Bozak Colonials

[scorpio333]

I had zero intention of buying any equipment yesterday or in the near future. It's summer time and I don't "need" anything. I'm out in the yard and my buddy calls me. "Can you help me move some furniture I bought, I'll pick you up and drop off the tiller?" The tiller is a man killer, but that a whole different story. So I go with him to an estate sale five minutes away. While he's squaring up I take a peak around. Hmm, those speakers are nice...real nice. They were hooked up to a early 2000's Yamaha receiver. Tag says $600. I'm then told everything is half off after 1. Still too rich for me and a quick google on my phone is coming back with little results. The lady tells me they're 800 on eBay blah blah I told her I'd go home and do some research. Waited til 3:40 and told her the best I could do is 150. She told me to come get them, now I'm thinking I over paid by maybe 50.

These are very heavy 60lbs, maybe more. The owner was a woodworker and the quality of the build is very good. One or two drink rings and one weird spot on the top. No gouges. One speaker is missing the nameplate. The grille cloth is amazing condition for being about 47 yrs old.

Sound wise I haven't had a chance to give them a workout. I brought them home and hooked them up to my Jolida FX10 (@12W)and put one album side through them before I had to run out. I definitely had to move the volume knob a little further than my Sansui's, but the sound coming out of these is large. Room filling large, tall and wide. Hopefully sometime this week I'll have time for a good test and also to open them up for inspection.

Here's the paperwork, I didn't scan the crossover pamphlet or the model catalog, I loathe scanning with our wonky 10yr old all in one.

[RuralTom]

I'll be looking forward to seeing what you think of them, I've come close a couple o' times to buying a pair but never pulled the trigger.

[MacGeek]

I first heard Bozaks in the early 1970s and have always been impressed with them.  I don't recall the model I auditioned, but remember they were very large, maybe 4 1/2 to 5' tall and relatively wide.  Attractive pieces of furniture as well.

[scorpio333]

I'm on the fence. Spent a couple hours last night listening to them with the tube amp. The mids are muddled up. The highs seems to wander, sometimes nice and loud, then they back off. Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here  was all over the place, some passages good, then others made me think someone stuffed the boxes with some demon dynamic volume nonsense. These speakers are a more laid back sound, not harsh at all or in your face. Very tall ceiling for being a low to the ground cabinet. However, compared to my Sansui SP1200's (and I know how people despise Sansui speakers) they lacked detail, perhaps 12w just ain't enough to drive them.

I decided to lug the heavy things upstairs to the living room, it's like carrying an old console stereo. Wife is out of town, so no WAF to interfere. Living room amp is a Kenwood 6600, lots more oomph than my tubes. I was using a set of Boston A150's and was very pleased with the sound. My 4yr old is crazy about Steve Miller's Fly Like an Eagle so here we go...I REALLY like them better with more watts. Things seem to even out and become detailed, but still maintains no harshness or fatigue. Our living room, dining room and kitchen is basically one big room with a 12' peak. It's a big room and these speaker fill it without hitting 9 o'clock on the dial. If the wife can live with them stuffed in the living room (they're 24" wide), then I can certainly live with them sound wise here.

So higher power is better than lower in my limited testing. Can't speak of higher powered tubes vs SS since I'm limited with the small Jolida.







Never seen something like this before:

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

The mids are muddled up. The highs seems to wander, sometimes nice and loud, then they back off.

At that age you have to recap them before you can give up on them.   And please find out what that piece on the back of the woofer is for and why it doesn't appear to be wired to anything before you put any real power to them.

[scorpio333]

The cap on the speaker is to be used in a stand alone setup. With other larger cap network it's not needed. Guys on AK are recommending the Tobin spec rebuild of the crossover. For now with the Kenwood they sound great so I'm putting that off until cold weather season.

[scorpio333]

After a few months of listening I've decide to go in and make some changes. These were suggested by Pat Tobin over on the Hoffman board.

First, was switching a jumper from one setting to another. This didn't seem to make much change.

Second, was setting the polarity back to normal on the mid range. I didn't pull the speaker to test the polarity, I haven't figured a safe way to remove the front panel. Just did it and this really changed the sound for the better. Supposedly Rudy Bozak swapped the polarity to attract buyers.

On the list is replacing the old paper caps. I have not opened the crossovers up yet. I may try to just build a new set of crossovers. Need to think that one through.

I need to figure out how the front panel is on there or if I can pull the drivers from the rear. The tweeters are mounted across the front of the woofer. I'd like to pull them out and see if placing them in a cabinet on top of the main cabinet makes a positive change.

The rear panel is chip board and needs to go, I'd like to add a better set of binding posts back there as well.

[Kingman]

The cap on the speaker is to be used in a stand alone setup. With other larger cap network it's not needed. Guys on AK are recommending the Tobin spec rebuild of the crossover. For now with the Kenwood they sound great so I'm putting that off until cold weather season.

What's up with the crossover condenser as stated???

[scorpio333]

The cap on the speaker is to be used in a stand alone setup. With other larger cap network it's not needed. Guys on AK are recommending the Tobin spec rebuild of the crossover. For now with the Kenwood they sound great so I'm putting that off until cold weather season.

What's up with the crossover condenser as stated???

The best info I can find on that is it was built on all the woofers. For instances where the woofer is used as a single speaker with no crossover network, that condenser was used. For multiple speaker builds a crossover is used. I've pushed them to about 3 o'clock on the volume and had the hardwood floors shaking, no damage.

[F1nut]

I need to figure out how the front panel is on there or if I can pull the drivers from the rear. 

You remove the drivers from the rear.

[scorpio333]

I need to figure out how the front panel is on there or if I can pull the drivers from the rear. 

You remove the drivers from the rear.

Thanks. I was assuming that was the case, but wasn't 100% sure.

[scorpio333]

Did some work today. Got the tweeters liberated from the woofers. This is temporary until I have some time to build proper and hopefully matching cabinets. The difference in sound/imaging is amazing.

[scorpio333]

Wife and daughter went to Disney this week so I got a chance to do some work. Replaced the flaky chip panel backs with plywood, added bi amp terminals to the rears (amp in and tweeter out), built another rough draft for the tweeter boxes, and reworked the crossovers using the Tobin mod. Pat Tobin was a Bozak engineer who kept on tweaking Bozaks until he passed away a few yrs back. I'm very pleased with the crossover recap, even with my rude-ementary soldering skills. Currently using a Kenwood KA 7300 to push them, a Dual 1229 w/ Shure M95 and Jico SAS, and a MacBook Pro for  streaming here and there. No plans to tinker with this setup anytime soon.

Still on the list is to finish the tweeter boxes. I may contact the craigslist veneer guy for that. I doubt I'll find matching grill clothe, so I may need to replace the 50 yr old fabric on the cabinets. No black fabric.

Here's some pics. If anyone is interested in how they sound, I'd be more than happy to audition them.

[OldiesButGoodies]

That looks great.  You could veneer the tweeter boxes to match the rest of the enclosure if the screws are countersunk.  Enjoy seeing this kind of posts - thank you!

[AdamG]

You've put a lot of work into those bad boys, they must sound good!