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New Years Eve find.... Bozaks, but.....

sol7

sol7

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
First off, Happy New Year to everyone.

Well, I stopped by a local thrift shop on my way to parents for New Years Eve dinner. Saw a pair of large speakers sitting by entrance door. Actually didn't see them until I was on my out of the store. I thought they were some vintage Bose speakers with the wrap around grill material. I looked them over but there were no name tags anywhere. Then I thought maybe they were homemade jobbers. The lady said they just came in and would not be priced until tomorrow, when the manager comes in. Great. I'll be back tomorrow.

I went back the next day around 1pm. Wasn't sure if they would still be there, but they were. Still no price on them either, which might have been a good thing for me. I ask the lady how much they where and she said they just came in and would not be priced yet. I told her they were here yesterday and the manager was supposed to have them priced today. While she went price checking, I proceeded to unscrew the back off of one to take a peek inside.

I pulled the back off and saw a massive woofer and just new I had to have them. Also, just barely visible through the fabric I could see 2 tweeters straddling the woofer. Just as I was screwing the back on, she came by with the price gun and marked the speakers. I asked if that was each or for the pair. The pair she said. I definitely had to have them now... $9.99 plus 25% discount.

I just got them home and had to get them hooked up. Still not sure what they were. On the back side of one there was a spot where there was at one time a sticker. The imprint of the sticker was tough to read, but the more I looked at it, the more it looked like Bozak Mfd. Sweet! Now I was excited to test these bad boys out.

I ran some speaker wire to them and threw on a record and was hit with joy and sadness. I must say they sounded airy and I could feel the vibrations in the floor. I also heard some nasty distortion in the midranges..... Are the mids blown or is it the crossover? I would really hate to put these out for the trashman, considering the money I have into them. Is there a good replacement for the mids other than originals?

Does anyone know what model these are?

Oh, what to do.....


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I'm not sure about a model, but one look at that crossover tells me either Bozak or something equally-well-built.

Are those coaxially-mounted tweeters in there? Hmm, maybe not Bozak, but someone put some love into those things. Never seen a cab like that.
 
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They are Bozaks. The crossover is marked Bozak.

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Yes they are coaxial tweeters. One of the speakers has remnants of a paper label that was stapled at 4 corners. Well, just the staples are left and one spot where a sticky label used to be. That is where I could barely make out the Bozak Mfd name.
 
That's a proper Bozak, no doubt about the innards and I've seen the cabinet before. Maybe you can find it in the Bozak info at hifilit.

Ah-ha, just looked in myVintage Hi Fi Spotter's Guide. The cabinet is the E-300.
 
distortion

Definitly good for a re-cap. The distortion is probably due to a cap. My Knights had a funky distortion at a certain range. Fresh caps cleaned them right up.

Now, rebuilding THOSE caps looks challenging. May have to change the looks a bit..but then, they are hidden inside.

Nice score by the way.
 
I found a Bozak ad from 1957 that shows these speaker cabinets.

I'm hoping a recap is all they need. Both mids are distorted. It sounds like mechanical distortion vs electrical.
 
Yeah, I couldn't see the "Bozak" on the crossover picture I was looking at (I do see it now). I was going by the general look of the crossovers and drivers (Plus, the B-200 number on the driver made me think they were at least Bozak drivers). Very-nice score. I think this is the first set of coax Bozaks I've ever seen. I'm used to seeing the tweeters in a row across the top-edge. I want a set of mid-sized Bozaks in the worst way.
 
Probably start by onsoldering the terminal's and hook each driver individually to an amp and see what you get. Check and see what functional E-300's are actually worth before spending repair money. Don't think you'll have any trouble recouping your money, even if you part them out. If you don't feel like the hassle, just donate them back to the thrift store.
 
Some time this week I'll get the solder gun out and pull the mids to test. It would be great if it's not mids but bad caps in the crossover. It almost looks like the mids would be repairable. There are 3 screws holding the magnet to the basket. I would think you could pop the magnet off to repair the coil. For what I have into them, I have some headroom to play with. If anything, I can get an aftermarket mid to replace them.

I'd really like to get these working right. I'll have to rearrange the living room to fit them in though.
 
I'd say it's a good sign that BOTH mids are distorted and not just one.

