Like Anthony I too still mourn the Technics keyboards. It was such a shock when they announced "no more" and in my opinion there is still nothing (repeat nothing) to beat it. I also have the Yamaha Tyros 3 which despite all the 'hype' isn't a patch on the KN7. I will say it has an excellent sound system but 'User Friendly' - forget it!

Dnj - I also had a 'duff' KN6000. I was given to understand that the first batch of the KN6000's distributed from the Factory were released with a fault, so it would seem you and I were among the unlucky ones.
However, I have to say mine was quickly replaced with a KN6500 from Technics and I had many happy, trouble-free hours playing it.

Audrey

Wasn't the KN6000 the one that suffered from sluggish chord recognition? Is that why you returned yours Donny? I guess this problem was resolved by the time the KN7000 came out. -Ted

Hi Ted & Audrey ....If I remember correctly it's been a long while.... but Yes, that was one of the reasons with sluggish chord recognition on the Kn6000 & also trying to mix all the style parts regarding volume levels was a bit of a nightmare...as I remember it had 8 different parts?....I had no problem with the Kn5000.

I will second Audrey’s experience with a Kn6000. After 10 trips to repair they replaced it with a Kn6500 at no cost. That was the only difficulty I had with Technics in well over 13 years. There was never a Technics keyboard that had 500 added to the name – Kn6000 and then a Kn6500, and I feel it came out before its time to rescue it’s customers. Lucky you Tony yours still lives. (nice)

Like Audrey I also own a Tyros3 and I am amazed at all the things it is capable of doing. I have sold three Kn7000 and I just bought my fourth, I keep coming back home. After owning and working for the last four years with a Psr2100, Psr3000, Tyros 1, Tyros2, S900 and now for my retirement bought a Tyros3 I am back to a Kn7000, there is a big difference that can not be denied. It’s a different animal with clarity that I have not heard on any other keyboard. Matched with my Bose compact it’s a touch of heaven.

All of this is in view of the type of music I play, after listening to some of the music offered by some of our members I would have to say the Kn7000 is not for everyone. Tony you would find the Kn7000 a pleasant step up from your Kn6000, everything a bit better and much faster.

I need offers for my Tyors3. It has not left my home –it is loaded (Thumb drive) styles (Hundreds) Registrations and good midi files all ready to play a job.

John C.

Restricting your fingers from what? The keys that don't exist past the 61 it had.

I had the KN5000, KN6000, and KN6500 with every EW sound expansion card and nearly purchased a KN7000 before buying my Wersi Abacus. I quite liked the sound and features. The ease of use the KN series had were far ahead of their time and I loved the extensive synthesizer features as well. The only issue I had was a speaker going out on my KN6500 which Technics quickly replaced for free even though my keyboard was long out of warranty. I couldn't fault Technics in any way other than their decision to pull out of the keyboard marketplace.

Matsushita (now known as Panasonic) is one of the largest manufacturers of electronics in the World. Their keyboard division made up such a tiny portion of their income that it wasn't worth keeping it afloat which is sad. Perhaps one day they'll enter the keyboard market again but only time will tell.

[This message has been edited by Ensnareyou (edited 06-22-2010).]

Ensnareyou,
I bow to the Wersi product. I had the first keyboard (model) they made, at the time it was too much for me. If it were not for the dollars I would have one now. I always had the feeling that Wersi has something to do with the Technics keyboards, they seemed to run along the type of quality. I would like to add – they had integrity in their product, quality came first.

John C.

The sunken KN7000 keyboard was very restrictive....fingers got craped up on both ends no where to spread......61 keys is my choice always as every other keybed design is END FREE to play on both sides....76/88 makes no difference......

I am THRILLED that I have had nowhere near the poor kn6000 experiences noted above ...
and as for service, I have a nice guy that I go to in CT about 45 min from my home ...

Play what you like, like what you play ... I know I do ... ...
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 06-26-2010).]

Hi,
I miss Technics also.
My first one was the KN800 back in roughly 1989?
From there, I had the kn2,kn3,kn5,kn7,
the module version of the kn2, the KN5 in piano version, plus the WSA synth.
They were great keyboards, so was bebop's technics forum here on synthzone.
Really miss the good old days.

best wishes
Rikki