Fatty,
The PM1000 has TONS of space on the inside for modding. I've not witnessed so much real estate on a PCB on anything else I've worked (as limited as that may be). Seriously, there is an abundance of space inside these things. They aren't too big either, but they are very heavy. I think they're around 200 pounds for the 16 channel version. If that's not worth it, then know that the transformers on the PM1000 are supposedly much nicer. I've never heard the 700, but that's the word on the street.
If you can get a PM1000 for under 500 bucks, it would be very easy to rack them up and use them as micpre/eq modules. You could even sell 8 channels raw on eBay and pay for the mixer and the modding like that. You could probably get it so it wouldn't cost a thing. :green: I think it's the best deal in the world. You couldn't build 16 discrete mic/pre eq modules (or even one or two) for that price, and they sound great. The eq is a high quality inductor based design, so just change one cap value, and you can change the selectable eq frequencies to make the eq something you desire. My plan is to actually change the eq frequencies in banks of four. So I'll have four channels of frequencies a, b, and c, and then another four channels with frequencies d, e, and f, an so on. That way I have more choices.