Fez

Water first should reduce that filtering time down. Thing with an espresso machine is there are lots of other factors like heat up time, backflushing etc which you may end up finding more frustrating

A few things before you get ahead of yourself. Are you happy with the drinks from your clever dripper other than the time it takes to filter through? When you say an age to filter through what do you mean? 3 mins? 5 mins? 10mins? (The reason I ask is because although a shot of espresso takes 30 seconds, the prep before and cleanup/maintainance could easily see you spending far more time than making a coffee through a clever) Have you tried going in water first then coffee on your clever dripper? It will significantly reduce drawdown time. See James Hoffman video on YouTube. Something to also remember is cheap grinders generally produce a lot of fines and this could be clogging the paper filter.

Have you looked at the force tamper? Doesn't require a hard press, I've seen people using a few fingers to press it down. Another cheaper option would be a palm tamper. Either something like the Londinium button tamper(which will still require some practice to get the bed level) or something like a PUSH tamper which requires adjustment for the height each time you change coffees. Just to throw in another automatic choice you may not have come across, compak make something similar to the puqpress called the cube tamp. I don't know what the prices are like

The stagg and clever dripper are very different in their approach. I'm sure you could treat the clever dripper as a pour over, similar to the v60/kalita/etc. But all methods I've seen go down the infusion route(all the water and coffee grounds together at the same time). Where as the stagg in most cases seems to be used in a similar fashion to a v60/kalita. I can't provide any comparison as I have not used either. Something to note, from my research(as I am currently looking at the stagg X as my next purchase), the X and xf are quite different. The XF is much much taller, this poses a few issues for me personally. For me it seems it would be less enjoyable to pour into and you are then limited to fellow's filters. Where as with the stagg X many people are using kalita filters(cheaper and more easily accessible) and some people even stuff a v60 filter into it(see Jonathan Gagne's blog)

Fellow Stagg x View Advert Thought I'd ask on here before sourcing a new one. Looking for a new/perfect condition fellow stagg x. Open to either the brewer on its own or the set depending on price. Advertiser Fez Date 23/08/21 Price Category Wanted  

Is this the same issue being discussed here or do I have a different problem? It does the same thing when grinding beans too VID_20210813_192243_0_COMPRESSED(0).mp4

My version is non rechargeable and takes 2 AAA batteries

I've been using these for over 2 years. They have been drenched, dropped, travelled with me on many long haul flights, the weighing platform is no longer aligned(after a bad drop last year) and they still function perfectly! https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DGLFVS0/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_GWT2S8PAQVBCVH3H419B?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

The same thing has just started happening with a friend's grinder. I'm waiting for him to bring it to me so I can investigate but any suggestions would be welcome

In my limited experience I would recommend a comandante c40. They are slightly over budget but they do go on sale from time to time. Yes it's a hand grinder but the grind quality in my opinion is better than a wilfa svart. It will also give you the advantage of being portable and can be used away from home. Grinding 20g for v60 is much quicker and easier than you think. If you're dead set on electric then a wilfa svart would be a great choice.

Does anyone know if the Ali express membranes fit an original espazolla?

But how many of those owners consider their machines "endgame machines"

Maybe for people who a machine as a kitchen appliance. The kind of people that probably don't frequent a place like this 😂 But as Dave said, it will vary from person to person depending on their priorities and budget

I'll let other people that have used those machines comment but you should really start using treated/bottled water with the new machine and that will greatly reduce/eliminate the need to descale.

Look for a secondhand or new on sale Wilfa svart