updated 08-10 I'm 52. I owned part of a small local SR company through most of the 80s and finaly got tired of the long hours, low pay and no benefits (during this time I also did a lot of contract installation and service for the local muzak distributors as well as other freelance jobs )so I went to work as an electronics tech for a hotel/casino which inevitably lead to my working on the stage crew for that same casino. Primarily I work for a casino Showroom running backstage monitors. I've worked for a couple of different casino's (always doing audio) and have decided I like the environment here the best (I.E. I rarley have to do A.V. setup work and almost all of my time is spent on music production of some type or another). In between Casino gigs I briefly spent some time on the road with a couple of well known acts and traveled to the phillipines and Ukraine/Russia as part of my job. I've built a small AV production studio at home and I have a few personal toys (I won't coment on this equipment as it's more recording gear and thats another forum) the inventory can be found here: Studio Inventory Aside from a Cabaret system (which I really only maintain) and a Portable PA on a stick for a weekly jazz show, here's the system I run. Keep in mind that most of the time I do monitors but ocasionaly I do FOH (actualy I had the FOH position for years and was instrumental in buying and installing their current setup (including blueprints for the sound booth ,CADs to Whirlwind for the custom patchbay and all of the installed mic lines and splits (most of which was custom built by me)). FRONT OF HOUSE Yamaha pm 3500 48x8x2 plus 4 stereo channels Presonus 8 channel compressor/gate Ashly Protea 2.4 digital equalizer SPX 990, SPX 900, SPX 90 (5) DBX 166 Tascam DA30 MKII dat deck Tascam 203 dual cassette deck Pioneer PD M703 cd deck Sony CDP CE 275 5 disc CD MAINS (Bi Amp) Behringer Ultra Drive Behringer CX 3400 cross-over (4) QSC RMX 2450 amp (2) QSC RMX 1450 amp (2) EAW 695Z left/right (4) EAW SB250ZP dual 15 subs (2) EAW 695Z stereo center cluster MONITORS *FULL RANGE (stage left) Yamaha M7CL 48X16 (1) QSC PLX 2402 amp (1) QSC 1400 amp (6) QSC RMX 2450 amp (4) JBL SRX 712m (8) EAW SM 500 (2) EAW SM 202H (3) EAW SM 202B (2) EAW SM 155H (2) EAW FR 253HR 3/way side fills *bi-amped So as not to go into detail with each piece of equipment, I'll pick the high and low points. PM3500 Pros: Clean, Quiet, Good (not killer but good) mic pre's and very dependable (never used the BU supply once in 11 yrs) Cons: No stereo Auxes, Littlelite connectors have come loose in back Presonus ACP88 Pros: Good gates, every parameter's adjustable Cons: Sorta lame comps, Gates are not multiband DBX 166 Pros: Great Comps (fairly invisible unless abused) Cons: Jacks and switches are wearing out Behringer X-oxers etc... Pros: They're cheap Cons: THEY'RE CHEAP (I try to avoid Behringer but it wasn't my call) QSC Amps Pros: I love them. They sound almost as good as the Crown Macrotech stuff and are maby even more dependable for much less $$$s Cons:The little DIP switches drive me crazy EAW Mains Pros: Good sounding, loud, compact (you can tear the room up with just a couple of boxes). Will meet most of the rider that we get. Cons: a bit pricey Yamaha M7CL Pros: Probably one of the easiest and fastest to operate digital boards made. The touch screen makes it fast and VERY useful. Rarely will it not meet rider specs. Cons: It's not the 5D that I wanted but managment cheaped out. It works fine and has sufficient bells & whistles to do what our riders demand. Sound quality is only OK at best but for most R&R it's sufficient JBL SRX 712m Pros: Light weight, Power handling from hell and efficient to boot, These things are light small and they'll get LOUD. They need very little EQ. Great for REALLY LOUD vocal clairity. Cons: Not great low end, I wouldn't use them as a Drum fill or a keyboard monitor. EAW SM 500 Pros: These boxes KILL. Great full range fidelity at R&R Volume. Will meet almost every rider we get (unfortunatly we're underpowering them and running them Full range (although I've set up all our speakon cabling for 2way in anticapation of more amps and x-overs)) Cons: They weigh around 100lbs Ea (gotta move them on dollies). pricey Other EAW wedges Pros: These boxes are 15 yrs old and still do the job (driver failure rate is very low) Cons: Can't think of any. I'm sure I missed a few things but if you got any questions just ask (I got lots of opinions )