MOST FAMOUS AMP in Rock History! 300 Watts, McIntosh, Grateful Dead & The Wall of Sound

The Wall of Sound was an enormous public address system designed specifically for the Grateful Dead's live performances in 1974. It was the creation of audio engineer Owsley "Bear" Stanley. The Wall of Sound fulfilled Owsley's desire for a distortion-free sound system that could also serve as its own monitoring system. The Wall of Sound was the largest concert sound system built at that time.
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:51 History of the McIntosh MC 2300
01:01 McIntosh MC 2300 Performance
01:41 The Grateful Dead
02:43 The Wall of Sound
04:36 Sotheby's Grateful Dead Auction
05:49 The Front of the McIntosh 2300
06:00 Amplifier Meters
07:48 McIntosh MC 2300 Schematics
08:39 Wall of Sound Replica
10:22 Moving the MC 2300
10:36 The Inside (Top)
11:59 The Inside (Bottom)

[@LennyFlorentine]

For more of my content subscribe to KZbin.com/@ThatGuyWithTheBeard

[@SammLloy481]

My step dad was the blueprint designer and builder of this McIntosh. He has worked with the biggest most famous bands in history including the Grateful dead before Jerry passed away..he is currently retired now. He retired from Sea Gate electronics..that Amp is a monster for sure. However, he has built more powerful amps than that and used them at home. Couldn't stay in the house when he turned it up. He shattered 3 windows in our house one day all at the same time..nice to see that in your shop..

[@LennyFlorentine]

So cool Sammy! Thanks for sharing this with us!

[@spectrelayer]

Turns out that the warning on Telarc CD's was the real deal, eh?

[@cosmictuningwv]

Can you get me one I have wanted one since I was a kid

[@Steve_643]

Think about the roadies that had to setup and breakdown the wall of sound every show. Those guys earned their pay that’s for sure

[@riverdawg3705]

Not a word about Bear?¿?¿...the wall of sound was his grand vision and greatest achievement other than his mastery in chemistry!

[@Taco_Raider]

BURRRRT BURRRRT

[@joes7166]

I got a chance to hear this wall of sound at a Dead concert in Cincinnati in the spring of 74 at a hockey arena. This arena that was notorious for really bad sound. Concrete floors and lots of reflective surfaces etc. The wall of sound was, for every seat in the arena, like going so someone's home listening to their super stereo with some Klipsch horns or some other premium speakers. They used sights on the horn tweeters to make sure every area of the arena was in direct line. Best amplified sound I have ever heard in any large venue.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Wow Joe, thanks for sharing this first hand account with us!! Didn't even think to ask if anyone saw it in person!

[@SMccrate01]

Cool, that would have been the old Cincinnati Gardens, just demolished a few years ago. The Beatles also played there and many others. Amazing that they put The Wall in there! I had read that someone was approaching a Dead show in New Jersey and were half a mile a way and they sound was strong, clear, distortion free as if they were standing by the sound board right at the show. Amazing piece of work that nearly bankrupted the band.

[@olegyamleq7796]

WOWW!!! what a story!! what a classic memory!!! :-)

[@jamestaylor8000]

Joe S I know you are telling the truth Have been to 20 plus shows at The Garden “notorious for really bad sound”! Never witnessed the wall of sound,1st Dead show was ‘80

[@joes7166]

@@jamestaylor8000 Nope. 1974. I graduated that year and was with my college room mates. By 1980 I was living and working 350 miles from Cincy and didn't have time to attend and concerts at all.

[@Shorby99EK]

I like hearing John Curl talk about his time with the band and the wall of sound.

[@davidminnesota4050]

A friend who worked at a highend high-fi store in the late 80's bought a recycled Greatful Dead McIintosh MC2300 amp. The story I heard was that a tower of amps tipped over either prior or after a show damaging all of the amps in that stack, these amps were then retired from "performing" with the Dead. I also understand that McIntosh modified the amps for Dead shows, just how I don't know but there was a label on the amp stating the modification. The sad end to this story was he was getting it repaired in the early 2000s, got a divorce, didn't have a phone for a few months and when he went to pick it up the shop had closed, the amp was gone, and the tech didn't leave a forwarding address. It's out there, good luck finding it.

