I thought Owsley Stanley, aka the Bear, was "the Alchemist." Aside from his chemistry adventures he was one of the people behind Alembic Sound, an alembic being the retort in which alchemical reactions occurs. Alembic was the sound company spawned by the experiments in sound reinforcement conducted by the Grateful Dead which eventually led to the McIntosh powered Wall of Sound. One of Bear's credos was to make the sound in the house equivalent to the sound the musicians created on-stage, so that the alchemical magic of improvisational music could impact and be impacted by the audience- a sort of musical mind-meld.
Mr. Kennedy may be the new Alchemist, and he is certain known for his companies acclaimed sub-woofers, but let's remember who the original sound alchemists were.
/diatribe
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