Yes I was surprised about the monitors. They are priced at 199.00 and have bluetooth...not sure about them, but I'll take free any day.
 
Thanks for sharing those links. I joined the Facebook forum but haven't been accepted yet. 
 
I felt the same way about Casio so I don't think you're  alone there. Since I had the Priva 150 I knew they had upped their game...in the end though I think it comes down to more of what we do with what we have and not really what we have, gear helps. I get all investigative about this stuff, but I also go by initial reports and user experience when I look for something. A guy like you who has been playing most of his life and likes the board is the most persuasive argument of all, so I really appreciate you jumping onboard with this suggestion. 
Thanks for your comments on my music!
 
Have a great weekend Dave!

Kurzweil are settled now I am sure of it.  They did go through a turbulent period but I am confident they are here to stay and bringing out new models all the time now.  They have been updating the OS of my machine too several times in fact and the changes are often formidable.  The build quality feels good too.
 
A few other machines come to mind.
 
The Yamaha Montage:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3u_Z3Q8FM0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfAxxav4PUU
 
and the incredible Yamaha Tyros 5:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4ghE9hVpHE
 
Tyros is pretty impressive. Montage is too. Maybe an instrument like this would be a great addition to any studio setup. I realise they are not cheap but they are different and powerful.
 

Roland workstations have kind of stagnated (IMO) with the past few models. 

As it happens, I have recently undertaken a deep survey of what's on the market today, as I needed to buy a new keyboard for the first time in 10 years. Never cared for the Motif line because its semi-weighted keys are unsatisfying for piano. My first choice was the MOFX, which has a better keybed but essentially the same samples as the Motif. I've also owned several Roland products over the years and prefer their interfaces to Yamaha's. I also considered the Nord Stage, which has become a standard for live performance.
 
In the end, though, I made an unexpected choice and went with the Korg Kronos. Unexpected because I've never had a Korg product before and had a lukewarm opinion of the company. But that opinion had been formed long ago, before OASYS (which I could never consider due to its price tag). To my surprise, I found that the Kronos matches or beats anything else out there as a general-purpose stage/studio ROMpler/sampler. It does everything the OASYS did for half the price. Nine synth engines, and multiple pianos on par or superior to anything I've ever had in a Kontakt library.
 
Sure, it's got lots of features you'll probably never use, such as a built-in DAW and audio interface. But for my purposes, it's nothing short of awesome. The only downside is that it's a very deep instrument with a learning curve not everyone will be willing to commit to.

Hope you enjoy the kronos Dave.Best of luck with it. I came within an inch of bidding one on auction. The only real justification I could make for myself was that I wanted one. I didn't really need one. If I were to be looking at sheer capability It's really tough to beat the Kronos. The new Yamaha Montage Jeff mentioned is probably an attempt to do it. People complain about much less than the complexity in the kronos. If a person doesn't know what it is, then they probably shouldn't buy it IMHO. Of course I would love to get into one and see how deep I could get into it, but at this time I can't justify it. I see some keyboardists/pianists who don't like working on computers using only the Kronos. No denying it's a great keyboard.
 
Thanks for the info on Kurzweil Jeff. I don't doubt that the sounds are amazing. Incidentally I seen a Kurzweil K2600 for a price you wouldn't believe used. It is possible to land some real deals if you're looking for one of the older ones. 
 
I would agree Jim that Roland workstations have fallen behind compared to some of the others. They do a few things well, my  Roland Juno stage 76 has an onboard usb drive in it. With that feature I could load any file, midi or wav. and play it in sequence on the juno stage. This means you can pretty much build your set in Sonar, transfer to the usb stick and you have the same effect almost as a sequencer, excluding realtime control. It's easier to make the songs/sets in sonar than most hardware sequencers. FWIW Roland is the only one I know of to offer audio recording in their lower ended juno series. This is usually reserved for the upper tier yamahas and Korgs. But cheap chinsey feel, yeah it's that.
 
I haven't gotten the Casio PX5S yet, but I've done some research in the meantime. I have looked in several catalogs and online sites and this keyboard isn't present in many of them. IOW it might be hard to locate in some places for whatever reason. Casio basically combined some really nice electric pianos and pianos with their synth engine. Added adaptable controls and knobs making it a decent midi controller. Added a nice arpeggiator all to a weighted 88 keybed. This is something different from them.
Here's a few articles on it-
http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/casio-privia-px5s
http://www.keyboardmag.com/combo---do-all/1191/casio-privia-pro-px-5s-review/29374
 
Although streaming sample technology is proven to be better in quality than small sampled romplers, companies like Pianoteq are showing us that you can do it another way and get similar results with modeling technology. If keyboard makers could get this tech into their keyboards they wouldn't need  hard drives. I think some have done a good job doing something similar to that.
 