[@wraithman1870]

The major reason the 2300 was selected was not only the ruggedness and sound, but the transformer matching output. This allowed many speakers to be run in parallel, but the main reason is you could not destroy the output by shorting. Crown and Phase Linear, although powerful, had many issues, primarily unsteady and blown transistors. I was the drum tech for Blood, Sweat and Tears in 1974-6 and we cringed everytime a sound company would use them (crown+Phase L) in their PA. Also, the 2300 was not used in Woodstock, since it wasn't available. Only the MC-3500 and MC240/275 tube units were there.

[@michaelromo321]

an amazing fact about wall of sound microphones was that on order to cut feedback in microphones in front of the speakers there were 2 microphones wired out of phase to each other so when there was no signal the two microphones cancelled each other out providing a signal only when the active microphone was being used. this was engineered by augustus stanley owsley a man of many talents including probably the most lsd produced by one man......

[@gerryk3114]

When I met him, years after the Dead retired The Wall of Sound, He was making Jewelry (Dead Jewelry)

[@bricebowlin8834]

If you watch videos from that era you'll also notice they're using specific microphones, don't recall the model, but like the mics just mentioned there were 2 mics at Jerry and Bobby both had 2 mics in their prospective mic stands. One for highs, one for lows. & Jerry once reported how hard it was to remember to aim his voice into the correct mic for each situation.

[@Frankenstein-sc8rc]

2300 is like no other, I use one in my Jerry rig! That’s awesome you mentioned Anthony he has done so much for our community!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks Nathan! I reached out to Anthony when putting this together and he was great! Hopefully one day we get to check it out in person!

[@robnamowicz8073]

There is no room like headroom,,,we never heard the monitors we built with 12" JBL and a piezo in each til we hooked up an MC 2105. Suddenly there was clarity from all six. Just wow, eh? I also had an MX 110 FM receiver and an MC 240 at home, used it for nearly thirty years. McIntosh used to sponsor clinics where you would take you amps and a MC tech would test and rate the performance of each individual unit to ensure quality sound. They affixed a little sticker with a date, showing you passed. I met Gordon Gow at one clinic. What a gentleman.

[@garysanford9364]

I took a Dynaco 400 I built in high school to one of those and it did very well...

[@TedToob]

Typing from San Francisco - And surrrounded by a ton of Grateful Dead cover bands who play locally. Several still employ the 2300 as Power Amps - not for their PA but for their guitar rig - which was what Garcia did - using the front end of a modified Fender Twin with Outboard Hard-Trucker Cabinets. Jeff Matson of Darkstar Orchestra is a prime emulator of this assemblage.

[@christopherstapleton2934]

Awesome job showing and description!

[@mikesmusicden]

Great video; thank you for taking the time to make it!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thank you for watching Mike!

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Awesome episode! I _love_ the Dead.. Hope you do more videos like this. 😎 It was great to see the inside of it especially. What a beast! ✌️

[@LennyFlorentine]

Awesome! Thank you

[@valdemarnymanostlund6588]

Another amazing vid as always, keep it up brotha

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thank you!

[@WMalven]

Hey man, I really enjoyed this video. I love the fact that you do due diligence in investigating the history of these units you bring in. Thanks!!!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Awesome! Appreciate the comment!

[@albertpipkins6611]

This was a big bad amplifier in the 70's and it would give a lot of the new amplifiers today's quality a real run for their money and this one is 50 years old! I love the 70's audio experience to this day! It's the real deal ! Great job Just Audio team

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks Albert! Really appreciate the feedback!

[@muppetpaster]

But so are tons of others....this one is only in this story for the story....

[@CommodoreGreg]

Awesome history lesson and fascinating amp!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks Greg!

[@BirdYoumans]

I was into sound from the time I knew what music was. I built my 35 watt per channel kit hi fi amp early on and also my speakers circa 1959 ish. Wonderful sounding system, especially for the time. I was about 14. Was aware of what the best amps and speakers were at the time but couldn't afford them. But we rock on to 1970. I started playing with a band named Kudzu out of Georgia. I think that was my 3rd serious band. We played mostly in the Southeastern US and we played a lot of southern blues among other things. I had worked in a couple of studios in Atlanta that used 1208 Altecs in the control room and I knew they were monsters. Around '72 we bought one of the first Mc 2300 and a Mc 2100 and biamped 8 1208's with them, 2300 on the bass speakers and 2100 on the horns. We didn't blow the horns because we split the signal to hi's and low's and no bass content was sent to the horns and vice versa. I can't even begin to tell you how good they sounded. The bass was phenomenal. Tight and solid. We could play to a few thousand people when called on to do so. I no longer have but two of the 1208's because when the band broke up we split up the speakers, but I do have both the 2300 and the 2100. Haven't fired them up in years but I bet they still work. To say they sound good is a gross understatement lol! I can't even imagine 40 or 50 of them. Fond memories. At 77 I no longer play live, but I now do music videos on my youtube music channel. When the music is in you, you never want to quit! Oh, and by the way, those Mc watts? They were RMS watts. That was the no BS way to rate wattage. Still is.

