# Initial thoughts about the Rancilio Silvia



## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

First and most importantly, both Sadie and I agree that the coffee is even better than I was getting with the Gaggia, without veering wildy into the faintly ridiculous hyperbole encountered on other forums (I mention no names lest I be struck down by leaf rust). The flavour has more complexity and is very moreish, we had three rather than the usual two this morning. Guess some of the subtleties were being masked, why?, no idea.

THE MACHINE ITSELF

Feels really solidly made, far more so than the Gaggia Baby, mind you the Gaggia Classic feels reasuringly solid though less so than the Silvia. Nice chunky switches that look easy to replace, sturdy ball joint mounted steam wand with decent power which is fast enough in the home environment unless I needed to do a raft of milk based drinks , no not close to a commercial machine but it is twice as fast as the Gaggia which is my current reference. Microfoam no problem at all with it.

Easy to open up and work on if necessary, accessible screws, standard spade connectors on the wiring, chunky brass components and not too cramped for space inside.

Warming rack has space for four good sized mugs rather than two, not a lot bigger on the kitchen worktop than the Gaggia but weighs twice as much so it doesn`t tend to move as easily when you lock the portafilter in.

Are there any things that could be better, YES

The drip tray is sturdy but really shallow, you couldn`t sell it to a sparrow as a bird bath. All Rancilio needed to do was make the machines base part a bit deeper and there is a lip to slide the tray over so if it is a bit full you dribble water over the back of it when removing it, Doh. More volume than the Baby though which is tiny and a pain to clean.

The thermostat deadband is much more noticeable than on the Baby so I have to encourage it more with water flushes to get some action. This will be addressed with the PID kit which I had sussed by some online research.

CONCLUSION

Worth buying? absolutely yes

Better than the Gaggia? yes but I would have no hesitation recommending a Gaggia as a decent espresso machine, we have thoroughly enjoyed the coffee made by ours, one caveat, always get a 3 way solenoid version.

Will PIDding it result in better coffee, I very much doubt it, but it will make the process of nailing shots easier with the tighter thermostat control.

Pity that the group head shroud is chromed plastic rather than metal.

Don


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## Greenpotterer (Nov 29, 2009)

Thanks Don

Having a Baby classic myself good to have an objective view on the comparison with the silvia

Gaz


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

One thing I forgot to mention is that the portafilter is one solid chunk of brass, if you thought the Gaggia one weighed a bit, well ----> Don wanders downstairs and weighs portafilters, sad or what.

Gaggia standard with double basket = 488g

Rancilio standard with double basket = 600g

OEM bottomless with triple basket = 422g

Don


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## Greenpotterer (Nov 29, 2009)

Not the only sad o Don weighed mine earlier 495g but I was setting the dosage up not just wandering around the house with it lol

Gaz


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

You've hit on a great point, everyone should know the weight of their portafilter for keeping dose consistent.

The PID will keep your temperature more consistent and thus improve your coffee by removing the temperature surfing variable

Sounds like you now have a solid setup


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## Monkey_Boy (Feb 26, 2010)

I might start this weighing thing instead of just guestimating. I also want a tamp click mat........so much to buy and so little money lol


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

A great review of the Rancilio - well done.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

"Pity that the group head shroud is chromed plastic rather than metal."

How noticeable is it in the flesh? I hadn't realised that it was plastic from the photos that I've seen, though I have seen photos showing the chrome flaking off in some older models.


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

TBH you don`t tend to notice it from a visual perspective, I only realised when I was exploring the construction of the machine and tapped it. Mine is an ex demo unit and there are no noticeable blemishes on the finish, so seems it is a fairly robust bit of plastic. I only commented because every other external part bar the switches and reservoir cover are solid metal so was surprised.

Don


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks for the review Don.

I temp surfed by Gaggia yesterday and there was a difference in the coffee. But if I unpeel my wallet I want to try and remove that as a factor. I will keep an eye out on how you continue to get on.


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

vintagecigarman said:


> "Pity that the group head shroud is chromed plastic rather than metal."
> 
> I don't think it is that noticeable and all in all the machine is well built and well made. If flaking occurs on mine, it will go straight back to the manufacturers. These machines have a 2 year warranty.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

You'll probably find that the warranty excludes external cosmetic trim, Sandy - most warranties do.

I started researching the Silvias when my brother-in-law was looking for help in buying a new machine, and this was one of the problems that we came up with - try Googling: 'rancilio silvia flaking chrome trim' - it gets a mention on both US and Australian sites. The good news is that it's a simple and cheap part to replace.

If this sounds like I'm knocking Silvias I can assure you that I'm not - the impressive thing that we learnt from the investigation that we did was how much all their owners liked them.


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

I will be collecting the PID kit from the post office tomorrow and will be performing surgery on Silvia once home.

If anyone is interested, I will do a write up of the install with picture links. It is the full bells and whistles version with thermostatic control of both brew and steam temperatures as well as programmeable pre-infusion of variable duration plus an adjustable timing of the pour duration.

Don


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Very interested Don

Let me know if you'd like the images hosted at all as we have space on our servers.


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

DonRJ said:


> I will be collecting the PID kit from the post office tomorrow and will be performing surgery on Silvia once home.
> 
> If anyone is interested, I will do a write up of the install with picture links. It is the full bells and whistles version with thermostatic control of both brew and steam temperatures as well as programmeable pre-infusion of variable duration plus an adjustable timing of the pour duration.
> 
> Don


Well, the PIDs taken a while to arrive hasn't it? Anyway, all good things come to those who wait. Interested to hear the difference and your thoughts on any improvements.


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

Glenn ---> thanks for the offer of image hosting and yes please, what size is good for images and how will I go about mounting them in the post etc.

Sandy ---> The PID has taken just over two weeks to come, probably due to backlog of airmail as a consequence of Eyjafjallajökull erupting and stopping air travel in its tracks, TBH I though it might take longer.

Don


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Big day today. Good luck.


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

Humph, not such a big day, the parcel is not the PID, it`s a parcel of wool for Sadie that she did not know was coming. So I will have to wait a bit longer before I get to play with my new gadget.

Don


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Email them to me (will PM) or upload to the post here

If you let me know the image sizes I will increase the limit and can resize afterwards for you


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

Oh, what a shame. Still all good things come to those who wait!!


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Has it arrived yet?


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

No, I spoke to the retailer in good old Georgia yesterday, typical delivery times to UK addresses are 3-4 weeks so anytime soon as its 19 days since posting. My little fingers are itching to get started. The PITA is that I drove through the place where they are based when I was last in the the southern USA, if only I had known at the time, its just north of Atlanta.

Don


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