Well, I am on a budget and did quite a lot of research and review reading before buying the Mackie Thumps and I am really pleased with them.
They look good, are very light for powered 15" speakers (I can carry one with each arm), they have the ability to plug in a mic directly and control the volume and eq too - so can be used without a mixer for single mic use.
Regarding the sound - I really don't think you could beat it for the money, they have good and clear highs and lows, good mids and a wide spread, it is well balanced and the eq enables you to tweak the sound for different venues. They suffer from minor mains inteference, but nothing you could hear when playing at at a gig, I will be getting a mains conditioner to clean things up a bit.
All in all I consider them a fantastic buy and am well pleased with them, and with Andertons service. I am just about to buy another pair as monitors.