[@craigshewchuk9018]

Man! Would love to play out of those!!! Wow

[@BirdYoumans]

@@craigshewchuk9018 It was an awesome PA! Some of the most fun I ever had playing music was in that band until years later when my heart and life changed and I started doing old time Gospel music. That has been the joy of my life since then. I have retired from performing now but I still do music for my youtube channel where I post my videos of it and do a live stream sing along each friday night on my alternate channel.

[@craigshewchuk9018]

@@BirdYoumans I will check it out! I subbed your channel, that's awesome to do gospel now, God helps out a lot and I know that is a big reason I have some killer gear now

[@BirdYoumans]

@@craigshewchuk9018 😊😊

[@danherrick5785]

Thought I would ask a question from someone with experience - what do you think are the speakers on top of the Klipsch La Scallas at 5:05? Were these for Bass?

[@oliverpura9876]

The comments are extremely informing and educating. Thanks.

[@LennyFlorentine]

I never thought of it that way, but yeah there were so many great ones!

[@craigsmestad6952]

Great video! I've got an MC 2600 for home use.... It's a monster!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Oooh a 2600. Dang thats 600 watts!

[@steatipygous]

I’m from Ireland and on visiting Philly back in the 70’s I saw one of these at a friends house and was awed by it. Thanks for the great video presentation. It was so interesting and enjoyable to watch. Keep up the good work.

[@bugelfalte6320]

Thanks for this great video. I love vintage audio and have some Marantz, Teac and Nakamichi and also love the passion you take about those famous devices. Great devices, great stories and interesting comments. A big thumbs up from Germany !!!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Hey! Thank you so much, glad you are enjoying the channel!

[@bugelfalte6320]

@@LennyFlorentine Hey! It is always a pleasure to watch your channel :):):)

[@beezlebub3955]

That’s a wild ass story! Definitely before my time, but that wall of sound, as a whole team is crazy dedication

[@ronsullivan3792]

The calculations for that center, radial horn array, in the Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound were performed by Bear himself, when he was working with John Meyer across the street from me, here in Berkeley, CA. Another factoid: the original conceptive idea for 'the Wall' was born of Bear's synesthetic experience of 'seeing sound', while very high on his own acid, at the 'infamous; Muir Beach Acid test! So, now you know!

[@JimAlfredson]

I had the pleasure of hearing a system centered around the McIntosh MC2300 powering a pair of JBL 4343 speakers. It was insane how good that system sounded.

[@harlest71]

Awesome video guys!! Loved the bonus footage, nice to see inside that monster.

[@olegyamleq7796]

this video was amazingggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!! thanks for this!!!!!!!!!! upvoted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thank you!!

[@davehill9951]

Great video! When i was playing live our rig had 8 H+H mosfet V-800,s . 4 a side. Rock solid British amps and never let us down. This was for playing 500 to 1000 seat rooms.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Wow Dave, thanks for sharing. Bet that sounded great!

[@tourhead]

Awesome! Thanks for this!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks for watching!

[@brianmurphy7372]

I was at the Grateful Dead concert at Roosevelt Stadium in august of 1974 where they played with the Wall of Sound. INCREDIBLE SOUND!! It sounded like a huge Wurlitzer jukebox. Dead played for five hours!!Best concert of my life!! .

[@LennyFlorentine]

Brian, thank you so much for sharing with us! Sound like it was the best!

[@intoodeep001]

I was at that show too! There was nothing like a Grateful Dead concert. Fond memories.

[@mikeg2491]

5 hrs is insane, you had to be on drugs to sit through it that long😅

[@junipersnow1]

@@mikeg2491 Sit ? Hahahahah. 🕺💃🌈🕺💃 there was no sitting.

[@digidrum2003]

Awesome......thanks for the all the info on this amp...i have been wanting to know more about this amp and its relationship with the Grateful Dead.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Glad we could help!

[@KarklinPumpkin]

Great video!

