Mike,
The Barbetta's are a great value, but not so HIGH fidelity. The horn is harsh, and short ranged, and the woofers are boxy sounding. The Mackie 450's are the best all around sound I've heard, but they are pretty awkward to transport. I replaced my 450's with a pair of EVsxa100's and they are doing great for me......but - (there's always a but..)the horns are pretty hissy. Even with NO signal present, there is a hissssssss. In live situations - you may never notice, but that makes themn rather Medium fidelity in my book. In the plus column, they are light, well balanced, and sound pretty impressive when pushed.
There are lots of higher end stuff you can buy, but they start to get pricy. The Mackies are about $1300-1500 per pair, and will do any jazz gig around here. They also make a kick-butt sub, but it's over $900 and weighs a hundred lbs !