Glenn...
You are right...both the Altec Lansing and the Sampson wire directly out of the KB. We are talking about the same speakers. (Sorry, I wasn't clear on that.)

A couple of the dining rooms in the retirement residences I play are rather large to accomodate wheel chairs and furniture... plus many of the folks have hearing problems to begin with...so I felt the need for a little more "ooomph".

The A/L's are excellent speakers. I opted for the Sampson powered speaker, not only for the additional power, but because it can double as a monitor when I use my powered mixer and passive speakers on regular jobs.

If you are comfortable with the A/L's, no need to change or buy more "stuff".

Eddie