[@karaDee2363]

Thanks for the history lesson which was very interesting. All the Maclntosh components that I remember in my favorite Hi-Fi store back in the 70s was always the top of the line and also very unaffordable for me..lol Problem back then was there wasn't many speakers that could handle all that power

[@radioace318la]

Klipsch and Marantz were the best I found. Oh, and the old-style Radio Shack/Realistic Mach One Speaker, now a classic.

[@BlackDogOriginal]

Sounds great!

[@hifi.david.]

These are the best videos from you guys amazing video and history

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks Dave! We are trying something new in 2022, glad to get the feedback from one of our long time subscribers!

[@maksafi]

Love it.... loved the info the presentation the history and all. Big thanks

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks for watching Makram!

[@NebulaStudios1]

Thank you for this bit of Dead history.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks for watching!

[@ontogeny6474]

Dang! What a beast. So glad you took the covers off -- did not expect a bottom view. Very naughty, very sweet.

[@wraithman1870]

The reason it was difficult to move around is due to the removal of the side rails that allow you to stack and tilt on it's back The Dead amps start with 1Y in the serial number

[@LennyFlorentine]

Both interesting points and info that I didn't know. Thanks!!

[@bricebowlin8834]

Not to mention the rising price of fuel for the rigs hailing the load & the time it took to setup. Even though they got quicker at setting it up Eventually

[@MickeyMishra]

I know with new technology these amplifiers can be as small as the palm of your hand and as efficient as an LED light bulb or more but there is still something that's just magical about having this old school gear.

[@Freq412]

Class D switching amps chopping up the analog audio with switching power supplies all in the name of efficiency (the sound of me puking).

[@jaydee5156]

Efficient electrically and from a size standpoint, but not in its ability to dissipate heat. 300 watts per channel is a lot of energy and a lot of heat. Think blow dryer here. Watts is watts, but it's amperage from huge, heavy transformers and monster caps that move large speakers, not so much voltage. Even some of the commercial systems today seem to pale in comparison. As a teen, if it was hung on a wall, I could take it down with the synthesizer solo from Magic Man. My little sisters had a deaf friend that would dance with my sisters when I'd crank up those big 15s and that was only 125 per channel.

[@kodykindhart5644]

You puke at victor playing?

[@kodykindhart5644]

You puke at Phil playing?

[@MickeyMishra]

@@Freq412 Only the EARLY EARLY amps did that. That was the Class H+ gear that was just a D with Class B that did that Nasty transfer. I get what you are saying and I often seem to just Perfer the sound of Class A/B and Class A when using traditional crossover Parts but from my perspective and with what I've seen a really well built class D amplifier can sound amazing especially when running fully active. Here is a $99 amp that does a great job. The Dual 1004. You can still pick them up at VATOSONE! (AutoZone) It was tested by Amir as well. Very good amp for class D. However. With class D of this caliber? Garbage in , Bleeding ears & trash out. I even perfer the JUNKER I daily only because the system I'm using is Junk. So I don't care if someone boosts it (the politically correct term is "extended borrowing") But I tried this amp with my Maggie's. It was Magic. Due try it out. They even have a good return policy as well. Don't bother with the extended warranty. You won't need it. However... If you get one that the BOX has been opened? BUY IT. Otherwise sealed from the factory? Its golden. Buy 2 of them. Its basically a $800 Rockford amp for peanuts.

[@casablanca2745]

Very cool vid! Saw/heard the Wall of Sound at my first Dead show at the Providence Civic Center in RI in 74. They played Boston the next night so the road crew must have had several WTF moments. Woodstock was amped by the McIntosh 3500’s by Hanley Sound (Boston based I think). The site museum has original amps (and speakers) on display as well as the recently departed Michael Lang’s iconic BSA motorcycle and other great stuff. Worth a visit. Keep em coming my friends, enjoyed it!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Very cool info, thanks for contributing!

[@rupe53]

I have worked with Bill Hanley, and boy, he's got some stories to tell. I actually met him for the first time at the original Woodstock site in the early 90s

[@iamlightfoot]

A new Subscriber Bro! Thanku for the Share "Back in Time" That is an Awesome Power House! And I'd simply luv to get my hands on one! Too Cool!!!👍 Rock On Bruh!!! ✌

[@othertonywi1son]

I've heard that there were actually 2 Wall of Sound systems. It would take an entire day to setup, a day for the concert, and a day to tear down. So the two systems would leapfrog each other to be at every other venue. The Grateful Dead with the Wall of Sound did for live music what The Beatles did for recorded music.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Wow great info Tony! Thank you!!

