Well I thougt it was about time for me to make my first post too ! I'll really try to discribe everything within it's context, as I find that some of you are shouting out your opinions on the T3 and it's everyones guess how your opinion was formed.

I've done some extensive research on the tyros 3 and have compared the "out-of-the-box" performances in a physical line up of the PA2X, Tyros2 and Tyros3 simultaneously over the same high-end monitoring system.
I think in comparing sounds it is import that you can compare them realtime instead at an interval of some days and over different speakersystems/eq settings.

I was looking for a new arranger keyboard to add to my studio setup. I was still using the PSR8000. The rest of my setup :
-Roland RD-100 EP
-KORG Triton
-Hammond XK-1
-Yamaha AW1600 HDD-recorder

In comparing these instruments I focussed mainly on the realism and freedom of expression of the acoustic sounds : drums, bass, guitar, wind.

First I focussed on the KORG.
The PA2X is a great instrument and has the most professional casing, but it just couldn't in any way compare in realism of the acoustic sounds. Synths and nifty functionality is another story, but I'll never part with my Triton, so that's why the PA2X didn't do it for ME.

Next I compared the T2 to the T3. Why pay double the money for a little upgrade, I stated.

I started with comparing the styles of the T2 and T3, as this was a nice way to get to now my way around the boards.
The T3 styles have been remastered and sound more natural, also when DSP's are turned off. I myself don't use standard styles other than for quickly experimenting with ideas, so i.m.o. the progress in the style department wouldn't be worth spending the extra money. The newly added styles on the T3 vs the T2 consist for the biggest part of "song-specific-styles" : styles which remind the broad public of a popular song. This makes them highly unusable for performances with any other song. I create my own styles. If not, I'd probably took another look at the PA2X at that moment or would stick with the better appliable, broader styles of my PSR8000.

Next....drumroll...the SOUND !
I really don't know how ANYONE can state that there's no noticeable difference in the sounds. Those people have to go and buy a hearing device instead of an arranger !
Again, I had the T2 and T3 back-to-back over the same soundsystem with the EQ's on the mixer all in neutral and compared lots of sounds. T3 sounds far,far better than T2, mainly due to the new super-high quality DSP's. Turn the DSP's off and it's a different story. If you are using external effectprocessors of superior quality, I can imagine the T2 sounding very close on the majority of the sounds.

Brings me to the SA2 sounds. It's just a handfull of sounds, of which the clarinet, trumpet and sax are the only ones worth noticing. I was very impressed by the natural and 'organic' feel of these sounds. This is almost an analog experience ! If you play the instruments within the range and in the way the real thing is played, it's very,very good. Even better than the demo's where the guys are playing too many notes too fast and far too continuously to make it convincing that you're hearing the real deal.
The both SA2 buttons were kind of a dissapointment ; they mostly perform perfectly the same glissando time and time again,using the PB wheel would sound more convincing in some occasions. The SA2 effects are not so new : they are just plain multi-layered (up to 40) samples. It's just that Yamaha have really thought about when to activate which layer, and I must say that they've done a great job in that. The few SA2 sounds will soon become the favorite turn-to leadsounds whenever you need a wind instrument.

Piano-sounds
If you like Bach and Brahms and aren't too much of a real pianist, they will do. As accompaniment or part of a style, they're fine.
But to my tast the piano's sound too much like a music-box. With the ModWheel you can "close the lid" and make the sound warmer and less bright, that already makes a huge difference. I personally don't like bright ear-piercing piano sounds, and I prefer the warm, damped and raw blues-piano sound of my RD-100 (which, besides the EP1 sound) is the only reason I hang on to it. The pianosounds of the T3 are no match for this old entry-level stagepiano. But I have to say : the competitors of the T3 also sound like toy-piano's. That might be to Japanese taste the way a piano should sound, but I think it lacks "rawness". My guess would be that they had to improve the piano sound and focussed on the classical concert piano, where the samples had to be a few steps below the Yammie EP-range, and next they overengineered the sound in the effectsdepartment.

Organ/flutes
Best sounding organsounds in a Yamaha to date, but boy am I glad I still have my Hammond XK1. The B3-ish organ sounds are truly overengineered and to me rather sound like a parody of a Hammond than a wannabe-Hammond. The thin, englisch and Klaus Wunderlich type of organ-sounds are fine.

Guitars :
Boy, do they sound great ! You can hear that the DSP's are derived from real E-guitar DSP's. Very convincing sounds, effects and expressiveness.
All the styles use the guitar-engine : regardless of the chord played, the notes are within the range and played in the sequence like you would on a real guitar. I haven't tried it, but I was ensured by a Yamaha representative that this also can be used in your own custom styles. For me this would be a much used functionality, so again lots of points on my personal realism-scale ! T2 doesn't offer this.

Synths/Pads :
derived from the Motif, which I tried a week before. I must say the out-of-the-box sounds are better from the T3. Synth sounds are very,very personal cause they do not refer to excisting instruments, so go and hear for yourself. The sounds are very useable, but it's no replacement for the in-depth en wicked stuff you can do with a real Synth. But Again, I'll use the Triton for that, so no reason for ME to walk away from the T3.

Vocals / Strings / Orchestral Ensemble :
I personally prefer the KORG sounds, which have more layered effects and can sound more impressive. On the T3 these sounds are less thin then on the T2, but there's still room for improvement left.

Drums & Bass :
WOW ! this is where I really got excited about the T3 and where it will prove to be a worthwile addition to my (studio)setup !
Drums and Bass sound very natural and really KICK ! Yamaha said goodbye to decades of offering only very thin Bass and Drum sounds. The tyros-speakers yamaha can provide can in NO WAY do justice to these sounds. This add's a great deal to the overall soundquality of any music produced on the T3.

Summary :
The Tyros range has the reputation of being a "wedding & one man band" keyboard. The demo's Yamaha have been giving world wide are trajected on to that usergroup, which I think is a shame. Although they're now selling 100 T3's daily....I think it could have easily been more.

Price :
It's expensive and I'm paying for al kinds of stuff I don't need, but to me it's worth it for fullfilling MY PERSONAL needs within MY PERSONAL budget.
We can expect expansionpacks with new SA2 Voices and Styles, but this will add to the total price. I'm sure I'm gonna be using it a lot over the coming 5 years or so.

It's a matter of doing your homework and finally calculating the pro's and con's and making the right descision for your personal situation.