Well...I wish I could give better news but the PAS was returned 2 days ago to Guitar Center. We used it for three sessions...2 indoors, 1 outdoors. Indoors, we had no problem. Outdoors there were some problems with clarity and hearing ourselves.

In the end, everyone really liked the system but we all came to the same conclusion. We needed a second L1/B1 to provide adequate monitoring and clarity. One unit was loud enough but started muddying with too much going through it. That's when price became an issue. At $4K, the setup was just too expensive for the group to swing. We could swallow $2K...but for $4K, the rest of the band figured we might be able to do better. It was hard to argue with that logic. Our banjo player is very experienced in sound reinforcement and even he liked the PAS but felt we should try a more conventional PA/monitor system for the $$$$ we were looking at.

Personally, I was pushing for us to get a second L1/B1. I was even going to fund it myself throught sales of current toys. Using a Variax/XT Live/PAS showed a lot of promise. I was able to get an awesome tele tone using the Variax into the Dual Showman patch (in the model pack). Acoustic sounds with the Variax into the PAS were stunning. Although, I did have some trouble finding a good Les Paul crunch that I felt worked well with the PAS...but I knew it was something I could resolve with more time. In general, most of my difficulties were in the learning curve of the Variax/XT Live...the PAS seemed to deliver. Because of the size of our group, I was 25-30 feet from the L1 and had the drummer as an obstruction. It was hard for me to hear myself and I kept cranking up (which led to complaints). Yes - I know we probably could have adjusted placement differently but it really was apparent that a second L1/B1 was required.

So....we'll see. Next, we're going to try out a small PA for vocals only in conjunction with our regular amps for the small adventures. We also have access to a large PA if we need to play something big (not too frequent). I'm still toying with the idea of PAS as a guitar amp. I've got a few amps that I hardly use and can really see getting rid of them for a L1/B1.

Dang...if the price was $1K for a L1/B1.....Bose would crush the market.

- Lance, August 7, 2005 -

full thread here