Chas, if you had a schedule like DNJ, Bill from Dayton, and myself, believe me, you would have a totally different attitude about this subject, and I'm confident that you would approach things very differently. That said, we have all owned monster speakers and sound systems at one time during our musical careers. Remember the old Peavey SP1G, a monster that stood about 48 inches high, 30 inches wide and deep, and tipped the scales at 105 pounds. And, it wasn't a power speaker.

Here's a few examples of systems that I owned previously, and believe me, I have owned many, many sound systems.

How about the SP5G Peavey. A real lightweight, tipping the scales at just 79-pounds, unpowered. And, these were pole mounts, which even when laid on their sides and the poles inserted and hefted up on the pole took all the strength of two young guys. (I was pretty strong back then. Younger and better looking, too!)

Barbetta stepped up to the plate with their Barbatta Sona 32SC series, just 36 pounds apiece, powered, 450-watts, 15-incher with a 10-inch horn. I still have one.

Also had a pair of Mackie 450s, which were brutes, overheated on me several times, and I was able to get GC to refund my money because of that problem. If I recall, they were about 52-pounds each, and a real bear to put on the poles.

Then, I got to hear Uncle Dave's Bose L1 PAS, a single 10-inch sub, 24 speakers on the pole, and I knew right then and there that this was the only way to go. Setup time was a breeze, all the bottom end anyone could ever want, incredible clarity, and coverage that has been the industry leader. If you are a singer, nothing at that time came remotely close. The following day, after hearing Uncle Dave in that Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, I called Bose, order an identical system, and never looked back. When the L1 compact became available, I tested it out, loved the wonderful, full sound that it provided, then traded in my L1 PAS on a second Compact - even up.

Most of the folks that I hear that make claims that plastic speaker enclosures do not provide the warmth of the old wooden cabinets have either not tried or owned a Bose system, or they're just closed minded about the subject. Secondly, I suspect that the cost is quite a deterrent, and that is understandable, especially when you consider how little most OMB entertainers are paid per performance, and how infrequently most of them work. It would difficult to justify the expense of a pair of L1 Compacts, or any similarly priced systems, if you only work a couple jobs a month.

Now, as you well know, Chas, as we age, body parts tend to go to Hell in a hand-basket. There was a time when lifting up a railroad tie, which averages about 100 pounds, was something I considered an easy task. I constructed a retainer wall in front of my home that consisted of 125 of them and had to carry each of them from the end of my driveway to the location in front of the house, a distance of about 120 feet. No big deal back then. Friday afternoon, I stopped at the plumbing supply place and purchased a 50-pound bag of Calcite, which is used to neutralize the acidity of my well water. When I unloaded it from the van, it felt as if someone had place a dead body in that little bag. By the time I got to the basement door with the bag, I thought my damned knees would buckle. Next time, I'm gonna use the garden tractor cart to lug this stuff to the basement.

Gettin' old ain't fer wimps and sissies,

Gary