Bill,
Yes I carry the Fantom and yes I agree it is a very good pro workstation. But, now that the VA7 is just a couple of hundred dollars more, here is what you get. Yes, an arranger, but with those good drum sounds as the Fantom and those really good strings, piano, brass, etc. sounds. You can record in 16 track mode just like on the Fantom except you might not have quite as many editable peramaters to adjust (although I'm not quite sure about that). 61 keys, same feel as the 76 fantom. A zip drive and a sampler on the VA7. Only a disk drive on Fantom. The VA7 gives you 128 note poly where the fantom has only 64, so you have more tracks to record on the VA7 without notes disapearing. The difference is that the fantom has more synth type sounds and pads and a lot more extensive sound and effect editing. But it depends on what you need. Perhaps in England the price is so different for the VA7, but now that I've been able to get the VA7 down to a much lower price, the VA has a lot to offer! They are both very good choices depending on what you like and need in a keyboard.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California