Jura-Capresso 13548 Impressa J6 Automatic Coffee and Espresso Center, Piano Black

Due to the high price I checked many reviews on many sites and most brands had specific problems or limitations. The Jura was consistently rated highly with few problems. When spending $1500+ I didn't want a machine that was going to break down after a few months. I have now had this machine for about 6 months and have had no problems except a minor one explained below.First the goodVery easy set up. I was up and going in about 30 minutes after opening the box and making sure all the parts and pieces were included.The machine is pretty idiot proof. It tells you when to add water, when to add coffee beans, when to run the cleaning cycle, when to decalcify, and when to dispose the used grounds. The burr grinder is fairly quiet and has run without clogging. You do have to be careful not to use beans that are too oily but if they are all you have to do is let them sit for about 5 hours before using. The water capacity is very adequate at 70 oz. The bean hopper holds about 1/4 lb of beans so you don't have to keep adding. There is no way to empty beans to add a different type, however there is a place for ground beans if someone want a different type. I like that you can change the height of the two nozzles for different height mugs and being able to separate the nozzles for brewing two cups at the same time. Cleaning is a snap. Just slide out the empty grounds tray, rinse and replace.I like that you customize each button on the face of the machine (see below) and you can easily override how much coffee or water you use for a single use without losing the programmed amount.Finally customer service, something important for such an expensive machine. When I registered the machine on line (and you have to do this in 2 weeks to get the warranty) I mistyped the serial number. The next day I got an email informing me of my error. Nice. Also, my mother got one of these for my father and one of the nozzles was not working properly. He called them up and they told him what to do. The nozzle was blocked and just needed to be wiped clean. My parents have well water that they bi-pass to some of their faucets. The machine comes with one water test strip to test for water hardness. When he called he asked them to send a few more and they did. Not that big a deal for them, but they did it.Next the okayThe six buttons on the face of the machine for water, steam, 1 or 2 cups of espresso and 1 or 2 cups of coffee, are very easy. Not so easy is using the buttons on the top of the machine. These buttons work like folders on a computer and it is easy to forget where you are. These buttons are used to "customize" what comes out (heat, strength, amount per cup, language, auto on and off).Every time you turn the machine on you need to rinse the nozzles (push a button and it runs about 1 oz of hot water through the nozzles), this is okay but you have to do it even if you just used hot water the last time. The full cleaning cycle is based on the number of rinses so if you use the machine for hot water you will end up using the cleaning cycle more than necessary. The machine also automatically rinses when it goes into sleep mode so I put a shot glass under the nozzles after use. Not a big deal, if I forget the water goes into a collection tray.Finally the badThere are two ways to make steam and froth. Without going into details, one of these is an attachment that doesn't stay on very well due to the high pressure of the steam. When it comes off steam sprays all over until you push the steam button again. This happened to me a few times and while it did not burn me, it is quite a surprise. I just do it the other wayOverall a positive experience and I would recommend to family and friend.Update on April 10th, 2012.Unit still works well and customer support is excellent. I recently had a problem with the decalcify procedure. Emailed customer support on a Saturday and received a return email on Monday to call customer support. Called and the representative walked me through the fix (I was using too much water, you have to use the amount specified in the instructions). My father had a minor problem last week and when he called he had a solution in a matter or minutes.

We have gone through 3 grind-and-brew style coffee makers in the last 3 years. They all stopped functioning or started leaking.Extensive research and $400 off the sticker price led me to the Jura Impressa J6.Less than ten minutes out of the box, we were enjoying the finest cup of coffee produced in our house. In the two weeks since that first cup, we are marveling at how spectacularly better a cup of coffee is when properly brewed.I had always thought if you kept your beans vacuum sealed up to the point of grinding, you were going to get the best cup of joe possible. Well, you can banish that thought forever. The J6 grinds the beans then tamps them right before brewing, and the flavor extraction is far beyond that of mortal brewers.Two design features make this the perfect purchase. 1] You can fill both the water tank and the bean receptacle without having to move the machine from under the cabinets! All the other brewers were top-loaders. I had to pull the them out from under the cabinet, eyeball the water level, then push them back under the cabinet. The J6 has a detachable water tank on the side that lifts about a half-inch and easily separates from the main body. Once filled, the tank's clever disappearing handle makes it a snap to replace. A full tank lasts two or three days for us. 2] The start/stop and program buttons are super-simple to use. One session with the owners manual and you will be customizing your coffee, latte and cappuccino's to perfection.Obviously I cannot address reliability issues. We have a whole-house water treatment system, and specific drinking water spigots at our kitchen sinks. I'm hoping these will contribute to the J6's longevity. If it lasts five years, it will have cost me about the same as annually buying the most expensive Grind N Brew unit.****Update**** ****January 2014**** ****Still Love It As Much As The Day We Bought It*****Everyone's big question is "yeah, but will it last?" Exactly 30 days after our new unit arrived, it DIED. Kaput. I called Jura, and they two-day express shipped a new unit to me. That unit is still going strong today. It tells me when to clean it out, and I use their proprietary cleaning tablets because...why not?? Every 4-5 months it has a heavy-duty cleaning cycle with different special tablets, and again why not use what they recommend??The coffee flavor and aroma is as perfect as the day it arrived. We never order coffee out because it just isn't as good...and I'm looking at your, Starbucks.We use this machine EVERY DAY. We have easily brewed over 1500 cups of coffee in the two years we have owned it. We do not go for flavored coffee. When we have overnight guests or company who prefer flavored coffees we buy pre-ground...there is a trap door to bypass the bean grinder. After a regular rinse cycle, the next cup of delicious ground Joe does NOT taste like the flavored coffee. Works perfectly!Hopefully we are not yet half-way through the life cycle of the machine. I am looking forward to updating you in two more years with good news and great coffee.**** Update December 2016 ******The day has arrived! My rationale for spending this much on a coffee maker was based on it lasting five years. In that time, we would have bought several Grind n Brew-type machines, they would have failed, and, well, you get the point. The J6 is still purring along. We are celebrating it's 5th Anniversary! It still works perfectly. In Year 4 we had a glitch that, once a month or so, it would do everything but actually fill the coffee cup with coffee. Hmmmm. Starting a new brew sequence always fixed it, and we have not had it happen in Year 5.It still produces perfect aroma and perfect coffee. I'm not a huge fan of Piano Black, yet it's in my wife's Volvo, my Cadillac, and the J6. It still looks brand new like the day we took it out of the box.I follow the cleaning regimen as prescribed, and have only used the Jura cleaning & descaling tablets.I'm so excited I'm going to go have a cup right now!

Jura makes expensive machines that break, then responds by offering a new one or an expensive repair. We had another Jura that died; they upsold us a new one (the J6) at a discount. We bit, and it worked fine for a few years, then died (no power). It was out of warranty, so we spent $275 to have it repaired. Two years later, there is no power again. The response: Pay another $275 for a new repair. Sorry, but a $1,000-plus machine should not die after just a few years. We will never buy another Jura machine.