[SML] Upgrading audio mixer

[billn at peak.org]

Our local theatre is finally willing to spend a bit of money to get a decent
audio mixer - the current one was designed for studio use, not in a theatre,
and is a pain to use.

The theatre has 10 wireless mikes and is unlikely to get any more. Sometimes
we have a few musical instruments for musicals. We keep two CD players plugged
in. Budget appears to be in the $2500 - $3000 range.

I would like to drag the theatre into current gear if possible so am looking
at relatively inexpensive digital boards, with all their
configuration/patching flexibility. One advantage is the built in processing,
since the theatre does not have any.

I want a board where I can set it up and then novices can treat it as a basic
analog board (basically push faders and leave most everything else alone).

So far, the best match I have found is the Allen & Heath QU 24. It appears to
be fairly easy to configure and I can get it for about $2900.

Any pro/con comments?

Bill