Looking to buy a system which will be suitable enough to...

- Drive a loud band practice for Vocals and Bass Drum Trigger
- Same as above bit for a live environment in a small venue / pub gig.

I know we are talking easily a couple of thousand but any recommendations is appreciated.

Is brand new the way to go or second hand? Mind though it will see more action in a practice room then out on the road.

Id go second hand if you are really only going to use it for practice mate.

The one we used for Reanimator was a 400w (more then enough for playing infront of 100-200 people) you can actually buy a PA system from Maplins which is pretty suitable (speakers,amp,soundboard) I considered one a few years back then picking up some secondhand monitors.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/loudspeakers.html has some pretty decent deals to