Frankie,
My three Favorites are TIED (dead heat) for first place as each has its own indivual strengths and weaknesses:
They are, in "alaphabetical order":
Solton SD1, Technics KN6500, Yamaha 9000pro.
I love all three keyboards so would be hard pressed to have to choose only ONE as the clear winner. Probably the only single drawback to the SD1 is the problamatic chord recognition table for jazz/blues style keyboard playing. The Technics has the best jazz/big band/latin styles and the Yamaha 9000pro still sounds great dispite it's reported limited pattern loop lengths. The 9000pro is also the coolest looking of the pack.
Second place goes to the Roland VA7/76 and third place goes to the Korg PA-80. Don't really like Roland's akward touch screen interface or the Korg PA-80's acoustic pianos. The acoustic piano patch is of major importance to me so that is the major reason I gave Korg the lowest rating. Funny, as I typically love Korg's innovative sounds and long style loops. They just never (in my opinion) get the acoustic piano right.
In spite of all of these great new tantalizing arranger keyboard offerings, I'm going to continue to enjoy playing and performing on my Technics KN5000 and see what next year's models bring. My audience is still very happy with what I provide with the KN5000 so I will go on happily making music on the KN5000.
Make music and make people happy,
Scott
http://scottyee.com