With the Silvia Pro X, Rancilio is bringing a dual boiler machine to the market that comes in the style of its big sister, the iconic "Miss Silvia". There's a lot of proven design, but also some innovations. Does Rancilio manage to make the leap into the new millennium with the Silvia Pro X without losing its cult status? We tested it! As always, we bought the machine ourselves and can freely speak our minds. Of course, we'll also give you a few tips on how to prepare delicious espresso with the Silvia Pro X.
Many more dual boilers are on the test list and other espresso machines are on the test list.
Rancilio Silvia Pro X at a glance
The strengths
- For a dual boiler, the Rancilio Silvia Pro X has a relatively quick heat-up time of just 8 minutes without the steam boiler. With the steam boiler, the espresso machine is ready to use in 11 minutes.
- Good temperature consistency, especially with our tips for use below.
- Relatively low energy consumption for a dual boiler.
- Possibility of pre-infusion, even though a longer programming duration would be desirable.
- Shot timer that displays the extraction time of the espresso. Many espresso machines skimp on this, but it's such a practical little helper.
- Robust construction and Rancilio Silvia design. Timeless and with cult status.
- Few sharp edges, as the sheet metal is bent at visible points and ends softly.
- Solid portafilter, but also with weaknesses.
- High-quality tamper that fits flush in the basket.
- Good espresso performance. The coffee tastes good, thanks to the well-rounded overall concept of temperature, pressure and consistency.
The weaknesses
- Tiny drip tray. In fact, the Silvia Pro X's drip tray competes for last place compared to other dual boilers in this category.
- Drip tray is not permeable enough and deflects drips and splashes more than a grid.
- Relatively low steam power, although you can make do with it.
- Portafilter not balanced.
- Closely spaced portafilter spouts, which sometimes makes it difficult to hit two cups well and not extract on the rim.
- No cool touch steam wand.
- Pre-infusion maximum 6 seconds
Test videos for the Rancilio Silvia Pro X
Here you can find our two test videos on YouTube.
Since our test video got a bit longer again, we've condensed and shortened the video.
The exterior of the Silvia Pro X - The old Volvo among dual boilers
The Silvia Pro X is not a design wonder. Rancilio stays true to itself and has designed a machine that design-wise could have fit the year 1998: functional, solid and unpretentious. The comparison to an old Volvo is not too far-fetched. If you buy an old Volvo, you don't want to show off with design, but rather drive a solid and safe car.
The Silvia Pro X has a width of 25.5 cm, making it relatively narrow. In height it measures 40.5 cm and in depth 42.2 cm. Even with the portafilter inserted, it has a total depth of only 51.5 cm, so it fits on any countertop. With a weight of 20 kilograms, it sits solidly on the table and doesn't move around.
Inside the Silvia Pro X are two boilers: a small 0.3-liter espresso boiler and a switchable 1-liter steam boiler. In our case, the steam boiler was even deactivated upon delivery and had to be activated first.
On our machine, there was no significant offset, so the displayed values were accurate. Still, we recommend asking your retailer to re-measure when purchasing. The machine has no volumetric function built in, so a scale under the espresso cups is essential!
Overall, the machine makes a high-quality impression. The metal edges are bent on the sides so that no sharp edges are created. The gap dimensions are also reasonable, and the accessories fit well into the overall picture – functional and solid. The baskets are neat and well-dimensioned. There's also a blind basket for cleaning and a really nice, well-fitting tamper.
The included portafilter also looks solid. Aesthetically, the home barista world is divided. Unfortunately, the portafilter is "top-heavy" due to its large mass and doesn't really lie balanced in the hand. In addition, the spouts are very close together, so you have to aim carefully to avoid hitting the rim of a cup with two espresso cups.
The machine's old design is robust and time-tested, but has some drawbacks. The 2.2-liter water tank comes with two tubes that suck in the water. If you're not careful, this system will quickly run dry. When refilling and cleaning the tank, you must always make sure that both tubes are in the water. What was common in the past is rarely found in modern machines today.
Another significant disadvantage is the tiny drip tray. Almost nothing fits into it. This is very annoying because not only water from the flush shots, but also water from the relief valve is emptied into it.
In practice, this means you have to empty the drip tray after almost every other espresso. The mechanism for emptying the drip tray is also so wobbly that you always spill something in the process. In addition, the grid design is not really well thought out and water dripping onto it remains standing. While there are already alternative drip trays with grids available online, this point of criticism could have been easily avoided by Rancilio.
Temperature performance
If you know us coffee makers, you know that we measure every machine down to the smallest detail. Especially when it comes to temperature and temperature consistency.
