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How good is the McIntosh MC-2300 vs modern SS amplifiers?

John Curl gave a most informative talk on the Wall Of Sound used by the Gratefful Dead. He had a lot to do with the speaker end of things but had not much to say about the amplifiers which left me curious about them. 

I pulled up the following manual and schematic and suggest anyone interested in advanced circuit design of the 1970s have a look .. http://www.tubebooks.org/file_downloads/McIntosh/MC2300.pdf

Read this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McIntosh_MC-2300

and this  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_of_Sound

There is an earlier discussion about autotransformers where some call the autoformer a "band aid" for a poor design and others slurs. However this is a fine amplifier, virtually bullet proof, and used in great numbers by a band known for its incredible sound. 

I welcome any comments and questions. 
ramtubes
ramtubes's avatar
ramtubes OP
460 posts
 
HI George,

I have not listened to one but I like the circuit, especially for its day when Phase Linear and Crown were the alternatives. I just appreciate a good design for the parts that were available at the time. Transistors have come a long way since then. This amp used a MJ15001 series part. Although they could have used the compliment they went with same sex devices. Its a really clever design,

As far as I know The Dead bought all those amps. There is even a story where they took a helicopter and $6000 to pick up some amps at the factory on a Sunday.

Did it really sound that bad? Anyone else heard one?
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georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Did it really sound that bad?
Yeah, to give a visual comparison, it was like looking through frosted glass.

I remember sound from that era well, SS either tore your head off with sibilance usually from the US, or so truncated the opposite, usually from the UK, it sounded like a thick Blancmange. No wonder tube were the preferred choice by all.


Owsley wanted the Dead not only to be clearly heard but also in stereo
But this counters that if you look at the writing above each unit stack, as the same muso/instrument was in both left and right, giving basically a mono wall of sound.
https://marketingtowin.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/dead-soundii.jpg

Cheers George
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I think the Grateful Dead liked HDCD as nearly every album they did was HDCD.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Grateful+Dead+HDCD&_sacat=0&_ipg=200

Cheers George
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
"Yeah, to give a visual comparison, it was like looking through frosted glass"

Complete BS or bias at best. I have not heard the MC2300 but I own a pair of MC2200s and have compared them with several modern SS amps in the $3K-$5K range and the they held their own and even sounded better when paired with the right speakers. I don’t expect them to sound better than likes of Gryphon or Pass Labs Class A amps but they did sound better than Pass Labs X250 driving my Martin Logans. Speaker pairing as always is important.
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