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. 
128x128ramtubes
+1 Cleeds, you can see it a mile off, just Mac owners protection mode bias coming into it.
He's done it before, with anyone saying anything slightly negative on Mac's.

Cheers George
"How can you call BS regarding what someone heard from an amplifier that you admit to not having heard?"

That's a fair point but I look at the collective comments from this poster every time a McIntosh related topic comes up, most of the time insulting, e.g., autoformers, meters, sound quality, etc., etc. I have no loyalty to either the brand or the model (and prefer mine without meters).
Sorry about the off-topic post.
I was hoping someone would compare the fine engineering of this amplifier compared to what Phase Linear, Crown, Quatre and otheres were doing at the time. 

Auto transformers made this design extremely relaible. Ive never been a Mac Man but I have to appreciate good design when I see it. I don't like everything they build and I have worked on much of it. Their preamps have too many buttons in the signal path. But if kept clean they are not a problem.

I just wanted to share my discovery with others who might also appreciate it. In an earlier thread there were posts that called the autotransformer a bandaid for a poor design. It is the essence of this design. Anyone who understands safe operating area of transistors will appreciat this. Most amplifiers that fail are due to engineers who do not. Mac knew.

How an amplifier sounds is subjective and may depend as much as someones mood, their perception of value and cost and build. 

George, I respect your posts here. However you are comparing the Gryphon on Wilsons to the Mac on what speaker? How many years between the comparisons? How many years between the amplifier designs...50 Years!

Do readers here know that almost all modern SS amps are a basic op-amp circuit done over and over again with fancier metal, more capacitors, where are we going with this?