Lacoffee wrote:I went from a Silvia to a pro 700. Usability was night and day. Paired it with a vario which is similar to your sj taste wise. Made amazing espresso right out of the bag. Milk steaming was night and day especially for company. I won't repeat the other fine comments here but I will say that for as much of an upgrade as the 700 was, so was plumbing it in and using a real water filtration softening system. I have used the 700 and water system for 5 or more doubles a day for almost 10 months now and love it.

Similar story here. Upgraded from a 10 year-old Expobar Office Pul;ser HX machine to a Pro 700 about two months ago and use a Fiorenzato F4E. I could get great espresso out of the HX machine most of the time, but what I get with the 700 is ease of use and consistency and quiet. I'm only sorry that I waited so long to upgrade. Mine is also plumbed in with a softener/carbon filter system. It's simply wonderful to use.

Well I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a new 700 and............ its back ordered. Oh well. 10 days plus the time it take to get here. Ill have to find out what it/ I can do with my happy little combo. I know I won't get the quality of a Robur shot but maybe I can upgrade in the future. Heck maybe I could sell the Mini (lightly used) and the Super Jolly and get something with conical burrs. Not sure what i could get for them but i guess that's down the road anyways.

I've got an SJ.
Can't say enough great things about it (not the least of which being that I bought used, and since it's built like a tank it will hold it's resale value )
Found that when I upgraded from a Le'lit Pl041 TQE to a QM Alexia that the shots didn't improve that much.
They were already good mind you, but I would lose the grind when the weather changed or switched beans and have not-great shots for a week or 2 at a time.
I thought "it must be the machine".
The Alexia does make it slightly easier to pull more consistent shots, but not nearly as much as I'd expected.
I think a lot of that is me having more experience and a little better grasp of how to dial in the beans when the weather shifts and the bean changes, not "the magic machine made my coffee better".
I'm pulling exclusively espresso though, so the double boiler WILL make a huge difference for pulling milk drinks.
Good Luck!

Well I don't think I'll regret putting the Silvia away for a more consistent machine. Even with the PID installed there has always been some ambiguity what is the correct setting. I have some pretty decent thermocouples I use for work and went so far as to insert them into a coffee filled basket and pulled shots. I found the water temperature would drift as much as 5 degrees between the beginning and end of the shot. Not to mention what is the correct set point of the PID. It all depended whether the machine sat idle for a while or if it was used recently. I found for the coffees I liked it was about 211 to 214 degrees. Ive seen 219 and higher on this site and others. At this point I'm paying to set the temp at 200 and get 200 degree water out of the group!

This may all be moot anyways, I may just look to find a good used conical. I reviewed the Titan Grinder Project and saw the testers all had good things to say about the Super Jolly but that was also 9 years ago. Tastes change and so does technology. looks like the big conicals are the way to go. This whole thread started because I had a drink pulled and ground from a Robur. I may just have to bite the bullet and look for a used K10 or something.

Hi there,

Always fun to buy new toys

Well, in fact, if you were able to dial the Silvia right, the shots are going to taste the same or so with another machine. The convenience, design and other little things will make a difference in your fun and productivity when pulling shots for sure, but you won't notice a big difference in the taste of the cup.

The Silvia can show no mercy when it's time to put your technique errors at your face, something that can be more forgiving with some other machines and this is where you are going to gain consistency and, maybe, a better cup...

Enjoy !

there's a k10 in the FS section...

there's a k10 in the FS section...

+1. It's a great grinder. I have one, and love it. That said, I'm very curious about the new Baratza Sette. It might just be a giant killer. Near zero retention, timed or weighed dosing, very fast, and reportedly very good grind quality. We need to get some real user reviews first to be sure if it's as really as good as the early reports say, or if it's been over hyped.

Congratulations on the new machine, by the way. It's hard to wait, but it will be on your counter and pulling great shots soon. Once you get it up and running, you might forget all about getting a new grinder. For a little while, anyway. Upgradeitis is a chronic disease with no known cure.