I guess you could part them out if you had to, but I'd hate to see that happen. I've never heard a bad-sounding pair of Bozaks before (Even the later, early '80's stuff was still decent in comparison to other brands). I'm sentimental about Bozaks because I'm from CT, but there's just something special about them. Bozaks need a good home.
 
Well, I removed the mids and hooked them straight into the amp and ran some test signals. One sounded clear and the other sounded bad. It sounds like the voice coil is scraping. Both measure the same resistance. The bad one has signs of prior repairs. The "scraping" is worse when the mid is vertical vs horizontal.The magnet assembly seems to be off center. Possibly the screws loosened and the magnet assy shifted. I figure I have nothing to lose by trying to get it realigned. I'll post the outcome and pics if need be.

It must have been meant for me to find these speakers....ha. The day before I found these, I bought a bunch of old manuals/schematics/references. I was going through it today and there was a June 1958 Radio & TV News magazine. I was flipping through it and came across this ad:

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Now if I could just find half the stuff that was in the mag, I'd be one happy camper.
 
Get all the driver/crossover numbers together and join the Yahoo Bozak group to research, and inquire as to exactly what you have. You did well for $10, whether you part or restore.
As a fan of Bozak speakers I would advise you restore them. The cost of doing that will more than be replaced by the smooth big sound you'll get. For $200 +/- you'll have a sound hard to buy new for less than $500 or much more.
 
I believe the arrangement you have is a 302 -- the basic coaxial two way plus the midrange. Properly working, a wonderful speaker.
Don't give in to the temptation to remove the kimsul damping material, or to change its arrangement (sides covered and a blanket hanging in the middle of the enclosure) -- over at the Bozak user's group there seems to be a consensus that its difficult to improve on the balance of liveliness and damping, and modern materials don't work as well. Certainly its possible to improve on Rudy Bozak's work (bracing might be helpful) but move carefully -- don't fix what ain't broken.
And don't give into the temptation to treat them as headbanging/PA speakers -- they can play very loudly, but they aren't rock speakers, and sustained high power (as opposed to the momentary peaks of acoustic music) will probably blow them. And they aren't making any more of them.
 
Well, I think I have the mid fixed! I took the 3 screws out of the magnet assembly and slowly and lightly tapped the back plate here and there, with the screw driver handle, to try and center the pole. No more "scrapping" noise. I will have to button it up and run them through their paces to see for sure.

Next will be to recap the crossovers. I'm sure they definitely need it.

As far as the batting is concerned, I'm trying not to disturb it too much. Both have the curtain. The batting is getting a little flaky in the box that had the bad midrange. I'm wondering if it can be duplicated with tissue paper (not the nose kind)?

I will be keeping these until I find some bigger better speakers for a better price.....

I am going to have to sign up with the Yahoo Bozak group.
 
sol7 said:
Well, I think I have the mid fixed! I took the 3 screws out of the magnet assembly and slowly and lightly tapped the back plate here and there, with the screw driver handle, to try and center the pole. No more "scrapping" noise. I will have to button it up and run them through their paces to see for sure.

Next will be to recap the crossovers. I'm sure they definitely need it.

As far as the batting is concerned, I'm trying not to disturb it too much. Both have the curtain. The batting is getting a little flaky in the box that had the bad midrange. I'm wondering if it can be duplicated with tissue paper (not the nose kind)?

I will be keeping these until I find some bigger better speakers for a better price.....

I am going to have to sign up with the Yahoo Bozak group.
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That's cool! I bet those will sound amazing playing late '50's jazz or anything from that era.

Man, I haven't had a cigarette in almost 24 hours and I'm starting to bug out, but I don't feel like walking over to the gas-station near my house - It's freakin' cold outside. I think I'm gonna' break down and do it though.
 
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Definitely 302's, I have a pair, with a cosmetically different cabinet. Check out the 'Tobin modifications" in the Bozak group...it is very worth it. I just completed the mods to my 302's and it improved them considerably....and pretty easy 3 caps and 3 resistors. You remove the black box of caps.
Like gang-twanger says; these sound particularly great with open type jazz...not so good with heavy music.

Dan
 
Recap...

Just wanted to update this.

I did finally recap the crossover and I must say, these speakers sound great. Best investment for under $40 total with parts.

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