I've never had a PA speaker and I bought it for rather unconventional use - personal use for listening to music. I debated between something more consumer oriented like the JBL PartBoxes and what not, but decided for a PA speaker for better upgrade options.
I narrowed down my options to Alto TS415/412 and EV ZLX 15/12. I picked Alto as it had bluetooth, was cheaper, from videos I saw online it seemed to be really decent. Picked 15 inch version as the price difference between 12 inch one was very small and I do not have a subwoofer. Also in my opinion EV has same issues w/ knobs previous Alto generation is being criticized for.
Overall I cannot actually tell how good or bad it is in the PA world, as I have nothing to really compare it against. But from what my experience has been, for what I have used it, it is really good. I actually even placed an order for a second one.
For anyone wondering how it sounds compared to a consumer speaker, then I have heard the JBL PartyBox 310 and I think the Alto 415 sounds better.
For people wondering 12 inch or 15 inch, as I was - I think there really is no correct answer and just about every answer you find online has some bias and specific reasons why the person has such an opinion. I picked 15 because it is bigger, supposedly more bass and I don't have a subwoofer.
Perhaps one day I will have tried EV speakers, 12 inch versions and tried different setups with and without subwoofers and I could write a more comparative review. For now though, I rate the speaker 5/5 - it is great build quality, sounds great, looks great, works great.
