La Pavoni Europiccola V 1.8 - c1973

 Some pics of a 1973 La Pavoni Europiccola

purchased from ebay.

Notice the single rocker switch.

It has a steel base with rubber seat.

The wiring is very simple

Red badge

The water level has a screw at the top  so you can install a pressure gauge

The boiler cap

The Linea Vs the GS

 This is a much more interesting comparison than it looks at first—because the Linea and the GS platform (GS/3) come from the same DNA, but were built for completely different philosophies.

🏆 The actual machines being compared

Linea (commercial workhorse)

La Marzocco Linea PB AV 2 Group Commercial Espresso Machine · $22,825.00 · 

High-volume commercial espresso machine built for consistency, durability, and café workflow.

AV = automatic volumetric. Ie any shot is based off volume rather than time.

You will always get the same yield every time.

 Vs

GS platform (GS/3 – home & light commercial)

La Marzocco GS3 MP · $11,299.00 · 

The pic above is of the MP (manual paddle) version.

Prosumer single-group machine with advanced manual control and café-level temperature stability.

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Direct comparison (this is the core difference)

Attribute	Linea PB AV 2 Group	GS3 MP
Category	Full commercial	Prosumer / light commercial
Group heads	2–4 groups	1 group
Use case	Busy cafés (continuous service)	Home, training, low-volume bars
Workflow	Multi-barista, high throughput	Single user, slower workflow
Control style	Volumetric + programmable	Manual paddle (MP) or volumetric (AV)
Pressure profiling	Limited (PB paddle = pre-infusion only)	Full manual pressure profiling (MP)
Temperature stability	Excellent (saturated groups)	Excellent (same GS tech)
Steam power	Extremely high	High, but lower than Linea
Size / install	Large, plumbed, 20–32 amp	Countertop, tank or plumb
Philosophy	Consistency at scale	Control + experimentation

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🧠 The real difference (explained properly)

1. Same engineering roots — different intent

Both machines use La Marzocco’s GS technology:

- Dual boilers

- Saturated group heads

- PID temperature control

That’s why they both produce extremely consistent espresso.

👉 The difference is what they optimise for:

+ Linea: repeatability, speed, reliability

+ GS/3: control, nuance, experimentation

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2. Workflow: speed vs control

Linea (especially PB):

- Built for multiple baristas working at once

- Programmable shots + auto dosing

- Designed to remove variables

👉 In a rush, it keeps things consistent across staff.

GS/3 (especially MP):

- Built for one person dialing shots

- Manual paddle controls pressure throughout extraction

- Encourages experimentation

👉 You feel the shot more—but it’s slower.

The pic above is the GS/3 AV model ( automatic volumetric )

The film maker, David Lynch had one of these.

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3. Pressure profiling (this is the big one)

Linea PB paddle:

 - Controls pre-infusion only (not full pressure profiling)

GS3 MP paddle:

 - Controls full pressure curve from start to finish

👉 This is the single biggest functional difference.

- Linea = consistent 9-bar style extraction

- GS/3 = you can shape the entire shot (declining, blooming, etc.)

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4. Scale and power

Linea:

Designed for continuous operation all day

Massive steam boiler → constant milk service

Multi-group = multiple drinks at once

GS/3:

Essentially a single-group café machine

Strong, but not built for rush-hour volume

👉 If 20 people walk in at once:

A 4 group Linea = fine

A single group GS/3 = overwhelmed

                          (though two GS/3s side by side would look great and nicely solve 

                           that problem and only run on 10A!)

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5. Simplicity vs flexibility

Linea: intentionally “boring” (in a good way)

Fewer variables

Easier to train staff

Easier to maintain

GS/3: intentionally “tweakable”

More variables to manage

Requires skill to get the most out of it

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🧭 Which one is “better”?

It’s not even a fair fight—they solve different problems:

Choose Linea if:

You run a café

You need speed + consistency

Multiple baristas use the machine

Choose GS/3 if:

You’re an enthusiast or trainer

You want control over extraction

You care about pressure profiling

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🧾 Bottom line (the simplest way to think about it)

Linea = production tool

GS/3 = precision instrument

Or even simpler:

👉 Linea makes great coffee reliably

👉 GS/3 lets you chase perfect coffee

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🔎 Subtle but important insight

The GS/3 actually comes from the earlier GS (1970) system—the same innovation that later powered the Linea.

