The Rancilio Silvia has been in production since 1997. I first bought one around 2006 along with some colleagues to make coffee at work. After seeing that it was a great machine I got one of my own not long after. Some years later I decided to add a PID temperature controller kit and that machine is still going strong today. I've learnt how to fix several problems along the way and with parts readily available, and it being very well built, I've now been a happy owner for approaching 14 years.
Recently I noticed the Rancilio Silvia Pro on the Rancilio site, and it appears to address all of the short-comings of the original model, at least for those people (like me) who wanted to maximize the potential of this excellent machine.
Featuring two boilers (0.3l main, 1l steam), a PID temperature control (for both brewing and steam), low water alert, and a hot water tap. The need for temperature surfing and modifications will be a thing of the past. The independent boilers should also make a huge difference in terms of having more steam to play with and less issues around recovery times.
The PID display is neatly integrated and despite packing 2 boilers into a small space, it looks to be not much bigger than the standard model:
Standard Silvia:
- Width
- 235 mm / 9.2 inch
- Height
- 340 mm / 13.4 inch
- Depth
- 290 mm / 11.4 inch
New Silvia Pro:
- Width
- 250 mm / 9.8 inch
- Height
- 390 mm / 15.3 inch
- Depth
- 420 mm / 16.5 inch
The biggest change there is to the depth, which will mean the Silvia Pro will not take up too much room on your kitchen workshop.
I look forward to hearing more information about this as it becomes available. On paper it looks like an excellent addition to the range and the ideal evolution for the Silvia.