Jerry Garcia’s McIntosh amp

Agree about the early ‘70’s. 1970 and ‘71 have some darn clear sounding recordings. I so wish it didn’t take the crew almost 6 months after Bear went to jail to get it together and start recording without him or we’d have more from ‘71. And yep, ‘73 and ‘74 are distinct. Clear, bold and up close sounding.
There are certainly better sources than others for some shows and limited with others but far from all poor sounding. If one isn’t used to audience or raw soundboards then stick to the officially mastered multitrack release. We’re not talking Chesky here, but darn good for what they are... All ya need for the Dead is a linear balanced system with good organic flow and the music will do its magic regardless of recording quality (to an extent).

rh67 - there was definitely a time the band used Phase Linear amplifiers, unfortunately it’s simply not well documented.  I for one would love to see some pics just out of curiosity.

Really, there isn’t much to “claim” when there are literally thousands of photos to support just a google query away.  AudioKarma must have ten threads devoted to the Dead’s setups and in at least one of those threads is a gentleman who also spent time with the band.

FWIW, neither he or Bear had much good to say about the McIntosh power amps.

Good info 

Good info @snafu.  Thanks for your input.

Sure.  No problem.  I’ve seen more than one guy build a setup inspired by Jerry’s.  An MC2300 is a LOT of amplifier and it has two channels (which can be strapped together for mono operation with double the power of a single channel).  They weigh in at 128lbs and presently sell at a premium on the used market.  Keeping these old behemoths in service requires a serious commitment and a local McIntosh tech would be a must as shipping them is cost prohibitive as they need be double boxed and palletized for LTL transit.  Regular shippers just destroy them.

You may find that a MC250 or MC2100 is just more accessible.  Each sound indistinguishable from the big brother MC2300.  McIntosh also offered both of those in single channel versions - the MC50 and MC100 (rare, but they do come up) - as well as glass  faced versions, the MC2505 and MC2105.  The last two were stereo models aimed squarely at the HiFi market and cannot be operated in mono without a modification to do so.  Neither stopped Bill Hanley from using MC2105s at Woodstock and on the road in general.

Whatever you decide, these amps are getting up there in years and McIntosh issued many TSBs on the driver boards over the years to make them more stable.  A qualified tech should give the amp a once over with that info at hand.  That being said, I’ve had a pair of 2300s in daily service for two decades now and have owned a few dozen in all.

Have fun!