In the current Rolling Stone magazine is an interview with famous "alchemist" Owsley, where he goes into some interesting detail about concepts behind the design of the Wall of Sound system. I had no idea he was one of the principal designers.

One of the Greatful Dead players said playing through that system was like surfing on a wave of your own sound. Owsley talks about clarity without being loud, and the same Bose concepts of having the audience hear what the players hear on stage. He thought the sound on stage was perfect and magical, and merely wanted a way for the audience to hear that same exact sound, controlled only by the musicians.

I'm sure glad Bose had similar epiphanies and figured out a way to scale it for individual musicians.