Quick Mill Silvano from Chris' Coffee - Page 4

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Beezer
Posts: 1355
Joined: 17 years ago

#31: Post by Beezer »

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Silvano. Seems like a cool machine to me, especially if you're mostly into drinking straight espresso rather than milk drinks.
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napierzaza
Posts: 221
Joined: 13 years ago

#32: Post by napierzaza »

Why is it interesting for you if you drink espresso over straight milk drinks? I sounds like it's got improvements over steaming compared to the mainstays. What makes this better at pulling an espresso shot than the Silvia (which is cheaper in this case)?

Beezer
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#33: Post by Beezer »

I'm guessing it's better at pulling shots than most other machines in its class because it has a built-in PID, it has a large commercial group, and the group is directly attached to a fairly large boiler. Silvia can be equipped with a PID, but this adds a couple of hundred bucks to the cost, which makes it at least as expensive as Silvano. Also, Silvia has a smaller boiler, and the boiler is not directly attached to the group head, so it's more prone to temperature fluctuations between the boiler and the group.

On the other hand, the steam performance is probably not as good as Silvia, based on the fact that it uses a thermoblock instead of a full size boiler. Judging from the videos on Chris' site and comments by Silvano owners, it takes about a minute to steam milk, which is a bit sluggish compared to Silvia. Still, the fact that you can steam and pull shots at the same time may make this a moot point.

In any event, most of my comments are guesswork, since I've never used the machine or even seen one in person. Hence my interest in what others have to say about its performance in the real world, as opposed to its paper specs.
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napierzaza
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Joined: 13 years ago

#34: Post by napierzaza »

I thought the Silvia grouphead was also commercial sized not to mention directly attached to the boiler. But for sure if you have a PID in there you certainly have some added value.

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sam0ura1
Posts: 15
Joined: 13 years ago

#35: Post by sam0ura1 »

Beezer wrote:I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Silvano. Seems like a cool machine to me, especially if you're mostly into drinking straight espresso rather than milk drinks.
Latte for now. Maybe straight espresso some day but for now...

Got it this morning, just unpack at my job during lunch time for first look, and first impression is happy feeling. :P Good built, really more serious that the Lelit I got last week and returned. It's not the same price range, I know, but like my friend always said, "the cheap always ends up costing more than the quality product"

So just for now I am happy to spent 1k$ on this unit. Will more than proud to put it in my kitchen :lol:

More info and pictures to come. Tomorrow is the day. :arrow:

napierzaza
Posts: 221
Joined: 13 years ago

#36: Post by napierzaza »

Good luck with the machine fellow Montrealer. I've had my Silvia for a few months now and have been very happy. If the Silvano is as good as the Silvia or better you could very well be satisfied for years to come. For me it took some debugging to get great shots though (still not all the way there).

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sam0ura1
Posts: 15
Joined: 13 years ago

#37: Post by sam0ura1 »

Just cleaned all the machine this morning (waked up at 5am... :mrgreen: )

Very very great machine. Nothing to compare with a Lelit in term of quality. Was willing in my choice for a Isomac and this one is same quality if not a bit better of what I saw.

So easy to use, absolutely nothing to complain about.

The thickness of the steel is good, some trace of dark stuff can be found on some edges but to rub a bit I made a good job of cleaning. Switches works well, lights looks a bit cheap in place, but overall ok. Water container looks to be a bit small, but finally I made all my tests this morning and the level is now at 1/3. The plastic of the container is thick.

I've tried 3-4 shot with some coffee in pack bought from my bio store and was unable to get something with crema. Shots was like my Breville. So finally I change coffee for the idrinkcoffee sample received with the machine and written this lines I am drinking the best espresso ever made in my home. For the milk, It steam very good. The Lelit have more power but I prefer the Silvano (Slowly but surely... :D ). I grind my coffee (Jura Infiniti, finest level of the grinder, bought from seattlecoffeegear for 99US) , lock the portafilter and start the steam. Near ready I just start the espresso and done. All around a minute ! That wonderful Italian creation !

About Idrinkcoffee service, Slawek is very friendly and offer great service. I don't know his works load and selling philosophy but I would have liked faster responses /callback and more complete answers. I know I am a demanding customer :roll: but this is not for a 10$ coffee bag but a 1k$ machine bought over the net. Overall recommended ! And his Colombian Supremo coffee is very good.

So here is pictures. I got a video of steam for testing but will post better one in the next week after a couple more tests. If you have question just ask.

Box



Unpack



Accessories



Back



Water container plastic thickness (see the wine cap to get an idea of the real size)



Side



In from right side



In from back left side



Steel thickness



Group head



Under look



Drip tray



Power on


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sam0ura1
Posts: 15
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#38: Post by sam0ura1 »

Learning progress...

the machine is very nice and I am still very happy.


Sometime I make great shot, sometime less.

I suspect my grinder to be inconsistent and will check for a better one to improve the result like the Vario or something else.

The grind that I see over Youtube look more fine than the maximum I can get with the Infiniti.

Someone can confirm ?

To be continued...

randytsuch
Posts: 495
Joined: 15 years ago

#39: Post by randytsuch »

I think a Silvano deserves a better grinder then the Infinity, it will limit how good your shots are.

A vario would be an improvement, and would work fine.

Randy

napierzaza
Posts: 221
Joined: 13 years ago

#40: Post by napierzaza »

Great looking machine. I'd love to know how it compares to other of its class. FYI you should get some fresh coffee from Myriad if you're downtown Montreal, they have 49th Parallel and Phil & Sebastien (which is really nice) and sometimes Intelligentsia. You'll notice the difference!