This machine will clog easily with hard water. The pump will have to be replaced quickly. I have the Villaware V41006. I purchased it used and the family lived in the city and had soft water. I am on a well with hard water. This machine lived for about 2 months and then started pumping really slow. I cleaned it with 50/50 mix of water and vinegar as recommended. It worked again for about a week and then no output. After several attempts to clean it again, it finally stopped even making a noise from the pump. I removed the shower head to see if that was the problem and it was only 10% clogged so the pump is going to have to be replaced. That is my next project.

This particular model of espresso maker, Kenwood ES547 Cafe Retro Espresso Machine, came under different brands: De Longhi, Espressione, Ariete, Krups and may be others. They are identical with the exception that the Espressione has an 18 bar pump compared to the others equipped with 15 bars pumps.
That's only annoying...
Now, I own the same machine but named De Longhi. I own it for almost 2 years. I makes wonderful espressos, but like any other espresso maker it needs regular, constant cleaning and descaling. It performs better when doing only one espresso cup, although I often do 2 cups. But when you use two spoons of coffee it seems to get more dirty after that. When it is not cleaned properly it spills water over the coffee filter and sometimes even fails to generate coffee, signaling it needs cleaning or even descaling. Because it continues to drip after finishing brewing I use a cup to collect the brownish water that comes out.
other than this excessive dripping I love this machine.
Another bad thing was when the coffee filter plastic handle broke...
But that's life, nothing is perfect!
Excellent espresso, rich crema, wonderful cappuccino, latte... whatever you want

We bought the kenwood coffee machine a couple of years ago and rarely ever use it. It definatley looks the part on the worktop but thats about it. It seems to take forever to heat the water for the espresso and then heat again for the hot milk.
One of the most annoying things mentioned by other reviews(obviously a common fault) is the constant drips after the coffee has filtered either filling the cup or the drip tray underneath. Its also very noisy to use and quite often the filter drops off onto the cup underneath.
Too be honest I hate it!

The Cafe Retro Espresso Machine is to use, uses high pressure so good coffee quality.
Cheap to buy (comparitively).
Built to a price & mine broke down at around 18 months to 2 years old. (Have owned more than one of these).
Boilers have failed on mine. Internals have also blocked/broken down. Thermostats have failed.
Few spare parts available & cost the same as a new machine.

When I got my Kenwood ES54 it worked brilliantly and made very good coffee. It was also easy to use.
The first thing that went wrong was that in its basic setting it produces excessive amounts of froth. It is supplied with an insert to put into the filter that keeps the froth to normal levels. However the filter part regularly falls out of its holder when I clean it, and it was inevitable that at some point the small insert would be lost by somebody who didn't know what it was.
Heating the water to a slightly higher temperature seemed to solve that problem. Next the plastic handle to the filter broke off. Fortunately a friend with a lathe made me a nice wooden handle.
However when it was about a year old it started to leak badly. I took it to be repaired, but Kenwood took over 6 months (!) to supply a necessary new part.
Since then it has been making espresso slower and slower - and eventually drew to a halt completely. I tried opening it up to clean it, but the inside is a sealed unit and you can't get into it. Repaired once more, it lasted one more month before the heating mechanism failed. I'm currently waiting for it back.

The Kenwood ES547 comes at a very reasonable price but I don't think it is an everyday use machine. Good if you want a cheap machine to make the odd cup. Suspect a design fault caused the steam pressure failure?

For all its faults, this Kenwood ES547 still manages to make me a lovely espresso, complete with a beautiful crema. However, the next time I buy an espresso machine, I don't think I will buy a Kenwood.

The joint between the base and the column/water holder became rusty after a few months. Excessive dripping/overflow from filter holder whilst making coffee after a couple of months.

Bought the £140 machine end of January 2007; we had nice coffee for a couple of months, then no more. It now drips water from every where but the coffee pod. My wife has got electrocuted by switching it off (to stop the dripping).
I spoke with Kenwood customer services, who required the serial number from the back of the machine. Provided the number to be told that they will not do anything for me, that I should get the machine repaired. I was under the impression that those products were guaranteed, but obviously not.

So at £1.75 the cup of coffee, it is a rather expensive purchase, specially since we're now back to instant coffee.

Poor built, poor reliability, very poor customer services

It is a doddle to use and set-up. Superb 'crema' on the espresso, and excellent frothing for cappuccino. It also looks great!

It drips a bit into the removable easy clean tray. I also have to wait for thermostat to reach a higher temperature for frothing. However, in this time you can sugar your espresso, and it really is only a matter of about thirty seconds.

The Kenwood ES547 Cafe Retro Espresso Machine is brilliant, and I would definitely recommend it.