[@SKennedy2441]

They had two sets of scaffolding that leapfrogged, but beyond that, most of the equipment was moved each show.

[@othertonywi1son]

@@SKennedy2441 that makes sense. A ton of the work would have just been setting up and tearing down scaffolding. If they could get the speakers and amps down quickly, they could send those off early and get them setup at the next venue quickly.

[@SKennedy2441]

@@othertonywi1son Funny you say that it seems getting the speakers and amps stacked up took the longest time, hense why the scafoflding was the only thing that leap frogged. The documentary Long Strange Trip has an entire episode on 1974 and discusses the wall of sound and its logistics at great length. It's on prime and i highly recomend it.

[@blakewhittington4336]

Was gonna say this

[@v1ncepupp1o7]

Absolutely love the dead! Thanks for the knowledge drop! Best believe im truckin to the first show with that full scale wall of sound

[@neilphelan145]

A friend of mine used one of these with 2 JBL Voice of the Theater cabinets for his home stereo. It was the most kick ass home stereo I've ever heard!

[@soccerfam6193]

Great work

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thank you!

[@audiohertz2341]

We used them to drive multiple subwoofers back in the 70’s , helped with the low impedance taps, the Sansui BA5000 big daddy :)

[@AverageMack]

I see them all the time back here in service, McIntosh is a cool thing for sure. Love seeing peoples views on the Amps.

[@erichanhauser3190]

Excellent video.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thank you very much!

[@davidbreckler5327]

Great job on this video. I'm a Deadhead but never heard the wall of sound. My boss had this amp for his home stereo in the mid 70's. With JBL speakers. Same idea...

[@Mr39036ce]

A great amp and the Dead used a ton of those along with them at the Woodstock concert so can't diss any of that but as a very frequent concert attendee in those days I mostly saw those early Crown amps. The ones with the DC300 on the front of a little panel that hid the fuses. Also some oddly modified Phase Linears that had big multiconductor cables to a box mounted below housing their power transformers.

[@mikemalone2834]

Great Video, I actually have a McIntosh 2300 and a gear box from the Dead in my Collection. I'm a huge Dead fan , I have a little over 45 shows stubs that I was at and missing quite a few. Your KZbin vids are legit, keep them coming.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Mike, means a lot that we were able to accomplish telling a story about the Dead and get the approval of a fan. Thanks so much & nice collection as well! I'm also a stub collector.

[@robpayne9500]

I use a McIntosh c32 going into the 2300 for my vintage home stereo set-up. It sounds great with a bass sound I've never heard from anything else.

[@cjmarsh504]

That's a beautiful beast.

[@rickradford3920]

I’m 66 years old and still have my MC2300. It’s the same power output at any impedance. The McIntosh Output Autoformer, a giant transformer on the output. This allows any speaker impedance to be hooked to the amp. This delivers the same power no matter what’s hooked to it…. You just need to know the correct taps on the buss strip to hook the speaker to.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Awesome Rick! Thanks for the info!

[@radioace318la]

We had that very same amp in a 19" rack in the control room of KROK in Shreveport Louisiana. It was a Monster! Truly a Beast! It was connected to a pair of Marantz high-end control room speakers. The only problem was the newsroom next door. The Chief station engineer had the console monitor output cranked way way down. I was lucky. He and I were pals and I did a lot of weekend shifts. He showed me the tiny pot to adjust the board output. This setup would make Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the heart shake the building. Not to mention Jacksons' Thriller. FF over 20 years. I'm now Chief engineer. The caps had been dying over the last year of service. The output pots were noisy as hell. I replaced it with a cheapass Broadcast works 2 channel 50 watt amp. This thing weighed about the same as a small block chevy engine. It made its way to my workbench. There it sat for over a year. The original parts were hard to find so I had to makeshift caps and pots. It now sits in my storage room. I may drag it out, dust it off and reemploy sometime soon. Thanks for the memories. Cheers from Louisiana.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Rick, thanks for sharing your story! If I ever make it to Louisiana I will have to stop by for a tour!

[@GREGBT69]

Man I remember the company Crown made these crate amps that can power any concert speakers you threw at it. There were absolutely huge and heavy amps.

[@gratefuldawgs2738]

Wow!! Very Kool Job Man!!! I want one Bad!!! Lolo

[@johnburger6774]

Thank You Bear.

