Marc K,
I am a Yamaha dealer in Southern California and I will add a little more to your questions.
First, the quality of the panel voices in my opinion have been greatly improved on since the 600 series. So much more Rom memory has been added over the years. One of the major improvements is how the electric pianos and guitars respond to the touch sensitivity. If you play a sound soft you get a much different sound then if you play it harder. In the acoustic piano sound this makes it react so much more like a real piano. The breath of the sax and trumpet "lip" noise is really noticable.
Next, the styles are now much more realistic. The intros and endings are also greatly improved. You will notice much more going on within the styles in brass lines and guitar strums then in the earlier 600 series. It is also great how you can choose between 2,4 and up to 8 measure intro's and endings, but, if you want to keep it simple, there are simple 1 measure intro's and endings.
No, you can't use an XLR balanced cable with this model, but you can use a line transformer which goes from 3 pin XLR to 1/4" high Z inputs.
This keyboard seems to be really well made. In the past, we have had a really good track record with Yamaha keyboards and don't expect anything different with the new models.
Yes, the AC adapter is now included in the box. It made me laugh last year when it seemed like you had to buy the AC adapter seperately but each PSR740 and 640 came with the Yamaha Survival Kit included. After all, there was no way to run the 740 on batteries so you had to have the AC adapter. This year, the AC is in the same box as the keyboard and it is actually smaller than last years but more powerfull.
I have them in stock and ready to go! I sell mine with the survival kit which includes the sustain pedal, Yamaha volume control headphones, CD from Yamaha and I also include the Vocal Kit which includes a nice quality mic, case, chord, mic stand adapter and a floppy disk with 12 ready to play songs , some featuring vocal harmony and all featuring lyrics.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California