 
 
 
 

Tim,
I have a PX-3, which is the predecessor to the PX-5.  It's a stage piano with really decent piano sounds, but most importantly to me at the time of purchase, I liked the action on the keyboard better than any other weighted piano I tested, and I tested a lot of them!
 
I'm still happy with my PX-3 purchase, I still have it and still use it when I want the piano feel.  I'm primarily a "keys" player, though, so most of the time I'm using my MOXF6 which has synth keys, or my Hammond XK-3c which, of course has organ action with waterfall edges.
 
I can't say enough good about the PX-3, tho as far as value and getting out of it what I expect.  it's not our grandfathers' Casio!  lightweight and great keybed and action.  the only thing I don't like about it is the interface to select sounds (well, and most of the sounds are not the greatest - but the piano sounds are QUITE good - which is what this keyboard is for!).
 
and from looking at the write ups on the PX5, they've stepped up their game even from the PX-3!  it looks like they've improved the sound engine from the 3 and added a software editing capability for customizing the patches (like I have on my MOXF).  nice looking!

I read those same articles before buying the Px5s. After a week or two I'm very happy with it. Great on a gig. I've been watching the webinars that cover everything, it's a great learning tool. Imported a couple of downloaded sounds from the forum, very nice. Still a ways to go to feel like I have grasped the more complex features, but really, I just wanted a lightweight stage piano with good sound and weighted touch, and this is surely it. It's fun to see how active the user community is, feels a lot like this here forum.

I too have heard great things about the px5s. Casio got the Kurzweil guru to design it and from everything I've heard it is fantastic.
 
I have a PC3x (Kurzweil) and if I had my time again I wouldn't repeat. It is a heavy, unreliable (it blows fuses, the screen goes dark) piece of crud.
 
For my next board I think I am either going to get a Kawai VPC1 or one of those Native Instruments ones (S88)

I would like to replace my Line 6 49 key controller, which I use in the studio for playing non-piano virtual instruments, with the Komplete Kontrol, probalby the S61. Since I record with Kontakt instruments, have Komplete Ultimate and many other non NKS compatible libraries, I would love to integrate the Komplete Kontrol stuff with my setup. However, having just purchased the PX5S (mostly for live performance and jamming, etc.) and a bunch of other stuff, I can't justify the S61 just yet. But wait a while, and I'll probably break down and take the plunge.
 

The Casio sounds interesting and what is good about it is the price.  It is more affordable.  A Kurzweil for example is quite a bit more expensive but then again it is actually way more powerful and the sound quality probably still up there as one of the best.
 
I can't seem to find any link between Casio and Ray Kurzweil so that information may be incorrect.  I can’t see why Ray would actually ever need to design someone else's instrument.  But if he did have anything to do with it then that explains why it sounds so good.  But I am sure Casio are quite capable of making a good sounding instrument themselves.
 
I like the stage piano concept of the Casio with a powerful synth built in.  It seems like a good idea to me.  I have come across Casio in my teaching sound production in colleges capacity and every time I have been impressed with how they sound.
 
Where I am working now for example they have just invested in a new Yamaha PF115 but it is nowhere as interesting or as powerful as the Casio PX5S.  The Casio is even a great price in Australia too.
 
Sorry to hear backwoods was having trouble with his Kurzweil.  I have had many and never had any issues such as his.  The display on mine is large, very sharp and very high contrast as well. The PC3K6 is a much lighter 61 note synth action model and it much easier to move around.  I think the balance of weight of the instrument overall and a weighted action is important.  Sounds like Casio might have it right for example.
 
Crud is a poor choice of words to describe Kurzweils.  They sound incredible and sound wise have been out front way earlier than anyone else and been there for a long time.  Yes other brands have only caught up in sound quality but Kurzweil set the bar a long time ago and have kept others pushing their sound quality forward for years to the point where they are now.  Features are important but sound is also very important. A slightly thin sounding instrument will fall down live and in the studio.
 
I used to play in a band with a great keyboard player who bought one of those Ensoniq TS10's and used it live with a nice Bose system. But it sounded terrible. He ended up with a Roland that just sounded way better live.  The sound had more depth and power and worked against the live drums and everything else much more so.  I have recently stopped playing with an Elvis and Orbison tribute show and that keyboard player had a Yamaha SY85 and I did not like it live either.  It struggled to sound fat.  Later he got a Korg stage piano and a Roland Fantom and then everything suddenly got way better.
 
These cases were a real eye opener for me in how poor some of these things can sound live.  Against my massive Sonor drum sound, a big bass rig and guitar amps etc.. Only decent instruments can hold their own in these types of situations.  The keyboard stage sound system is also another topic too.  It needs to be good and I mean good.