[@mikep5701]

Hey guys, Great channel. Brings back memories. In Germany with the USAF back in 77.Sansui, and Kenwood were the preferred monster receivers for us back then. Of course Macintosh was bad to the bone. Got out of the service and had to sell off my good Teac reel to reel, Kenwood 9600 and JBL speakers to keep the lights on and baby milk and such on the table. FF to the mid -80's. Was able to go big. Yamaha MX 1000U Hyperbolic Amp with matching pre-amp and equalizer. Just curios as to your thoughts on these items. The MX 1000U was rated at 1000W per channel at 8 ohms if I remember correctly. Thanks again for a great channel!

[@carpo719]

The wall of sound was so epic. I remember seeing the dead back in the early 90s and caring about those early days.

[@robertwiley8458]

Great Amp nice history lesson 👏 👌 👍

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks Robert!

[@garys1266]

Never forget listening to Starship Trooper on my dad's MaCintosh spelling? receiver and Klipsch speakers in the early 80s on reel to reel. Mind blowing experience.

[@colonelcatastrophe4821]

Wow, massive caps😲👍👍👍

[@KeithCopeland778]

This just illustrates how amazing McIntosh amplifiers are!!!!!!! To be able to be used for the Grateful Dead concerts requires serious power, current, and heat dissipation to last during the shows. McIntosh amps, probably the most robust, well-designed, and well-built on the planet, are legendary for a reason!

[@susiefairfield7218]

Thank You Tapers 🙏 ♥️ ⚡ 💙 ☠️ 🌹

[@artievan739]

Summer Jam. I was there. To much fun was had. I probably saw about 10 shows with The Wall of Sound.

[@Joey-JoJo-Jr.64]

Fantastic history of Rock !

[@darrellsellers]

Great show

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thank you!

[@JDfromWitness]

I was around during the big conversion from massive tube amps to solid state for Rock & Roll. The 2300 was the absolute boat anchor! Beautiful amp! The other Amps of the day were the Phase Liner 400's and 700's (Sometimes known as the "Flame Liner" for their reputation for blow-ups), and of course, the Crown DC300 (a) Which became the standard of the industry for many years. All these seem so small compared to the equipment that is on the road today, but back then, it was massive stuff!

[@LennyFlorentine]

The Flame Liner 🔥 that sounds very interesting!

[@williammiller9584]

I remember those days. I once had to use a single Phase Linear 700 as the primary reinforcement amp for a small festival. It had totally inadequate heat sinks for that sort of use, but the few fins it had stuck out about four inches beyond the rest of the rear of the amp. We kept it running by standing the amp up on the fins in an ice bath.

[@JasonPMcElroy]

I had a Phase Linear 700 and sold it 25 years ago to a studio in LA when I move to NYC. Regret deeply. Think I got $300 for it. ;-(

[@rupe53]

I had the Phase Linear 400 and a Pioneer Spec amp as well. Both kicked ass and both weighed in like a window AC unit with rack handles.

[@xxdjsolomanxx]

My dad still has his 2500. Its blown several sets of really good speakers over the years that i can remember. Thing is an absolute monster.

[@jameslanclos568]

The Ampeg SVT Bass Amp is/was 300 watts and I played my guitar through. You could feel the sound waves run through your body as well as things in the room would rattle and fall off the shelves !!! It was AWESOME !!!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks for sharing! Very cool!

[@monsterstereos1836]

Wow, I'm just speechless!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks!

[@ChainsawFPV]

You had me at the Greateful Dead! While I was not born until 77, My early teenage years were lived deadhead style!!!

[@rangerrecon]

Personally I think the most interesting part was when the amp was taken apart and we got a chance to see the insides. I was wondering what kind of capacitance was in the power supply to support the 600 watts.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks! I do love putting that in the bonus footage

[@slimjim1104]

@@LennyFlorentine Is this a class AB design?

[@debbiekelley7899]

My local record shop has this exact amplifier, the shop first opened in the early 70's

[@LennyFlorentine]

Wow thats awesome!

[@xerxespamplemousse6622]

Heard and Saw the Wall of Sound in Oakland. Even though it was incredibly loud, it was so clear that the volume was not unreasonably uncomfortable. There was one fan who climbed up on the stage and was sitting *inside* a woofer during the concert.

