Has anyone tried out the Dawn 510 PA system at Music 123?

Yes, It is a great little system. Not very punchy, but for small gigs would work okay, small acoustic gigs, I would recommend the system.

Check out the new Samson 250 watt stereo portable system at American Musicical with 12" speakers for $599.

This system looks very intriuging... light weight (sub < 45 lbs), priced right, and some very positive customer reviews. George, you at all familiar with it?
http://www.music123.com/item/?itemno=79275&t=1#tab

many years ago I sold a couple of the Dawn portable PA's. They looked very much like what I see in the picture but without the sub. Even though they sounded good, I had a hard time selling them for two reasons. They looked like they were made in someones garage rather than a pro looking system made by a major company, and nobody had ever heard of the company. Until I read this post, I've never heard of this company since I had a system back around 1985 or so. I remember, Bo Tomlin, who was the guru of the Yamaha DX7 was the person that sold me this system. I wonder if he's still involved.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

We sold them 20 yeaqrs ago, it seems ! I bet the stuff is old stock at M123. The bass bin worked very well, but the sattelites awere made of plastic and use piezo horns facing UPWARDS .... not a very efficient way to project the sound. It was a good alternative to the bulk of it's day, but there are so many better choices today. The woofer is passive and has a psuedo-crossover built in, so it will work with any pair of 8 ohm tops, maybe someone can utilize the bottom with a nice set of small EV's or something.

I saw a guy doing an acoustic act at a cocktail hour before my show using the Dawn system and Honestly it sounded pretty decent....he played Guitar over Mini Disc Tracs.. I don't know if I would use it with a Arranger KB in a power single situation.

I used a Dawn for awhile several years ago and found it to be pretty good, especially in rooms that were wider than they were deep.
The little satillites had a very wide pattern but were not good for projecting far.

The sub woofer pumped out the lower end just fine... so fine that I had to tweak EQ up quite a bit.

My only gripes:
1. No handles to carry the sub
2. The satillite stands seemed flimsy
3. The in and out jacks on the sub were not in a very convenient place to get to for wiring.
4. The sub's shell was constructed with pressboard and not as durable as I would have liked.

Eddie

I have pretty much given up on a small PA system. I bought the Peavey Escort system, it didn't sound good so, I ended up returning it. I then auditioned Fender Passport 250, it also didn't sound good for arrangers. The small systems may be good for acoustic guitars (I think that's what they are designed for) but for arrangers they really sound weak.

BTW, I ended up buying a pair of Samson Resolv 65a monitors (since, I mostly needed them for home use and I didn't want to mess up my Mackie HR824s) These monitors kick a$$ for the money. I bought the sub as well, but it was DOA, so I am waiting for a replacement. If you are looking for monitor system with a sub then do check these out. For less than $450 for two speakers and a sub, you really can't beat the performance. I can't wait to add the sub and listen to what it sounds like.