VST & Silvia? (and Intro - hello!)

[adamsugihto]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and can I firstly just say how much I'm enjoying how geeky everyone is with their coffee? By day I'm in online advertising and I now see so many parallels between the factors that make great coffee and those that make great ads... it's all about controlling the variables

I've been lurking this forum on and off for a while now but am finally jumping in as I managed to score an old Silvia and rocky combo for a bargain the other day so now feel like I'm part of the family

Finally pulled my first beautiful shot this morning after about 45 mins of playing around with grind, dose and tamp pressure for the beans we have.

*Sooooooo* happy!

Which now brings me to a question... I have a barista friend who recommended the VST filter baskets... happy to give these a try and I assume they fit the standard Silvia portafilter (I have an '06 Silvia)?

Can anyone confirm?

Does anyone have this combination of Silvia + VST baskets?

If so, love to hear your thoughts!

Adam

[kwantfm]

adamsugihto, welcome to the forum. Post #432 by habahabanero in the mammoth thread below is one answer.

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...en-like-9.html

[Yelta]

Welcome to CoffeeSnobs Adam

The VST and Precision baskets are similar, very little between them, however, the Precision is quite a bit cheaper Precision filter basket 58mm- Espresso parts | Talk Coffee

[muppet_man67]

Welcome to CoffeeSnobs Adam

The VST and Precision baskets are similar, very little between them, however, the Precision is quite a bit cheaper Precision filter basket 58mm- Espresso parts | Talk Coffee

In terms of what they do with the coffee and effect on brewing I would say they are polar opposites.

[DaveD]

In terms of what they do with the coffee and effect on brewing I would say they are polar opposites.

Without getting into the great VST vs EP precision debate, I would say that either type of basket is leagues ahead of the standard Rancilio basket. I have the EP precision baskets with my Silvia, and they were a huge improvement. I've never used VST, so I can't comment on comparison with EP. One other bit of advice would be that it would be really worthwhile to get a naked portafilter, which together with a VST or precision basket, will really improve your espresso. It's amazing how much is hidden by a standard portafilter. You will also be able to fit in a triple filter basket (~21-22g) into the naked portafilter, if you're keen to give that a go. As Yelta said, the precision baskets are much cheaper than VST - in fact, you'll be able to get a double and triple, posted to you for less than the cost of a VST.

[Yelta]

I'm certainly not about to turn this thread this into another basket debate, it's been covered pretty comprehensively in this thread http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...been-like.html

[RayTCoffeePro]

A precision filter basket is definitely useless without a precision grouphead showerscreen.....

Did you install flat screens in your V1/2/3 Silvia?

To make full use of the precise portafilter basket..... use a flat screen like i did for my Silvia....

Though i ditched my Silvia for a VBM

[TC]

A precision filter basket is definitely useless without a precision grouphead showerscreen.....

Nope. Not our observation at all. In fact, completely opposite to our observations and I'd suspect those of the overwhelming majority of owners.

They are an excellent quality 58mm ridgeless laser cut basket and can be used as a direct replacement for the Silvia double (thimble) and any other 58mm basket.

We have plenty of internerd misinformation. We don't need more.

[Yelta]

A precision filter basket is definitely useless without a precision grouphead showerscreen.....

Certainly not my experience Ray.

[koshari]

Watching thread with great interest. I will be PIDing my silvia first and after this will be interested in a bottomless group handle.

[adamsugihto]

Wow - thank you all so much! Who could have thought there was so much to consider in a simple basket?

DaveD - I'd never even heard of a naked portafilter so now have yet another thing to put on the wishlist...

Rookie question - but do all portafilters fit the silvia? or do u need to get a Rancilio specific one?

[coyote]

Is there any common feature (is that the same) - with vst and strada basket?

[TampIt]

Is there any common feature (is that the same) - with vst and strada basket?

Hi coyote

Yes, the Strada uses VST ridged. Fair enough, LM paid for VST to move their research into production.

The other issue: there is a huge difference between the shots of a VST ridged and ridgeless.

To briefly restate the old EQ / HQ "Precision" baskets vs VST debate I would offer this pecking order in terms of manufacturing quality and flow rate. Roughly equal steps in terms of quality in the cup.

1) Standard baskets in most cheap machines: rubbish (including, but not limited to my old Silvia, old SB's, Brevilles, Gaggias etc.). I haven't tried the new version of any of those, so I confess to ignorance and complete indifference as to any improvements they may have made.
2) Standard baskets in more expensive machines (excluding the Strada and a few other outliers).
3) Synesso baskets (basically a better version of good standard baskets). Much more even flow rate than most standard baskets.
4) EQ / HQ "Precision" baskets. I find I have to put the quotes in for two reasons. a) I come from a merging of two families of engineers. EQ /HQ are only just better than Synesso in terms of manufacturing precision, however they are cheaper. Adding the word should be matched by the deed. It isn't. b) The VST was originally titled "VST Precision Basket", so IMO all these clones / Johnny come latelies should not be allowed to use the term unless their tolerances are similar to a VST. Even using a strong magnifying glass, they are not in the same quality city, let alone street.
5) VST ridged. Probably double the flow rate of the aforementioned baskets, also a virtually indestructible build. Incredible manufacturing consistency in terms of their hole size. They also have the guts to put individual serial numbers & scan cubes on every basket PLUS a photo & graph of the actual hole spacing. Automatically means that the grind should be a lot finer to maintain the same dosing, which means a lot of traditional grinders cannot cut it (far too many fines at that grind texture): hence the "new wave" of grinders using designs from 50 years back, which always makes me smile a little.
5.5) VST Ridgeless. Presumably the ridged futz the flow up somehow, however any A B tasting comparisons I have done always favours the ridgeless significantly.

Adding to the above, I always use a naked p/f for any serious testing: makes a huge and widening difference to the cuppa as you go up the food chain.

TampIt