Boo,

I use a Samson SD8 stereo powered mixer (275 watt per side, built-in effects, 8 pannable channels) with Peavey 15" speakers. I know that Samson equipment is often frowned upon, but it sounds good to me. The one problem for me is this - I was trying to use my YST-MS50 speakers for monitoring, but it seems that the monitor signal is only Mono, which means that I only hear the left channel through the stereo speakers. I end up having to hook into Aux out and pick up a full mono signal, which also does not work too great.

Nonetheless, I would side with Scott on the size and weight issue - it would be much easier to transport, use, and set up a pair of powered speakers with a small un-powered mixer if needed. With my system I need to spend at least 40 minutes to set up (and hook up) the speakers, the amp and the monitor and do a sound check. With powered speakers I could likely cut the time down to 15 minutes. So I am shopping around to replace my system with a pair of biamped speakers, from EV (SXA), JBL (EOns), Mackie (SRMs) or Peavey (Impulse P-series).

Regards,
Alex