hey spalding, i did have a hands on demo of the G-70, which at the time was sitting on the rack as the PA1x Pro so i got to do a bit of an a/b, even though it was only about 1/2 hour..i also owned a VA76, and now own a PA1x Pro..admittedly the time i spent with the G-70 was very limited, but as i scanned thru the in strument lists and then checked the samples in the manual it 1. sounded very similar, (although i will grant you, not as good as the VA-76) 2. and the samples were also very similar.
I too, like you it would seem, have lost all faith in roland, and i have bee loyal to them since the JX3P days, synths and pianos..but i do believe the almighty dollar has made the decision in this case, and thery have not released anything truly ground breaking for may years, current X series included apart from the 88 note sampled piano, which imho they should have had 3 years ago,,they had the technology, just chose not to use it.

dennis

peace, out

[This message has been edited by manic2257 (edited 06-17-2005).]