So in a weird way:

GS = the technology pioneer

Linea = the industrialised version of that idea

Linea's roots : Name & design

 The name “Linea” (Italian for “line”) is widely understood to reflect the machine’s clean, linear, minimalist design language.

When the Linea was introduced around 1990, it stood out because of how visually simple and 

geometric it was:

Long horizontal lines across the body

Flat, uncluttered front panel

Low, rectangular profile

No ornate curves or decorative elements

👉 Compared to earlier espresso machines—which were often bulky, chrome-heavy, and ornamental—the Linea looked almost architectural.

🧠 What the name likely conveys

While La Marzocco hasn’t published a single definitive sentence like “we named it X for Y,” the meaning lines up very clearly with Italian design language:

“Linea” = line / form / outline

Suggests: Clean geometry, Simplicity, Precision,

Modernity

👉 In other words: this was a machine defined by it's lines, not decoration.

⚙️ And it’s not just aesthetics

The name also subtly reflects the engineering philosophy:

1.Straightforward internal layout

2. Modular, easy-to-service design

3. No unnecessary complexity

So the “line” idea works on two levels:

Visual: minimalist, horizontal form

Functional: direct, no-nonsense engineering

🆚 The historical context is important.

Un until the late 80s/early 90s, espresso machines were still often ornate and traditional.

Café design hadn’t yet embraced minimalism.

The Linea helped shift things toward "modern café aesthetics" which open bar layouts

(barista visible to customers) and introduced a clean, industrial design language.

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🧾 Bottom line

The name “Linea” almost certainly refers to its minimalist, line-driven design, but it also doubles as a statement about the machine’s and La Marzocco's new philosophy:

👉 Clean lines, clean workflow, no excess.

The Linea’s design influenced modern café interiors and even other espresso machine brands. 

That ripple effect was huge and still can be seen today.

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Before the Linea , Espresso machines were:

Tall, bulky, chrome-heavy + Often visually dominant.

This meant that baristas were often hidden behind the machine & customer interaction was limited

After the Linea, it's low, horizontal profile meant that customers could see the barista.

The bar became a stage & the Barista became an actor.

👉 This shift was huge & it helped create the “open bar” café culture you see everywhere now.

👁️ 2. The rise of the “transparent barista”

The Linea’s design enabled something subtle but powerful:

There was more eye contact between barista and customer

Visible workflows (grinding, tamping, pouring) developed and 

Coffee-making became a performative craft.

This directly fed into the growth of the 

Specialty coffee culture and the idea that the barista was a skilled professional (not just a server)

Because the Linea looked so clean and geometric, it also fit with emerging design trends such as

Scandinavian minimalism, Japanese simplicity and industrial design interiors (concrete, steel, wood)

👉 Cafés started designing around:

Clean counters, Negative space & Functional beauty

The espresso machine stopped being decorative—and became architectural.

It also influenced other espresso machine brands.

After the Linea, many in the industry shifted hard toward low-profile, linear machines.

You can see its DNA in:

Synesso's clean, boxy, bar-focused machines & Slayer Espresso's

Low profile + emphasis on barista visibility

Even modern La Marzocco machines (like Strada, KB90) follow the same idea

👉 The “low, wide, minimal” espresso machine is basically the Linea template.

Hottop custom profile 1

 link

https://prima-coffee.com/learn/article/roasting-guides/learning-how-to-roast-coffee-at-home-with-a-hottop/learn-roast-hottop?srsltid=AfmBOoq5-F_9DM9fULPJnW5eNpwpYzFbjd4Vyd2Rv1JhwY5P1ypGGidp

also watch

https://youtu.be/EpUMeD681gU?si=Y0t_er-Oajd5P5yJ

roast rebels

1.

Start preheating the roaster, and weigh out 200g of green coffee. 

Be aware that as you are waiting for the correct preheat temperature, 

the roaster will beep quite loudly at 167 F and start its own countdown timer

 (this is the Hottop’s suggested drop temp).

2.

Once the roaster reaches 380 degrees Fahrenheit, open the lid on top of the roaster and add the 200g batch. Replace the lid, start your timer, and turn off the heat of your roaster for 1 minute. If you are wanting to keep track of the heat as I did, every 30 seconds, be sure to start this process now.

