This has got to be the cockroach of the coffee world, I bought my V1 after much research back in 2003 and it is still going strong making multiple shots of excellent espresso day in, day out. Being a fully manual unit all aspects of your process need to be scrutinised like grind, quantity, tamp and possibly even temperature surfing if you're not in the PID club but the results are well worth the extra work that having this level of control returns.
This has not been without its ups and downs, those being generally perishing of gaskets in the g...Read more

The coffee that you get is the result of your appropriate knowledge of the bean, the grind, and so on with the Rancilio itself. Just don’t expect its best result until you have learned all the controls and methods. The sense of satisfaction and joy at sipping your best result is wonderful.
Do read the manual and collect all the. users comments online, I have a fat book of them and my 160 step guide for best results, for me anyway.
The machine is solid and. beautiful to work with, just needs a similar quality bean grinder, I use a Mazzer Mini....Read more

Makes Great coffee .Using freshly ground beans.
Spent a long time trying to get it right. Nearly gave up .
Realised my cheap grinder wasn't helping.
Bought a K-3 Touch.70%better. Added a PID 95%better.
(forget temp surfing).digital scales measuring to .01. 99%better.
the rest is technique. If you spend time tuning yourself to the machine
using, 60mil (double shot basket),25-30sec,92degC as a ''rough'' guide,
and 17.5 grams of coffee you will be happy with the rancilio.
If you want a machine the whole family can use, get one that's fully
automatic. I think rancilio should make a PID mandatory. Most of the cheaper ...Read more

The SIlvia is a really strong, heavy machine that looks great. Mine has lasted 15 years now and has had two problems in that time - both times boilers burning out or burning out of the heating element. The Silvia is not foolproof and take a deal of practice to get the hang of. They also do not cope with commercial grounds, they really need fresh-ground beans and it has to be a quite fine grind or you get no crema and a fast pour - i.e. the coffee comes through too quickly. The one cup filter basket is also useless....So if you are going to ...Read more

This machine, paired with a doserless Rocky, was my first coffee machine. As a beginner the machine proved very reliable and provided solid performance for many years. Not having all the fancy circuits like many of the more automated machines at similar pricepoints, this machine seems rock-solid and reliable. I must admit that I didn't have it serviced more than once in the 5+ years that I owned it, and it never missed a beat.

I did add an aftermarket PID kit to help with temp consistency...do some research on temp surfing if you're not sure...Read more

Comments from Stewart459... good! Makes very good coffee, but is manual so you need to 'enjoy the process' and want the control that a manual machine gives... if you just want a coffee get an auto machine.

Get a good grinder (I have Rocky). My wife even make good coffee with it. If you get any manual machine, and want great coffee, be prepared to get training or spend the time learning and 'working it out'

Re boiler reliability - I can only go by my own experience in almost 10 years use I have replaced the boiler once (after about 6yrs)...Read more