by Danomar » Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:34 am
I owned a BZ02 which is, to the best of my knowledge, the same internally as the BZ99. In turn, the BZ99 is essentially a Pasquini Livia: Bezzera built the Livia, so they simply put their own name on it. The Livia has a long, well-deserved reputation for excellent results.
I actually preferred the HX-style group on the BZ02 to an E61. No need for temperature surfing and very easy to live with. One brief cleaning shot and it is ready to go. Temperature on the Bezzera was very stable. Shots were as good as any E61-styled machine I have tried.
The BZ99 is an upgrade to the Silvia in my opinion, but just how much of an upgrade is debatable. It will be easier to use and more reliable than the Silvia, but it is still a single-boiler machine like the Silvia and steaming ability is approximately the same. Quality of the case and components is better, but there are other machines with more flash.
HTH