Boy, I wish that would happen out here in California!
In our little theater we still have no significant sound budget, so I've been scrounging ...
I've managed to find some EQs pretty cheap, as well as a feedback suppressor and compressor to play with for the upcoming season. I also found a pair of Mackie subs really cheap that will hopefully shake the
house when needed.
For board expansion? Well, I did the cheapest thing I could -- I bought a Mackie CFX16 to daisy-chain to our existing CFX20. For under $400 this lets me run 12+ wireless mics, using grouping and on-board FX, and route to the other board where I can manage the sound cue inputs, 8 output channels and a recording aux. Would I like to replace this setup with a single better board? Sure! ... but I can't get anything that is even remotely in the ballpark of what I spent on this :| Maybe someday, either when the theater gets more money, or when I cave in any buy it myself ...
Tech for our first show in four days!