[@bloomz1]

I was there as well

[@BluebirdBridge]

I just made a 3D version of the Wall of Sound in Blender and used it to make a music video of "Stella Blue." I heard the real Wall of Sound at the Philadelphia Civic Center on August 5th, 1974. There was nothing like it. The sound was crystal clear with zero distortion. Thanks for this video. I always thought the McIntosh 2300 was a tube amp. Now I know it was solid state.

[@jfarlandutube]

I own one of these and it is a beast. If I want to drive my magnapans and make my ears bleed, I hook up to 2300. Somehow a few years ago something inside of it caught on fire and there was smoke coming out the top. Sent it back to McIntosh and they made it like new again. I have to admit that it is very hard to lift into position. Great video. If you own hard to drive speakers, this is your answer.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks Jack! Yes very hard to position...

[@vettemaniac2237]

Sent it back to McIntosh? ... In an 18 wheeler?

[@ontogeny6474]

@@vettemaniac2237 😆

[@darrentylor5473]

If you had smoke and/or fire but relatively no other damage, you cooked a capacitor... Easy enough to fix...

[@jfarlandutube]

Did send it to McIntosh, works perfectly now.

[@davidmcginnis2998]

Good job !

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks David!

[@marlobreding7402]

My dream system McIntosh I settled on Marantz. My cousin had a complete McIntosh system with all the bells and whistles. It and 1500 pristine vinyl pressings went up in smoke.

[@berniezander]

Owlsley " Bear" Stanley was the Dead's sound guru who designed and built that system. As I understand it, the height of the bass speakers equaled the height of a full standing bass wave. If you know the iconic Grateful Dead dancing bears, The Bear was Owlsley. Also, he was the manufacturer of high quality LED that was pervasive in San Francisco and beyond, as told in Steely Dan's Kid Charlemagne. His LSD rig was also sold at auction last year.

[@cravinbob]

The lower speakers up to 6 ft were monitors for the band to hear themselves and above that height speaker acted as PA for audience. Each stack was assigned for each members vocal and amplifier. Feedback from monitors was eliminated by using two mikes per person and each mike out-of -phase with the other. I saw a Mac online for sale $3000.00

[@philthomas8351]

I heard the original McIntosh 2275 tube power amp a long time ago. One of the best sounds I heard from a Jubal JBL speaker set. The amp was $3,600, I believe, but at least I coud dream.

[@andyamysarizonaadventures5450]

Lol I've heard Korn live 15 years ago and my heads still ringing😎

[@blackpassenger]

yehhh, my dat had one of these, I wanted to be like my dad, so I bought one in my late teens. they were popular with sound systems when i was a kid in jamaica. and thats how i fell in love with hifi and especially mc intosh. i was a mc intosh freak at 8 years old. then when i first met my dad in ny, he had a full Mcintosh set: mc 2300 pa and mcintosh preamp. cant recall which model. wow, youve motivated me to get back into hifi.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Awesome! Yeah get back into it!

[@spishco]

An amp with a rock and roll history is the Bryston 4B. Just about every studio had one!

[@LennyFlorentine]

Oh first person to mention that one

[@beaud4474]

I think they even used them for pa system on ships. I have three of them in use . Love them.

[@sloboat55]

Excellent

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks!

[@blackbearbear9313]

That's a real rocker I seen those back in the day in the stores set them up with four 901s you got a party

[@Hi-Fi369]

😲Wow! what a Beast!💥💪🏼😁👽✌🏼

[@LennyFlorentine]

Oh yeah!

[@domenicgalata1470]

The shows on the 74 tour are so damn good. Especially the Cow Palace, Daly City shows. 🔥🔥🔥

[@maxpower78-15]

Gorgeous. Impressive. Wish it was in my rack.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Thanks for watching!

[@maxpower78-15]

@@LennyFlorentine always! I bought too much stuff last year off ebay before i found you guys . Cant justify any more purchases in the near future. Come spring, i may sell a few pieces and see what you guys have in stock. Cheers

[@thomasburnett4712]

When I tested those amplifiers at McIntosh Labs at 2 Chambers Street in 1973, they each had two A/C cords rated 120V@14A.

[@tomcarl8021]

NYC?

[@thomasburnett4712]

@@tomcarl8021 Binghamton, New York

[@powerengineeringservices1428]

Used to go to the kirkwood exit and take 7 into Binghampton. Mostly went to the employees houses and later- their relatives when McIntosh found out about the employee discounts squandered by outsiders buying up those tube amps and selling them outside NY. McIntosh liked the throughput of merchandise out the door but incorrect warranty records. I never did it. I went to the Dynaco warehouse in NJ to build amp kits for students at Temple in phila.

