Wall of Sound | Speaker cabinet, handmade at Alembic

Property of Strider Shurtliff

Wall of Sound 

Speaker cabinet, handmade at Alembic, ca. 1974

1x15 speaker cabinet (19 x 30 x 25.5"). Wood, birch plywood, heavy aluminum lugs, with 15" JBL speaker, “53” written in felt tip on rear panel, Zildjian sticker pasted upside down above speaker.

Handmade at Alembic by the Grateful Dead road crew

The speakers used in the Grateful Dead’s legendary 75 ton Wall of Sound were designed and built to provide the fidelity of studio monitors in cabinets robust enough to withstand hard touring. The signature heavy lugs securing the speaker surrounds were an innovation, allowing speakers to be quickly changed out without harming the cabinets or causing undue delays if a speaker was to blowout or malfunction in concert.