3.

At 1:00, crank the heat back up to 100%. You’ll leave this here until the Hottop shows 320 F, so take a minute here to collect your bearings. Depending on your coffee, it’ll take about five minutes to reach 320 F. As you wait, take notes as to how your coffee is developing. You’ll be able to notice a nice grassy smell and that your coffee becomes even greener, before starting to yellow.

4

At 320 F, decrease the heat to 90% (down 1 notch) and increase the fan to 25%. At this point, you should really be smelling that grassy smell and seeing your coffee beans turn yellow. Once you finish this step, you’re going to want to pay very close attention, as the remainder of the roast is pretty involved and quick.

5

At 340 F, decrease the heat to 80% and increase the fan to 50%. You should hit 340 F around a minute after Step 4, and you’ll start seeing your coffee begin to become a very light shade of brown.

Step 6

At 360 F, decrease the heat to 70% and leave the fan at 50%. You should hit 360 F about 1:30-2:00 minutes after Step 5. At this point, your coffee will still be a light shade of brown, but you’ll be able to watch it slowly become more and more brown. You’ll notice now that things are picking up even quicker.

7

At 370 F, decrease the heat to 50% and increase the fan to 75%. This step usually happens in less than one minute of Step 6. It is typically during this step that you are going to hear the infamous First Crack, the moment when the internal structure is breaking down and releasing an even greater amount of steam, giving off a stronger, sweet aroma. Take note of when first crack begins, because you are going to drop the beans 1 minute and 30 seconds afterward. There are typically a few lone beans that crack before first crack is really underway, so wait until you hear multiple beans popping at the same time. (Also, be prepared for your Hottop to beep at you around 374 F. This is a safety feature to make sure that you are present. Simply press ENTER and be one your way. If you are roasting darker, this happens again at 395 F, and it will automatically eject at 428 F.)

8

At 380 F, decrease the heat to 30% and increase the fan to 100%. You’ll typically be at or near the end of first crack at this point

9

When your beans have roasted for about 1 minute and 30 seconds after First Crack (around 385 F), hit eject to drop the beans into the cooling tray. The built-in cooling process lasts 5 minutes (ending with a beeping sound for the last 10 seconds)

Example Roast Profile

380 F Charge 200g

~ Heat off for 1 minute, then full heat until 320 F

320 F Heat = 90%; Fan = 25%

340 F Heat = 80%; Fan = 50%

360 F Heat = 70%

370 F Heat = 50%; Fan = 75%

380 F Heat = 30%; Fan = 100%

~385 F Drop 1 minute and 30 seconds after First Crack

Buchla 257

 The Buchla 257 is a really useful module.

The front panel is a bit intimidating, but once you decipher the symbols and letters its not too hard to understand.

[Va * K ] + {[Vb*[1-M]] + [Vc*M]} + Voffset = Vout

 A great module for mixing, scaling, and processing Control Voltages. (the 257T can also be used with audio voltages)

There are 3 inputs: Va, Vb, Vc.

There are 3 knobs: K, M, Voffset

You can add, subtract, scale, invert & multiply voltages.

The above equation can be simplified to:

K + M + V = output

Va * K (Attenuverter): Inverts/attenuates and scales the voltage from input Va.... allows for -10 to zero to +10V control of whatever is plugged into Va

{[Vb*[1-M]] + [Vc*M]}: blends inputs "Vb" and "Vc" . 

The voltages Vb & Vc can be crossfaded with the M knob 

or a CV at the banana input between Va & Vc

There is a switch that when turned on, will apply +0.5-1V (depending on your calibration) directly to the Vb input

V(Offset):  Adds a DC offset to the final output.

                   The V knob when increased will output 0-10V.

                   (with NOTHING plugged into the module, if you turn the V knob to 50% ,you

                   would have +5V show up at the output).

How I like to imagine this module is as a way to sum 3 voltages in creative ways.

Remember that you have two voltage processors. You can combine these.

For comparison see the Buchla 254v,  Buchla 256 & 156.