To get straight to the point: The Rancilio Silvia Pro X does a really good job!
If you only want to drink espresso, you can turn off the steam boiler. This helps, on one hand, to further reduce the already low power consumption of the machine, and also shortens the heat-up time. The espresso boiler reaches temperature after about 8 minutes and consumes only 0.13 kilowatts per hour during heat-up. That's a value that can compete in the thermoblock league too!
We found that after 10 minutes plus a flush shot to warm up the portafilter, we achieve sufficient brewing temperature (see chart above).
In measurements with the WBC protocol, we found that at higher frequency, the machine falls out of temperature retention and sometimes brews hotter and sometimes colder. Nevertheless, the standard deviation of the Silvia Pro X at 1.22 degrees is in a mid-range.
We achieved the best results when we allowed 90 seconds between individual espresso extractions. Then the Silvia Pro X's temperature stabilized very well and provided consistent results.
If you want to offer yourself or your guests a cappuccino, you should start the machine directly with the steam boiler switched on and wait about 11 to 12 minutes. Although Rancilio states that the machine should reach the target temperature after 5 minutes, according to our measurements we're only at about 70 degrees at that point. At this temperature, you can't yet brew a drinkable espresso. We therefore strongly recommend that you give the big Silvia its time! The machine consumes about 0.24 kilowatts per hour to heat both boilers, which is also a very good value and puts many machines to shame.
In our WBC protocol, we tested the Silvia Pro X's temperature consistency under extreme load. We found that too high a frequency can overwhelm the machine. However, this isn't a big deal since we're not talking about a commercial machine here.
Pre-infusion – A great innovation!
And then there's something new! Rancilio offers us the ability to set pre-infusion on the Silvia Pro X. The coffee puck is wetted with hot water for between 0 and 6 seconds. The vibration pump doesn't run during pre-infusion, but only kicks in afterward.
What is pre-infusion good for? Ground coffee has a hydrophobic, i.e. water-repellent surface. If you pump water at high pressure through the coffee grounds, it can happen that some areas of the coffee cake "accept" the water earlier and let it through, while other areas react later. This can cause so-called channeling. With channeling, the extraction of the espresso is not uniform; small channels form in the coffee cake through which the water flows too quickly. The result is an unbalanced cup of espresso.
During pre-infusion, the entire coffee cake is wetted with water. So it comes into contact with water without pressure and is basically "persuaded" to let the incoming water through more easily. When the vibration pump kicks in and the water flows through under pressure, the extraction is more even.
Pre-infusion is not a must! Some coffees, especially lighter roasts, benefit from it more than others. Nevertheless, pre-infusion is an innovation that we very much welcome. It's simply fun to experiment a bit more with different coffees. If you ask us, 10 seconds could have been fine too, but the 6 seconds that Rancilio offers are also okay!
Espresso and cappuccino – We love it!
An espresso machine should make good espresso – and the Silvia Pro X does! Properly adjusted, it brews us really delicious espresso in consistent quality. With pre-infusion and PID control, we can adjust all parameters exactly and achieve the most perfect extraction possible. It's fun!
Making cappuccino also works well. Since it's a dual boiler system, we don't need heat-up time between the espresso extraction and milk steaming. Steam is immediately available, and that can really help you with multiple cappuccinos in a row!
The steam pressure of the Silvia Pro X is not outstandingly high. Even when we set the PID control for the steam boiler to the maximum of 125 degrees, the steam power is limited. Rancilio doesn't use a "cool touch" steam wand. Also, the steam wand continues to blow briefly after being switched off. So don't pull the wand out of the pitcher too quickly, otherwise you'll blast large bubbles into your milk foam at the last moment!
Conclusion: A really interesting machine!
"Anything but boring". And with this slogan, the last Volvo comparison in this blog. But this comparison is also apt. Yes, the design looks unpretentious, almost a bit old-fashioned. The drip tray is a disaster and the water tank is anything but a modern clever solution. Yet the Silvia Pro X is a really interesting machine.
With 8 or 11 minutes respectively, the machine is very quickly ready for operation for a dual boiler. Temperature consistency is excellent! The option of pre-infusion invites experimentation and gets even more out of many coffees. And most importantly: the espresso tastes great! Every espresso, once the machine reaches operating temperature.
It becomes really interesting when we look at the machine's price. In Germany it costs around 1400 euros and in Switzerland 1600 – 1700 francs. For this money, Rancilio makes a really good offer and delivers a solid machine that you really can't go wrong with. Almost like a Volvo… okay, enough!
