had we not needed to leave quickly I am confident we would have left with it.... I'm wishing we had, as I was left wondering whether it would be worth upgrading to ECM Technika V (with PID).

And then, due to indecision I started to wonder over the weekend if I should stop being so silly, and just go for the Sage Dual Boiler instead... A completely different machine, but solves the space problem in a different way, offers a host of features I may decide to explore, introduces reliability risk and simply does not look as beautiful.

All thoughts appreciated.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

So&#8230; you already said bad things about the Sage&#8230; you'll always be wondering.

You didn't like the sound of the Bianca.

You saw the ECM and liked what you saw. Go for it? Just make sure you get a group thermometer so you understand what's going on with the temperature of your machine, after all, the ECMs you mentioned are HX machines and are not precise like the dual boilers.

Which grinder have you? Don't forget that's equally important as the coffee machine, if not more.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Andrew B said:


> 1. I had concluded a dual boiler was the right choice, given budget. I am limited to 42cm under cabinet space, which unfortunately means moving the machine whenever the tank needs filling. For this reason I was contemplating a machine that could be plumbed. (Will be installing a BWT filter and tap anyway.)
> 
> 2. We saw and listened to the Bianca and were not inspired. BB's recommendation was an ECM Mechanika IV Profi, which was a left-field surprise. It is a beautiful machine, and appeared to be even quieter than the Bianca. Had we not needed to leave quickly I am confident we would have left with it.... I'm wishing we had, as I was left wondering whether it would be worth upgrading to ECM Technika V (with PID).
> 
> ...


 1. felts on the feet and they slide around easily....no problems for filling

2. I'm surprised, production Biancas are really quiet (one of the quietest rotary pump implementations I have come across). There early models (about 3 or 4 that were slightly noisy sometimes and had vibration). I'm wondering if they are using one of those as a demo unit? The vid in this post shows what they sound like (or don't).

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/54555-lelit-owners-and-potential-owners/?do=embed&comment=847105&embedComment=847105&embedDo=findComment

3. If you have been looking at shiny shiny and then you bought a sage dual boiler..., you would always wonder!

P.S. ECMs are great machines as well.


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