254v (buchla format)

BXB

 BXB brambles

2026

https://www.marketindex.com.au/asx/bxb

https://koalagains.com/stocks/ASX/bxb

https://stockanalysis.com/quote/asx/bxb/statistics/

https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/ASX-BXB/financials-overview/

https://www.fool.com.au/tickers/asx-bxb/

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Over the last five years, Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) has delivered steady revenue and profit growth, supported by pricing realization in its CHEP pallet pooling business. Net profit margins expanded from roughly 11% to over 13.5%, return on equity (ROE) strengthened to around 28%, and net debt remained stable relative to its growing earnings base. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Profit and Revenue Trends

Revenue Growth: Sales grew at a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 6%, moving past AUD $10 billion in recent tracked periods. [1, 2]
Net Profit & Margins: Net profit increased consistently, driven by pricing power and supply chain efficiencies. Net profit margins improved from about 11.2% up to roughly 13.7%. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Earnings Per Share (EPS): EPS has seen average annual growth of roughly 12% to 15% over medium-term periods. [1, 2]

Return on Equity (ROE) and Efficiency

ROE Growth: ROE has climbed steadily over the 5-year stretch, rising from under 20% toward approximately 28.1%.
Return on Invested Capital (ROIC): Improved asset management and operational margins pushed ROIC up into the 15% to 16% range. [1, 2]

Debt and Financial Health

Debt Levels: Long-term and total debt figures have hovered near US $2.7B–$3.8B depending on currency reporting and lease liabilities, but financial leverage has stayed manageable. [1]
Debt-to-Equity: Total debt-to-equity sits around 85% to 94%, while the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio compressed over the 5-year window from over 1.8x down toward roughly 1.3x–1.4x, showing stronger cash generation relative to debt. [1, 2]

You can track up-to-date data, financial forecasts, and valuation metrics for the company on platforms like Stockopedia. [1]

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The 10-year historical average Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio for Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) is approximately 23.97, while its median stands at 21.36. As of August 2026, its current trailing 12-month (TTM) P/E ratio floats around 18.5 to 20.7. [1, 2, 3]

Year-by-Year Historical P/E Ratios

The following table tracks the P/E ratio for Brambles on the ASX at the close of each calendar year over the last decade: [1, 2]

Year	P/E Ratio	Key Driver / Context
2025	~18.6	Strong earnings growth normalized the multiple after a massive 2024 surge.
2024	17.3	Increased pricing and supply chain efficiencies lifted EPS, pushing down the P/E.
2023	18.7	High global inflation caused pool pallet constraints, keeping multiples steady.
2022	16.6	Stock corrected downward due to macro tech and growth sector rot.
2021	19.8	Elevated logistics demand during global pandemic supply shocks.
2020	22.8	Shift towards grocery/essential consumer goods distribution spiked investor interest.
2019	8.23	Sharp contraction following the divestment of its IFCO reusable plastic containers business.
2018	11.0	Restructuring costs and US lumber cost inflation suppressed valuations.
2017	48.7	Spike caused by temporary underlying net profit drops from asset write-downs.
2016	17.7	Steady growth phase across the US and European supply chains.

Historical Extremes

10-Year High: 78.88 reached during the June 2017 quarter due to a steep, temporary plunge in statutory earnings.
10-Year Low: 3.30 touched briefly in the June 2019 quarter following one-off capital returns and cash inflows from major business divestments. [1]

Investment Considerations

Sector Benchmarking: BXB’s current 18.5–20.7 P/E runs slightly cheaper than its overall 10-year average, but it commands a premium relative to standard global logistics peers because of its circular economic model and capital-moat scale. [1, 2]
Earnings Predictability: Historically, spikes in BXB's P/E are rarely driven by wild share price bubbles. Instead, they usually reflect localized global lumber price surges or one-off portfolio restructures impacting the "E" (earnings) side of the equation.

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2026

Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) maintains a positive economic spread where its Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) consistently exceeds its Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). Over the past 10 years, ROIC has generally ranged between 10% and 15%, while the 10-year median WACC sits lower at approximately 6.63%, though recent metrics place current WACC higher near 9.59% and ROIC around 10.13% to 14.8%, indicating healthy long-term value creation. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Current vs. Historical Spreads

Current ROIC: ~10.13% to 14.8% (depending on trailing or average calculation periods).
Current WACC: ~9.59% (elevated compared to historical averages).
10-Year Median WACC: ~6.63%.
Economic Spread: Consistently positive, meaning returns comfortably outpace the cost of raising capital. [1, 2]

https://www.gurufocus.com/term/wacc/ASX:BXB

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