Korg Wavestation A/D or SR. Trition / TR.
Yamaha TG55 / TG500.
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Some of the old ensoniq/ emu rack romplers are pretty sculptable and blur the synth/ rompler line.
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Korg NS5R is pretty great. A bit fiddly to edit (though there is an ancient editor for Windows) but it comes with a ton of lush sounding presets.
Plus it’s a half rack unit, so you can put a JV1010 next to it 
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Can you recommend any specific models?
I’m a big fan of the sqr+ (I actually have the keyboard version but the 1u version is the same except it doesn’t have the clunky sequencer). I’ve gotten tons of use out of it.
I’ve heard a lot of great sounds come from the various proteus units but I don’t remember which ones have which features. They’re all high polyphony and timbrality. The xtreme lead can get pretty wild.
Both companies (which eventually became one company) made tons of high featured rack modules and I’m not an expert on them all. The presets in all of them are dated but the units are malleable if you learn their structure, which is really the nature of romplers in general.
If going the emu route look for units with the “z-plane” filters.
Any of them, and pretty much any other suggestions in this thread, are due for a new internal battery by now. It’s easy to change if you can solder but keep it in mind when buying one.
Another vote for TX81z - it has a performance mode where the 8 voices can be spread across 8 patches with its own midi (8 part multi timbral). It also has microtuning! For really unique tones, you can get the keyboard into 1/4 notes - I think even 1/8th of tones if I recall!
It’s a royal pain in the a$$ to programme though 
I have micro q - it upsets me … pristine rack but the insides spew out glitchy noisy trash and has done since it arrived
It taunts me ‘ should’ve sent me back when you had the chance ‘
Tempted to bin it. Or sell for cheap spares repair …
Try emu orbit 9090 , emu vintage keys etc … quite cheap though there are some idiots that’s claim they’re ‘rare and classic ‘
They’re not.
I have a Roland M-VS1 which I’ve had since 1995… I’ve never got rid of it because it’s 1U, 8-part, 28 voice poly and just really convenient to have about.
It is basically the ‘Vintage Synth’ expansion board of the JV-1080/2080 in a dedicated unit and it sounds great.
The editing is basic, it’s a presets machine, but there’s always something close to what I’m after if I use it.
You can pick them up £100-200/$100-200.
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Crazy prices. I sold mine for 50e years ago. Nobody wanted this and for good reason: it’s a pita to navigate and edit, even by the 80’s standards.
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I built a max4live patch and can edit my tx81z completely from Ableton push 2 now. I barely need to touch the actual unit. It’s an incredible synth and now super easy to program. Highly recommended and you can still pick them up for less than £100 over here.
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as mentioned above, the Blofeld is a good option. not too bad to program and can cover a lot of territory - and reasonable prices 2nd hand
Another vote for the JV-2080. The 1080 is great too. Menu diving isn’t that bad at all. You get four tones per patch, each can be panned, lots of parameters to dig in to. Resonant filters are fine. Effects okay.
Check out Don Solaris’s YouTube video to see what you can get out of those JV’s stock. Quite nice.
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I had a small akai sg01v , small desktop white box / small enough to use as half rack box , limited editing but I’ve often been tempted to buy again.
Probably £100 to 150 …
Out of those, the JV2080 will give the most options that you don’t already have, and makes the Korg X5 largely redundant except as a midi controller. You could alternatively go for a Motif ES rack, Korg Triton rack or something E-MU for more advanced romper with resonant filter vibes than the X5. Or for older and grungier, a Kawai k1 rack for 8bit though no filters.
Dingy and dirty, the tx81z can do, but it doesn’t like getting too much midi data sent at once as it can overload its buffer. Nord Lead 3 has fm already also.
MicroQ - had one, sold it. The Nord Lead 3 a better option by and large imho. Blofeld would be a better (and cheaper these days) option but its not rack mountable.
VZ10m - I had a VZ8m along with a tx81z… similar in a lot of ways including the crappy programming. Kept the TX81z as it at least has loads of patches via the web to load and explore.
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Can’t find evidence of this anywhere. Sure that’s the right model #?
Maybe I’ll just get a sliding shelf stick the Model Cycles in it and call it a day.
(Joking of course…)
Here’s a YouTube presets video of it;
I have (or have had)and loved many of the machines listed here. Wavestation A/D is a knockout, but you might might need a new display. You can add your own waveforms with a Waverex card. A Wavestation SR is a bit more limited in that respect (no audio inputs, and no Waverex) and programming that thing from the panel is akin to self-flagellation. However, if you can find a good editor - or are happy with the gazillion included sounds - it can be had for a good price.
VZ10m is crazy cool, and I’ve not have given mine up if I didn’t know it would wind up in better hands.
Yamaha TX-802 is an FM monster and I wish I still had one of the two I’ve owned. TX81Z is cheaper and (sonically) ornery. I’ve got one in the closet that only powers up sometimes. TG77 is fantastic, but getting pricey.
Roland and Ensoniq ROMplers are worth a look and I second @DonovanDwyer’s recommendation of the JV-2080. A 990 is great as well.
The Ensoniq MR-Rack is a hidden gem - pretty much a cut-down Fizmo residing under that crappy interface. It takes a bit of tomfoolery to unleash its power, but with a good software editor you can do a lot with one of those. They’ve gotten a bit pricey lately.
Don’t overlook the SQR, as mentioned by @blurrghost. Also, Yamaha TG-500s make a good sonic resource on the cheap.
Kawai’s K4r ROMpler is a good bit of fun, if lacking compared to its keyboard sibling. Their K3 is similar to an ESQ-1 (with an additive waveform generator thrown in for good measure), and well worth a look. The larger, fully-additive K5r is a humdinger of a synth and I wish I had one.
There are sooooo many options out there and though prices are on the rise for a lot of these instruments, you can still find a deal if you’re patient.
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I used to own a JV 1000 workstation way back when. At the time the big bragging-rights rivalry was between the JV’s and the EMU Proteus family. Both are excellent.
Having said that, between a 25 year old JV2080 for $3-400 and a brand new MC-101 ($500) which has pretty much the same sounds+better FX+VA engine+loads user samples+cool sequencer…that 2080 don’t seem so cheap. Get it serviced once and it is actually more expensive.
personally i’d swerve the JV2080 / 1080. i lusted after one all through my teens (it was used by LTJ Bukem and other “intelligent drum & bass” producers) but when i finally scored one as an adult, i found it super disappointing. characterful it is not, and the interface is inscrutable. if you really need those sounds you can get them in software. see also: Korg M1
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