Next Step from Rancilio Silvia & Baratza Vario?

October 9th, 2019, 1:59 pm

Hi all, long-time lurker. I've had a Silvia v3 with PID and a Baratza Vario since the end of 2014 (both of which I bought after extensive research here!). I should be getting a bonus towards the holidays and am considering stepping up my espresso from here. I guess I'm not positive which is the weaker link between the Silvia and Vario, though I suspect its the Silvia. I guess lets start with that and hopefully get into recommendations afterwards!

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

#2: Post by **caferetro** » October 9th, 2019, 7:53 pm

I'm in the same spot and own basically the same equipment presently. My Silvia is a V1 and my Vario is one of the early releases. I plan on selling the Vario in the classifieds soon and possibly part out the Silvia as it's not trustworthy enough to make a good drink any longer. I'm looking at Rotary pump, Dual Boiler machines with PID. I'd like a dual water valve also. I'd rather buy something based on the "guts", not a lot of polished stainless, eye candy. The search is on, lots of nice machines out there. I've set a price limit of $3200.00 for a machine. I'm not sure on the grinder as of yet although I'm considering all brands at this point.

#3: Post by **pcrussell50** » October 9th, 2019, 8:22 pm

Considering the Vario can be updated to the metal bits of the Forte for $30, AND it can be easily DIY aligned to Monolith levels of precision without shims or special tools... Baratza Vario owner experience

...the grinder upgrade is clear... a Monolith. Which is what I did. Or else do the metal update and the hyper alignment and see where that takes you.

As for the machine, you have to decide if programmable pre infusion and or eventually flow flow profiling are of interest to you.

-Peter

#4: Post by **rwerner75** » October 10th, 2019, 6:54 am

I just recently went down this path. I had a Sette 270 and a Crossland CC1, I unresolved my grinder first, to the niche zero. The consistency and taste went up significantly, I am currently awaiting delivery of my Profitec Pro 700. It really depends on your budget and what your goals are with a new set up. I found that moving up to a better grinder made a significant difference, I'm not expecting a huge change in espresso with the profitec, but I was looking for workflow improvement, better steaming, and the flow control will be nice to experiment with. My budget went up while I was looking from heat exchanger territory to "get the machine you really want anyway." So what is your budget and what are you looking to improve?

October 10th, 2019, 7:49 am

IF the Silvia/Vario are both in great working order and dialed in you likely won't see much if any real improvement in the demitasse. If you plan to handle higher volume, more milk based drinks then yes something else might work better for you.