ELKA soloist 505 and the Rhapsody 610

As a owner of both, I can admit, that I prefer the full polyphonic Rhapsody 610. With very simple settings you can get the famous TD chords sounds used from early 1976 till 1982. Peter Baumann had one but Christopher Franke used it mainly to play sequences live.

The Solist is not such a great synth to me. It does sound beter then a JEN SX1000 to me (a matter of taste ofcause) but not beefy as the smallest non preset moog. And very limited.
But he, it is a low budget preset synth.
If I had to choose from my mono preset synths, I would stay with the Korg MicroPreset MP500.

The huge and more heavier then a washing machine ELKA x705 is a different story. I fall in love with it from the very first notes played on it. Peter Forrest is totally right with his word about it. And it is best described as a Solist505, two Rhapsodies 610 and an electric organ with build in rhythms and auto companion in one housing.

I never played or heard the 802/902.

And I just repaired an rather cracked Rhapsody 490 (= 610's strings only) yesterday. four brocken connections from the keyboard to the cards with the frequency dividers and tone shapers.

Is there also a bigger flat on sale cheap ?

See my page and count the keyboard actions in the string keyboards and synthesizer catagory.

Sure. But I also notice a difference if I a/b the two first version 610s I got here. So what is the right sound ?

The x705 is brighter and missing the the depth of the ensemble FX of the pure Rhapsodies. And of cause its lacking the individual controls for Cello and Violins.

My friens HaJo got at least two 610 of the later versions they do sound both somewhere between my 610s and the x705.

But due to part tolerances, deadjusted settings of the ensemble FX and caps going slowly bad, it would be next to a miracle if all 32-33 year old early Rhapsodies 610 would sound alike.

I have now other sources for information then the very good Peter Forrest book "The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers".

Congrats !