Hi Sam
I know what you mean about diminishing returns, but I just wonder how much money mackie and behringer etc make out of the awful array of budget mixers and tat and speakers and amps that they knock out.
Look at behringer, apart from the dcx crossover and the x range, their pa products are average at best,
Mackie , dl range, great concept, I wouldn't plug one in to an srm speaker though,
There must be money in junk, enough to subsidise a low channel count quality mixer to give them a bit of kudos,
Regarding the 500 euro nearly there product, I really fancied the motu ultralite mk3, shame you can't run it direct from a pad without needing a pc and a router too.
As for the suggestions of people just popping up with harmonicas and sax and pianos, and needing extra channels, that is never going to happen, you are booked as a solo or duo, that's what they get and you take the necessary bit of kit.
Kev