...I’ve got $50.00 U.S. that says even this tired old RAMSA WSA-500 (currently selling on e-bay for $30.00) sounds better than any Mackie or JBL 2- way 15” speaker…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3077848369&category=14997

Hey, I didn't know there was an 8616! I used to have an 8816 a few years ago. John Wendt (Panasonic analog guru/curmudgeon) went over it for me, and a friend of mine designed a mod for me to give it a solo level control.

Good sounding board. I think I paid $1500 for it, used it for a good 8 years, and then got $350 for it.

Holy Moly, I didn't know the model # back then but I used an 8616 to mix a theme for Blazing Dragons (Monty Python cartoon) about 7 years ago and the thing sounded fantastic.
Man, Ramsa makes some quality stuff.