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Well, I have been listening to LPs since early 60's and over the last several years have tried to upgrade the chain of components. I had been content with a kenwood ka-907, dual 1229 with an at 440mla, and jbl 4430s' with a second smaller 2 way stacked on top. I just received a pair of bozak B302a-moorish style. The shipper ended up breaking off the base molding, I can fix that later. I just put them on the floor, didn't even center them and put on "lady in Satin" Billied Holiday, col. 6 eye and holy **it!!!!!. I found what I was searching for. Beguiling entrancing, full, incredible mid range. I can't believe what a difference. Now I have to get rid of stuff. Just wanted to share. WOW> Norm
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Let me tell you my personal Bozak story. Back in the mid 50's when I went off to college, I took 2 semesters of Music Appreciation 101/102. I loved it. I was already a hi-fi addict and each professor had his own classroom in a big old mansion and he got to assemble his own system. I wasn't terribly impressed by the system in the first semester, but in the second I got a different prof and a different system. His was all DIY. A Dyna Mk II with the first mono PAS preamp, a Rek-O-Kut TT and arm with a GE magnetic cartridge in a home made base, and a Bozak B302 built from a kit. It was wonderful, sounded just like the live concerts on campus. Great bass and no, we didn't think the highs were rolled off. But the floor at the front end of the room was raised one step in a kind of broad alcove and that's where the speakers were. So the tweeters were 8" higher off the floor that we were. They were also the old paper cone X tweeters. That was my first encounter with Bozaks, and I can still remember my amazement. I went home and threw rocks at my system.I have heard a lot of Bozaks since then, but none ever impressed me as much as that semester with the 302.
Thinking back, that was all in mono, and the Bozaks were designed for mono(and tubes). Put a pair in a room and the bass gets 3 dB stronger relative to the rest of the range, changing the balance designed into the B-302. With 3 db more bass, the mids and highs will seem less prominant. With the CG and the dual woofer systems the bass will be even stronger relative to the mids and highs. We never noticed rolled off highs in those days, do you suppose we created that with stereo listening?
better on the bozaks than they did on my old set up. Stereo is a little more problematic until I get the cabinets repaired and properly placed. Did you ever try bozaks off the ground to mimic what your old music professor had done? Currently the tweeters are way below ear level. Thanks Norm
This was a raised area big enough for a baby grand piano, the sound system and the professor, so the bass was still reproduced as if the 302 was sitting on the floor, but relative to the students, it was elevated about 8-9".My 401's had the two tweeters mounted near the top of the cabinet, a good bit higher than the 302, but they were Z tweeters. Back when the class was held, they were the original paper cone tweets, but still mounted across the woofer frame.
The 401 cabinet was way too small at 2.3 cu. ft. for the Bozak 12" and the bass dropped off a cliff below 60 Hz. The 401 was an attempt to compete with the Acoustic Suspension "bookshelf" speakers, but despite a really nice midrange, they didn't impress. The crossover was a mess and used polar electrolytic caps. I redid that with film caps and added a super tweeter, but the bass was still lacking. I eventually fitted a Speakerlab W1208R woofer, which worked a lot better. When one of the mids developed a rubbing voice coil I threw in the towel and installed a Peerless 2" soft dome mid (fit perfectly in the midrange cutout) and a Peerless 1" soft dome to close off the hole for the tweeters. That actually worked fairly well for a couple of years.
Do you have plans for that speaker? Sounds like it could be an interesting DIY project.
Charles,Sorry, no I didn't keep the schematic and the drivers are all discontinued. It was all first order in the crossover and sounded pretty good, but the JBL L-110's I bought used were much better.
A lot of speakers are better up a bit. In college, my roommate had Altec sitting top of a plank on a couple CME blocks, roughly 18" high and it was great. Raised the image and tightened up the bass.
-Rod
I have a pair of 401 Rhapsody's that I use for my small system and a pair of Concert Grands for the main system that I bought new in 1974. I haven't heard any other speakers that would make me want to replace either pair. Harry
The Bozak 209 midrange is a phenominal speaker. You have discovered the Bozak magic. Soon you will be wanting Symphonies and then Concert Grands. Welcome to the club
John
i still miss my 302a :-(they were just too big for our place. imaged 3 feet behind our couch, in the kitchen. and the rolled HF response was starting to annoy me.
oh well, they went to a good home. an eichler mid-century home in San Rafael, powered by a restored Fisher 500c. i have visitation rights ;-)
all the guy listens to is old soul and gospel vinyl. sweet!
That's great. Haven't heard Bozak speaker systems but all I've read about them has been positive.
BTW, great sounding integrated amp there in the KA-907!
Hey hey, let the honeymoon period end. I have had my share of WOWs on first listen only too. Eventually you start comparing pieces and they you start noticing either shortcomings or down right flaws. But I am not saying you are wrong but don't sell your "A" system just yet.And some of those mistakes turned out to be costly. Give it a month.
True but once that happens, all he will need to do is hook them up to tube gear and he will be back to an Epiphany!
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