You are right, Diki. I use two Roland CM-30 Cube Monitors at 1/2 level and can be easily heard thru a crowd of 100. Each CM-30 has 3 channels and an EQ, plent ins and outs for just about anything. The only thing missing are FX, which is easily solved.
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=663

The cost is about 20% of a Compact system and there are no complaints of dead spots or bad EQ. My wife will sometimes carry them into a venue if she is around - no complaints about weight either.

I guess I was taking --Mac's lead and going from there - my bad. I might also suggest a pair of EV SX80 speakers and a decent powered mixer with effects - way less than $2000.