After an unfortunate experience with a pre-owned Vivaldi mini machine that arrived damaged I've decided to consider a new alternative.

The Profitec 600 with flow control and Lelit Bianca are the same price here and the Rancilio is $600 CAD cheaper. The Bianca looks to have nicer accessories with IMS baskets included but otherwise the machines appear almost identical. Undecided whether these are overkill for my needs. I typically do 2 cups back to back and 4-6 cups daily, espresso and milk based. Do I need to get flow control if I want to get the best from light roasts?

My current machine is a Breville bambino. Previous to that was an unmodded Gaggia classic.

Pairing with a df64 grinder.

My opinion on flow control is that it has benefits during extraction across a wide range of roast levels. I think there is something to the "lever profile" idea that people keep talking about. You certainly can pull very good shots with a flat pressure profile, but having the flexibility allows you to explore more of what you can get out of your coffee.

For light roast espresso, where light roast means what most people would call filter coffee, fine grind and extended puck soak to help with puck integrity are often required. From what I understand of the Silvia Pro it does not provide the kind of extended soak that's valuable in this situation.