I carry all these brands at my store and here is some more information for you and everyone else.
Several years ago, Mackie Mixers were made in the USA. Yamaha mixers were made in Japan. Alesis Mixers were made everywhere. Behringer mixers, although people thought were made in Germany, have always been made in China.
Behringer started killing everyone with their good quality, low cost mixers.
Today, everyone makes their mixers in China!
and.....the quality is great in all of them. Behringer seems to be the most aggressive in pricing, dropping their prices whenever another company comes out with some new models which compete with the Behringer line.
Behringer now has the 802 mixer selling for $49.00 map and their 1202FXPRO with a map of $149.00. The 802 is perfect for small keyboards and mic's when effects are not needed, and the 1202 adds all the Reverb, Echo, chorus, flanger, phase shifters, etc. if needed.
The new Alesis with the USB is also very good with a price of $149.00, but I like the mic preamps slightly better on the behringer.
Yamaha mixers are a bit larger and have many less effects choices then the comparable Behringers, but for those feeling more comfortable with the name value, another good choice.
As to your choice for powered monitors, nothing in my opinion beats the 2 models offered by Behringer.
The 2031A model features 8" woofers, 225watts of bi-amped power in each speaker and an amazing price of just $339.00 per pair.
The new 2030A model features a 5" woofer and 110Watts of bi-amped power in each speaker for $279.00 a pair. For those with less room, the smaller model is outstanding, but if you have the room, the big ones would be my first choice.
These monitors look cosmetically like the much more expensive Mackie monitors but have no where near the high price and when reviewed 2 years ago after coming to the market, they actually got better marks in a nationally known electronic magazine.
For headphones, again I have to give the nod to Behringer. They make 2 pairs of studio quality fully enclosed headphones which I sell to all the studios and pros around LA for an amazing price of just $24.95. I also carry Yamaha (around $70,00), Roland Pro($149.00) and Sony (around $100 and up) and find I can't keep enough Behringers around because how many I sell through.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566