Mike Stranks wrote:We don't know what is actually being quoted so it's hard to establish 'loudness'.
For the Phonic Powerpod I'd assume that the 150W pc is RMS or close to it. Anything less would be pretty useless for PA. Phonic quote 100W pc into 8 ohms.
The speakers are 8 ohm rated and have a peak output of 114dB and a 600W peak rating, which normally equates to 150W RMS. Working back, that equates to a basic efficiency of 92dB @ 1W @ 1m. Sounds about right for a cheap PA speaker (£56 each when bought separately)
With 100W input (20dB gain), the speaker will produce a peak SPL of 112dB.
Now that is going to be fine for a quiet acoustic rehearsal session, but isn't enough for any band with drums. A long time ago I did once try to use a Spirit Powerpad (30W pc) with two passive JBL EON 10" speakers for our rehearsal PA (trying not to take the 15" Eons and the Spirit Powerstation 600 for ease of packing and carrying) but it simply wasn't loud enough. That (by calculation) would have produced around 110dB per speaker. 2dB on top of that simply won't cut it once you get drums and electric instruments involved.
Remember that that's at full volume, by which time most PAs don't sound very nice so you'd want to run with some headroom, which makes it even quieter.
So if there's just one or two of you singing with one or two electro-acoustics, then maybe it's OK for a rehearsal, but I doubt it would be any use for gigs unless the audience was very quiet. Trying to get heard in a noisy pub/bar - no way.
Also you are going to need some monitoring when playing live, so you'll probably need at least one monitor, and to save carting a separate amp around, you're best going active. So if you go for at least a basic 12" powered monitor like this T-bone one
https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_ma120_mk_ii.htm, you'll end up with a monitor that at 120dB peak, is louder than your FOH PA!
The problem with starter kit is that you almost immediately grow out of it. You'll notice its deficiencies within a few weeks, then you'll want something better. And then you find that you've lost at least half the value (if you can sell it).