kind of an update
I talked to the Husqvarna reps at the Charlotte Arborist Association TCC; they actually had one of the saws there on hand. It looks and feels pretty sweet, and seems very sturdy.
I asked the head guy there about the noise thing I had been told, and he scoffed at that, "No, it's a carb issue. They want the carb to be perfect before they roll it out, they don't want to have any issues like they did with the other top-handled saws." They don't want any disappointments among professionals, they're making a big strategic shift to focus more on professional users. He said the current target is July, and he said he felt pretty good about that. I had to make a joke about how they had been saying some version of that for a couple years now.
Anyway, that's the info I've got to share!