Thing looks like a bathtub. With so many perfectly viable (and less weighty) alternatives for achieving "that sound", one would expect the company to be bending over backwards to communicate with its potential customer base. They're essentially "bringing back the corded wall phone" (which I imagine to be a major factor in this "hurry up and wait" new Rhodes hype-fizzle), all the more reason for them to pour on the sales pitches and hit the road with some live demos in the major markets. I was very excited about the Mk VII back in '07, but now it's two years down the road and I've spent that Rhodes money on a Nord Stage, which gives me excellent Rhodes emulations in a backpackable configuration. I also never got rid of my Korg N1R module, a one-space rack unit that in general does not impress but does offer STUNNING Rhodes and Wurly patches (worth the price of admission, about a hundred bucks used). My first keyboard was an old Stage 88, but that was in '78, when there was absolutely no other way to get "that sound". Actually, back then there weren't very many portable (relative term) keyboard instruments that produced any sort of sound at all worth amplifying. Those were the days when the Rhodes name earned its credibility. Stevie Wonder likes the Mk VII, and that's enough proof for me that it must be a fine instrument, but aside from the pretty pictures on their website it doesn't seem like the current "keepers of the flame" are doing anything at all to preserve that old Rhodes credibility. Many a great product has been denied its ascension to the throne by bad business practices. It seems obvious to me that the Rhodes Music Corporation needs to spend just a little more money and hire a
PR guy or two before the rest of their enthusiastic potential customer base loses interest and they get stuck with a warehouse full of unsellable behemoth bathtub-pianos.
...Those speakers look pretty cool though...