I think you are overlooking one important aspect with espresso machines. You can get much less expensive machine that will create same tasting cup. But only if

I think you are overlooking one important aspect with espresso machines. You can get much less expensive machine that will create same tasting cup. But only if you do few cups a day not few hundreds. They are expensive because they are heavy duty, they perform and you dont have to clean them as much because they are made with much higher precision and they last longer. This is highly valuable - you dont want you main source of income to die on you in middle of the day. In the long run price difference is well worth it.