My band is trying to build p a PA. I found a deal where I can get 2 Yamaha S15e's (in great shape) and 2 good speaker stands for $400 (no shipping). Should I go for it? We mostly play rock music, somewhat like Weezer.
My old band bought S15e's new for $220 each, and that was four years ago. It's not a bad deal if the speakers really are in great shape and the stands are solid, but I'm curious how much they cost retail. Also consider what sort of treatment your equipment will get. If you expect a lot of rough handling, the used gear is a better bet because it has already depreciated in value.
Actually the Passport has been one of their best sounding PA products, if that tells you anything. My experience comes from selling PA boxes for years. Fender's best box sounded worse than Peavey's lowest box. Their new Ace series might be OK, but I do not know.
Hmm, I just did a 140 city tour with a Passport and loved it...my only complaint was that there were only two 1/4" outputs. I don't know about Fender PAs in general, but I felt obliged to defend my gear!
One of those would have a hard time keeping up with a loud rock band, especially the small one. Just not enough juice.
I have used them for acoustic stuff, jazz, speech givers, music playback, and louder bands where I only put the vocals though. Worked well.