Tobin Mods to Bozak 302A Urban speakers - definitely worth it!

The original Bozak factory is not far from my house ...

 

Pat,since the mid is back vented as a regular speaker,would a separate sub-enclosure for it be any benefit or does it like all the air the woofer is forcing on its back end?

 

How about these Bozak speakers? Look very interesting ...

 

Those are the B4000 Symphony speakers in Moorish cabinets

 

Yeah, an audio buddy of mine, a lifelong CT resident, knows the history of Bozak speakers well. After all, the original Bozak factory was not far from our town. My buddy actually owned a pair of Bozaks way back but sold them. Rudy Bozak was also supposed to be a real enthusiast for classical music ...

 

Yeah, the Symphonies are incredible. I remember hearing the Concert Grands for the first time. The local dealer (I grew up in CT) cranked them up for me, and I was completely-wowed. I dreamed for decades about owning a pair of big Bozaks, and then right around the time I got back into hi fi for real and started hunting for some, that's when I happened upon a $25 pair of Wharfedale W60E's and got hooked, and the rest, as they say, is history. My W90's are about on par with the Symphonies, size and soundwise. A bit wider, but not as tall. Both use all cone drivers and accentuate the warm, smooth, open sound with rich mids, but the old Wharfedales seem to be a bit more-tube-friendly (The early Bozaks are), plus the TOTL Wharfedales also run a bit less on the vintage speaker market, which helped seal the deal. They're also easier to tame when you've got neighbors. But it's really just a matter of taste. The old Bozaks are top-shelf all the way. I think if I was more of a classical fan, I would have been all over the Bozaks.

 

I always wanted a pair of B 310A Concert Grands when I was a kid.


Each cabinet consists of 4 B-199A 12" 8 ohm Woofers, 2 B-209-B Aluminum coned 16 ohm mid ranges and 8 B-200 XA Tweeters in an array, these weigh in at 250 pounds each, wow, some pretty meaty magnets on the midranges!

 

They should weigh at least as much as the larger Klipsch speakers ...

 

Jack Webb had a pair of Concert Grands in the Mark VII prodution room.

I have noticed that you have to sit far away from Bozaks for them to become coherent and really "gel" as a speaker. They just don't work very well nearfield.

 

Rebuilt my old paper cone Urban's. Used Ti tweeters with 90 db sensitivity. Did Tobin 104 crossover rebuild with 400hz crossover for woofer. I added polyfill in the sealed enclosure. I get reasonable woofer output from ~45hz.

Adding polyfill increases effective volume by about a cubic foot or so - not a big deal but noticeable and trivial to do. Fyi.

 

Hello there,
I realize this is a late entry but after reading this I e-mailed Pat Tobin and the e-mail address has changed. Then I tried to find the Yahoo Forum on Bozak and had no luck. The sort of this is I now have a pair of B402's with the metal cone mids and better tweeters 200Y. I am looking to do the crossover upgrade and cannot find info such as parts list, pics, etc. While this thread talks about the 302 Urban's, I have the same compliment of components and would like to know how to go about the upgrade. Also mine have an L-pad for the tweeters, that has three settings and it still works fine.
Thanks,
Bill

 

About Peter Ledermann | Soundsmith

You may want to give Peter Ledermann a call. He used to work at Bozak in CT ...

 

Hello:

Pat Tobin passed away.

If you read through this thread I think you will find what you are looking for. There is of course a lot of arguing and spurious opinions and (mis)information but what you want is the Tobin 104T (last update) modification for the crossovers.

Blasphemy: I do not like the Tobin 104T Mods on my Bozaks | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the info