Paul, with a crowd size of 1,000, that is double the rating of a pair of Bose Compacts. However, I have covered a crowd of 1,200 in Ocean City Maryland, outdoors, with a single Bose L1 PAS and had no problems at all, and they were rowdy, drunken fishermen at a big bucks tournament.

A pair of 12-inch powered speakers would NOT likely be able to cover a crowd of 1,000 people outdoors, and I seriously doubt that a pair of powered 15s would do the job if the crowd is noisy.

As for getting a better mic, I agree, you do need to upgrade to something equal or better than your loving wife uses.

Good luck,

Gary