Acoustic Rig Questions for my P22

[Nolaguitarist]

I have had my PRS P22 for a few months now, and have decided to add some equipment to my set up to take advantage of the guitar's piezo output. I am currently deciding between an acoustic amp (Ultrasound AG-50 DS4) and a DI/PA set-up. At the moment I feel like I am splitting hairs on these pieces of equipment, both in features and price, but I do not have any experience with acoustic rigs. Fishman's Aura Spectrum seems to be throwing a monkey wrench in my decision making.

Is there a need for a DI to polish the piezo output or is there internal processing that takes care of this before leaving the guitar?
Does anyone have any experience with the Fishman Aura Spectrum's Imaging and the piezo output? I understand that you cannot turn the sound of one acoustic guitar into another with the Aura, but this is not an acoustic guitar. Are the images redundant with the piezo output or is there a significant difference between the images? Are the images useful for the electric-piezo world?

Is there anything that I might be missing deciding between an acoustic amp and a DI/PA set-up?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Egads]

I run mine through a DI (and a compressor set for very little impact) to the PA. I, personally, have never gotten along with many acoustic amps. They generally sound OK, but just do not provide the space that a PA provides. Of course, if you don't have a need for a PA other than this, the acoustic amp may be the more reasonable choice.

I did A/B the sound direct and with the DI...I prefer the DI.

I'm no help with the Aura system, but am also interested in others experience.

Good luck.

 

[Nolaguitarist]

Update: I went ahead and bought a small PA and an Aura Spectrum DI. The Aura is very intuitive but a bit overwhelming. Initial thoughts on the imaging and the P22: Almost all of the Mahogany body images, sound very good. There are definitely images that do not sound good. I would describe the good sounding images as being like picking your reverb sound; you definitely don't change the sound of the guitar but you can definitely add some depth to the total sound. Hope this helps someone.