Amazon Originals streaming released a six part documentary on the Grateful Dead. I think it is an ok watch even if you're not a Deadhead.
Episode 4 spends the first 15 minutes describing their Wall of Sound setup, something thought up by one of their PA/sound engineers who was also their guy that made the batches of LSD
It was interesting to see that they were trying to build something that had low distortion (trying to recreate what they heard on their monitors for what the audience heard instead of going through a crappy PA) and where the sound reached as many people as possible since it was the music that "connected them with everyone". They also used a two mic setup where the second mic would be out of phase so it didn't pickup feedback. It was powered (or partly powered) by McIntosh amplifiers. One of their roadies also says it took so long to setup/tear down that they had no time to sleep between gigs so they would only use this setup for one year. User reports are that that it did sound very good.
The picture above looks like it must have been one of the later versions, since the one seen in the documentary has the center midrange/tweeters lined up straight. They must have figured out later those frequencies are more directional.
Episode 4 spends the first 15 minutes describing their Wall of Sound setup, something thought up by one of their PA/sound engineers who was also their guy that made the batches of LSD
It was interesting to see that they were trying to build something that had low distortion (trying to recreate what they heard on their monitors for what the audience heard instead of going through a crappy PA) and where the sound reached as many people as possible since it was the music that "connected them with everyone". They also used a two mic setup where the second mic would be out of phase so it didn't pickup feedback. It was powered (or partly powered) by McIntosh amplifiers. One of their roadies also says it took so long to setup/tear down that they had no time to sleep between gigs so they would only use this setup for one year. User reports are that that it did sound very good.
The picture above looks like it must have been one of the later versions, since the one seen in the documentary has the center midrange/tweeters lined up straight. They must have figured out later those frequencies are more directional.
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