Today, I spent nearly 2 hours auditioning the PA800. i currently own a Tyros 2. Here are my observations.

I loved the sounds that I tried, particularly the pipe organs (I am a music director of our church), so this was a big plus. The piano had really good depth, strings were great, couldn't find a choir voice that I really liked as much as the Gothic Vox on the Tyros 2. I also missed the SA effects on the guitar that I love on the Tyros - especially for soft instrumentals during sacred times of the service.

The styles sounded great, although I wanted to rebalance the voices to bring the accompaniment through. I really liked the waltzes, a big plus for me since I find the Tyroo waltzes too boom-chick-chick, and also the unplugged styles.

I love the SongBook feature, being able to easily create a playlist of songs with all the settings already there is a wonderful feature for me. I cannot understand why Yamaha have not gone in this direction.

The weight was terrific, and I am really looking for something lighter and easier to set up than the PA system on small Nursing Home jobs. Having said that the speakers are not anything as clear as the Tyros speaker system, so I am left a little anxious about whether I am going to be happy longer term with the sound. If I still end up carrying the PA system I think I'll regret spending the extra money.

Still more research to do. Especially whether I can record and burn CDs as easily as I do today. This is really helpful to provide singers with the accompaniment track for home study.

Thoroughly enjoyed playing the board, and really loved it. My namesake's experience (in UK) will make me cautious and at least one more tryout will be required before I make a decision.

Graham

[This message has been edited by PraiseTheLord (edited 06-08-2007).]