i3 - November/December 2017 - 49

Frank H. McIntosh
FOUNDER,
PUBLISHER,
MCINTOSH
TWICELABORATORY
MAGAZINE (1947
INC. (1906-1990)
-0000)

igh power with low
distortion was the
holy grail of sound
amplification in the late
1940s. Frank McIntosh, along
with engineering technician
Gordon Gow, managed to lick
the problem in 1949 with the
McIntosh 50W-1 amplifier, which
kick started the entire home
hi-fi craze in the 1950s and the
high-end home stereo market
of the 1960s.
McIntosh was born on July 12,
1906, in Omaha, NE. Becoming
an accomplished cellist, he
performed with his brothers in the
McIntosh String Trio over radio
station WOAW (later called WOW)
in Omaha while still in high school.
However, McIntosh turned
down a music scholarship
to pursue his interest in
engineering. He taught math and
radio at a YMCA school, wrote
columns on radio for various
newspapers, was radio editor for
Popular Mechanics magazine
and served as chief engineer
at WOW radio. Starting in 1929,
McIntosh spent eight years at
Bell Labs, where he installed and
worked on the equipment for 235
radio stations.
He then joined the Radio
and Radar Division of the War
Production Board in early 1942.
After WWII ended, McIntosh
started his own consulting
business in the Washington, DC,
area, designing radio stations
and sound systems. He also

H

C TA . t e c h / i 3

McIntosh became a leading
brand in audio engineering and
contributed to the growth and success
of the high-end audio market.

was a partner with CBS
President Frank Stanton in
a local Muzak franchise, which
required higher power but
lower distortion amplifiers.
In 1946, McIntosh hired
Gordon Gow as an engineering
assistant to help develop
a solution. McIntosh and Gow
developed a symmetrically
driven balanced output stage,
which became known as
the "unity coupled circuit,"
with five patents eventually
granted. In 1949, McIntosh
founded McIntosh Engineering
Laboratories in Silver Spring,
MD, and built the 50W-1 amplifier
with Gow, which delivered an
unprecedented 50 watts from
20 hertz to 20,000 hertz at less

than one percent distortion.
After a cover story in the
December 1949 issue of Audio
Engineering magazine, NBC
and the Canadian Broadcasting
Corp. both bought dozens of
units, launching the company.
In April 1951, just as
McIntosh amplifiers and
preamplifiers were listed for
sale in various electronics mail
order catalogs, the company
removed "engineering"
from its name and moved to
downtown Binghamton, NY.
In 1956, McIntosh built a new
headquarters and factory
in Binghamton, where the
company is still located.
"Mr. Mac," as he was known
to his employees, soon

expanded beyond amplifiers to
preamplifiers, tuners, receivers,
speakers and other quality
audio gear. The company
became a leading brand in audio
engineering and contributed to
the growth and success of what
would become the high-end
audio market. McIntosh products
became readily identifiable
thanks to their black glass front
panels, "McIntosh Blue" amplifier
power meters and iconic gothic
logo. In 1962, McIntosh started
the McIntosh Amplifier Clinic,
which featured in-store McIntosh
amplifier testing and free repairs
for consumers.
McIntosh amplifiers were used
at the Woodstock Music Festival
in 1969, and, in 1974, the Grateful
Dead's live concert "Wall of
Sound" system used 48 300-watt
per channel McIntosh model
MC2300 solid state amplifiers,
outputting 28,800 watts of
continuous power.
McIntosh, who referred to
himself as "the old man," was
a beloved boss known for his
concern for his employees, his
gruff voice and sense of humor.
When asked if it was true that
Scotsmen are cheap he would
reply, "No, we just have total
control over our tendencies to be
over-generous." McIntosh retired
in 1977 and moved to Phoenix,
AZ. Gow succeeded him as
company president.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

49
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