I find most of Peavey's bad rep was operator error. Inexperienced operators.
I have been saying this for years.
The tool get blamed for a bad operator/user.
Because of the price, Peavey was often chosen by beginner musicians, and their inexperience/talent shows up in the overall sound, and the PA gear is blamed.
That part of Peaveys reputation is not deserved.
They made gear that would take a beating and just keep on going, working gig after gig.
I now everybody has their own thoughts ideas, but that is mine.
For what is worth, I have only owed 2 pieces of Peavey gear over my almost 50 years in the industry, so I am not trying to justify my investments, just my feeling about the overall products, especially the older products