Uncle Dave, Tamim,

I was not about to pay anywhere close to $5000 for anything from Roland - having had their stuff for ten years, I don't think that it has the inherent value to justify these prices. (Some people would pay extra for the name like a Rolls-Royce, but IMHO, Roland does not fall in the same category).

Aside from the fact that VA-7 does not have some of the features I would want, I think the market value of a good full-featured arranger keyboard (from Solton or Yamaha) is under $3000. The large number of high-quality sounds is certainly worth some extra money, but the prices they are asking are ridiculous. What bothers me even more, is their sales techniques, stolen from a used-car lot, when the salesman makes a show of asking the manager "it retail for $6995, but can we give a discount for this good customer?", and the manager replies "yes, 25% if you buy today" - this is worse than buying a car.

I am sure that there are dealers who do not subject their clients to this crap, but every time I ask our local Keyboard City for a price, it is pretty much the same story. If I had to go on what they tell me, every new instrument seems to have a retail price of $6995. That's why I don't want to deal with them, and I would not think of buying any instrument which Roland offers through the CK division.

Regards