[@Satchmoeddie]

Owsley Stanley (Bear) and Rick Turner designed the wall of sound for The Grateful Dead. Nothing was modular so it was a total nightmare and more a proof of concept that is a precursor of today's arena rock sound systems which are actually modular and made to be built up, taken back down, moved and built back up again and again and varying configurations too! The Wall of sound was more like stacking up speaker boxes and then praying they didn't fall down.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Great info Seth! Thanks for sharing

[@JillandKevin]

Also partially responsible for the wall of sound are Dan Healey and Rich Pechner

[@kevinhennessey3189]

John Curl was also involved in the Wall of Sound, the System was developed over the course of a year that I am aware of. The first iteration I saw was at Kezar Stadium memorial day weekend 1973. (Nice show with Waylon Jennings opening up and The New Riders of the Purple Sage before The Dead. Next 2 times was most of the Wall at the Winterland in Nov 73 and Feb 74. The System produced a lot of high quality Sound that was Home Audiophile quality, no ear fatigue after a show at all.

[@bcurtis65nj]

One of the more amazing aspects of the wall of sound was the fact that the PA was behind the band and it served as their monitors as well - they plugged into the PA and did not have traditional amps that were mic'd or had a direct output. Same w/vocals but they had no feedback. This was the first application of noise canceling technology I have heard of. If you look at photos you see the vocal mics had 2 mics lined up vertically, one they sang into and one was wired to be reversed polarity to cancel feedback. As we all know put a PA speaker behind a mic and feedback loops ensue. Really advanced design but I heard it got really loud as the show went on since the musicians controlled the output to the audience.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Excellent input and explanation! Thanks!

[@rhmayer1]

Yes, this was another of Owsley Stanley's innovations . He was the Dead's sound engineer and primary designer for the Wall of Sound. The feedback-cancelling dual mics were also his innovation, but were not entirely successful. They were eventually retired due to introducing some kind of occasional high-frequency phonics/noise that also affected the general tone of the vocals. If I recall, you can see photos of the dual-mics in the Europe '72 double-album. I remember seeing/hearing them live in those early post-Europe concert years. They always sounded great to me! I never heard the high-frequency problems, but read about it later.

[@Hippiekinkster]

@@rhmayer1 - yeah, that's common mode rejection ratio, CMRR ... I first encountered this measurement when I was learning about op amps in the mid-80s. The mics function as differential inputs to the amps, and when the signals (IIRC, and ideally) are summed, the signal to the speakers is without noise (hey, I was a Chemist, not an EE, and it's been over 40 years...). The formula for calculating CMRR is 20log₁₀(Adiff/Acm)dB, which is sometimes frequency dependent and often higher at higher gain. Those 741 op amps had a CMRR of over 100dB, and precision op amps can achieve >130dB. I traded a couple emails with Bear a few months before he died in a car wreck near his home in Australia; we had a conversation about Leonard Pickard and his "business model". That "Wall of Sound" was some brilliant engineering. I heard it at an outdoor venue in Roanoke VA in July 1974. Don't remember too many details except the "Rhythm Devils" doing their drum thing between sets and no caterwauling Donna. Nice clear summer night and the sound was clean. Bear was a brilliant man, one of the very few "major deities" of the era.

[@rhmayer1]

@@Hippiekinkster Thanks for the clarification. Really great that you had the opportunity to "talk" to Bear before his passing! (Bear was Owsley's nickname for those who didn't know.) Those '74 shows were some of the best. Saw them at Winterland (San Francisco) twice that year, both among my very favorites.

[@oooogieazgolf]

@@rhmayer1 But "Kid Charlemagne" did make the best acid in the land.

[@johnlarson111]

I saw the wall of sound at colt park dillon stadium. it was awesome. a few friends listened to it in east hartford over the I-91 truck traffic

[@LennyFlorentine]

Wow thats awesome!!

[@hazegreen1896]

wow those transformers and caps. Garcia played through those till the end. He had an interesting rig, in the later pic you can see the fender twins mounted vertically so that is where he gets his guitar amp vibe from but then uses the really nice amp to drive the really nice speakers to amplify that with a lot of control.

[@LennyFlorentine]

Great info Haze! Thanks for contributing!

[@thomasstrickland0]

I need one!