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Upgrading Silvia

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  • #31
    Re: Upgrading Silvia

    Hi
    I must say my experience with Silvia has need nothing but good.

    While Ive never used a Gaggia Cassic both machines rate very highly on any espresso web site you care to visit. So I suspect the 2 machines are on top of the heap as Fith says "In thier class"

    What sold me on the Silvia over the Classic was Silvias larger boiler, bigger cup warmer, longer steam wand (The Classics is very short if you dont want to use the froth enhancer, I dont know if there is an after market mod) and the greater distance between the group and the base (I sometimes make a double size Latte). Plus the Silvia is a good 10 pounds heavier.

    But the final clincher was after I rang an Espresso Machine Tech listed in the Melb Yellow pages and he recommended the Silvia over anything else due to  reliablity and availabilty of parts should something go wrong out of warranty. This was before I even told him what brands I was interested in at the time but after saying I had $800 to spend. Oh that and I picked up my Silvia for $599 on special.  Which was  cheaper than the Classic at the time from Myer. ;D

    To date the Techs advise has been good the only bad shots I have is if I stuff something up. Like today I found some OLD (3 Months) beans in the cupboard ground them up and Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwe or I have forgotten to clean her. :-X

    Cheers
    Rich

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    • #32
      Re: Upgrading Silvia

      Lets put the cards on the table Richard, what it really comes down to, is the fact that the Silvia consistantly gives good results, in Looks, Perforamance, and Longevity... We have a couple of friends that have Silvias as well and very rarely do you hear of any complaints, then your Techie recomended one.......... Consistancy is a very very good thing. How many times do you hear of people buy a machine and 12 months down the track they get rid of it........ If I were to be looking a new home machine I would certainly give the Rancillios a very very close look.

      For someone starting out in the vast coffee making world, having a nice machine also adds to the confidance of the user and with this in mind the confidance will flow out and help the user produce a greater quality cuppa.... But if your happy with what you have I think that in many ways is a very important factor.

      I recently did a Barristas course and was a bit dissapointed that I didnt learn a great deal but the bits I did learn solidified the fact that indeed 50% of the quality of the coffee is in the Barrista and much of the rest is in the Grinding and the Beans, not the actual espresaso machine (however with that in mind the extraction and pressures too is very important), Our Boema is an old horse, but she too consistantly gives great results and that to me is the most important thing..... One day when I am old and my Boema dies and spares are no longer avail I hope my replacemant will be a Rancillio.

      We recomend to people that a Silvia is a good machine to buy once for a long time usage.
      FB

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      • #33
        Re: Upgrading Silvia

        Originally posted by Fresh_Coffee link=1101282668/30#34 date=1102288021
        the terms are as used in the espresso machine manufacturing and reselling industries for perhaps half a century or more. Way before all this johnnycomelately stuff that is generated & perpetuated in lists like this inhabited by many with no industry expertise. This is not meant to be anything other than a statement of fact, black and white.
        OK, so the terms have been in common usage within the industry for 5 decades+. So what? The little HX machines havent been around for all of this period - they are a fairly recent product created to fill a market niche that has opened up in the last 20 (maybe 25) years as some users of domestic machines have come to desire the ease of use and concurrent steaming/extraction capability of HX machines but didnt want the size of a commercial machine. You put the sem-commercial tag on these machines but that is because you are coming from a commercial point of view. From a consumer standpoint, the prosumer tag makes just as much sense and has probably been around (in the US at least) for just as long as semi commerical machines.

        Originally posted by Fresh_Coffee link=1101282668/30#37 date=1102297614
        Aside from the larger size of the boiler (which is peculiar to the silvia) the only other slight technical difference is whether or not any particular model has a group solenoid valve or not.

        So in the hands of an understanding operator it is impossible for the silvia to make a higher quality brew than any other boiler design domestic as they are essentiall all the same. Notice the words "in the hands of an understanding operator". This is because you have to "play" your domestic machine on the one hand so it wont burn the coffee, and on the other hand so it wont underextract...due to the sine curve like fluctuation in brew water temp due to powerful electric element vs size (quantity of water) of boiler.
        That happens not to be the case. The Sylvia does have some differences to all dual purpose boiler machines aside from the very expensice Isomac Venus and even more expensive Zaffiro. Most of the differences are purely to do with more robust build and do not affect espresso quality. What the Sylvia and the 2 Isomacs do have is a separated group head from the boiler (E61 in the case of the Zaffiro) and this separation gives better temp stability within a shot than machines with the group head attached directly to the boiler. And it is this better stability that gives these machines the potential (if surfed carefully to the optimum temp before extraction begins) to produce shot as good as HX machines (commercial or semicommercial).

        Originally posted by Fresh_Coffee link=1101282668/30#37 date=1102297614
        The gaggia as mentioned by you is another kettle of fish however due to its aluminium boiler. I wonder if the flavour of coffee produced (by the same principle as the others above) could be being enhanced by the aluminium corrosion contained in the boiler ;D ! If you have ever seen inside one of these it will cure you of making coffee with machines containing aluminium.
        Let me disagree again. The corrosion of the aluminium boiler (if any, it varies greatly depending on your water supply) is so miniscule on a per shot basis as to have no effect on the taste of espresso extracted from one of these machines. The limitations are due to the design issues you have raised for normal domestic machines as you  have stated earlier in your sweeping statements.

        Greg

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        • #34
          Re: Upgrading Silvia

          I do not wish to get involved in the politics of this thread, BUT,
          Yep, the corrosion rate will totally depend on the quality of your feed water.

          In many areas of Australia (and the world) the use of aluminium boilers could be questionable!!!!!

          I have a small domestic machine in the shed. It belonged to a friend. She used it, here and there before giving it to me. I filled it up and plugged it in. I put some water through the group head, tasted it, it was disgusting, tasted somewhat metalic. This taste, believe me, will impact on any espresso. The foul taste may be hard to pick up in a milk based drink. I have not pulled the machine apart, but I suspect that the boiler system is corroded. I believe that she used to use reverse osmosis water in it. The RO water will greatly increase the rate of corrosion.

          FACT:
          An important thing to remember about all types of these machines is to make sure they are used regularly. Especially the "spare machine". If you let them sit in the cupboard for a few months and then drag them out to take on holidays or camping, then BEWARE and be PREPARED for failure.

          I also suggest that you flush all machines before and after every use.

          John



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