Bozak Concert Grands vs. Wharfedale W90's

NoRegrets, send me his phone number, and I can inquire. It is very easy to lay any discrepancy to rest as to who the owner is, etc. If he ran them biamped, he may have the active crossover, which is a big plus. The reason I thought the good doctor had passed was due to reading an obit, and seeing all his CDs being sold as well.

If it is just a downsizing, I put more credence in original owner estimates than most flippers. I refinish quite a few of our speakers(out of necessity) and may be a second set of eyes and ears on these if you want. Shoot me a PM if you want to explore these and want a little local help before leaping.
Dave
 
sheltie dave said:
NoRegrets, send me his phone number, and I can inquire. It is very easy to lay any discrepancy to rest as to who the owner is, etc. If he ran them biamped, he may have the active crossover, which is a big plus. The reason I thought the good doctor had passed was due to reading an obit, and seeing all his CDs being sold as well.

If it is just a downsizing, I put more credence in original owner estimates than most flippers. I refinish quite a few of our speakers(out of necessity) and may be a second set of eyes and ears on these if you want. Shoot me a PM if you want to explore these and want a little local help before leaping.
Dave
Click to expand...

Hi Dave,

PM has been sent. Thank you!
 
Room size is not a deal killer. I have a pair of Symphony's and they are soooo sweet at low volume near field listening. You sit between them and they image 'tween your ears and you can feel the low volume bass.
 
Cellos? Timbre-correct? That is a real Bozak strength. Trust me on this.

The big Bozaks are not west coast. Symphonies (proud owner) & CGs (someday perhaps) are Infinite Baffle; neither ported like West Coast nor acoustic suspension like East Coast. I consider both of these approaches to be compromises.

In that size room I wouldn't hesitate to install Symphonies over my single woofer 3001's. Especially since you've got higher excursion Dunlavys to compare.

About biamping I haven't tried since they sound great to me. I consider it a waste of time to biamp if you don't use a fully active crossover and bypass all the internal passive components.
 
Rybeam said:
Room size is not a deal killer. I have a pair of Symphony's and they are soooo sweet at low volume near field listening. You sit between them and they image 'tween your ears and you can feel the low volume bass.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's great to hear. I live for low-volume nearfield listening! Still probably a lot though. I might have to take a step down first.

The speakers I'm using right now are particularly-good at nearfield listening. Plus, I have them pointing at me from behind while I'm at the computer, so I can "lean into the music" and get that extra thump. Great for those super-quiet '80's CD's.
 
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minimum compromise, maximum enjoyment

Susurus said:
Cellos? Timbre-correct? That is a real Bozak strength. Trust me on this.

The big Bozaks are not west coast. Symphonies (proud owner) & CGs (someday perhaps) are Infinite Baffle; neither ported like West Coast nor acoustic suspension like East Coast. I consider both of these approaches to be compromises.
Click to expand...

According to Rudy Bozak: The Concert Grands are an "...infinite baffle system in a movable furniture cabinet".

At 48" x 36" x 18" and 225 lbs, one has to perhaps redefine what "movable" means.
 
The first time my wife saw a pair of CGs not long after I got my Symphonys, her remark was had she seen them before I bought the Symphonys she'd have thought I was getting weird looking at his and hers matching coffins.
 
1/2 size

I have the 1/2 concert grands !
 

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The 305 is a baby Symphony and by some Bozak lovers amongst the rarest and best for stereo. Apparently, if you turn them on their side and rotate the woofer/tweeter likewise there is a big improvement. That's a really nice looking set.
 
Elusive to quantify. They are not the loudest, or lowest, or 'disappear'-est. What they do is present a True timbre, and that is rare.

I've had a lot of speakers that came and went, but my 4000E Symphonies and smaller 3001 and 301F Bozaks just have that je ne sais quoi.

The smaller ones use the same unique wool/horse hair/papyrus cone as the TOTL. My Symphonies keep that true tone/timbre even at striking SPL. I can discern many individual instruments even in full-tilt orchestral crescendos...

...even on the other side of the house... :D
 
I would set floorstanders with feet on their sides so the feet are sticking out sideways. Yes I would.

Mirror imaged asymmetrical driver arrangement. Was Bozak the first to really consider the stereo image and take steps way back in the '50s?

I mirrored my early DQ-10s to get that; in my Symphonies Rudy B did it for me so I didn't have to. :thmbsp:
 
Well, my dream of having the Concert Grands have been put on hold for the time being. Where I work, we have typically have four shifts of people working. My employer has laid off an entire shift of people. Thankfully I still have my job, for how much longer I do not know, but what this also means is that I now work seven days a week, week after week, month after month with no days off. I really wanted to be able to go hear some Bozaks before laying down that kind of dough, but now will be unable to because I will not have any days off. Hopefully this won't last forever and I can resume my pursuit. But for now, with the current employment situation, I better lay low.

Thanks for all the comments everyone has shared with me.
 
Oh, that's a drag. My stepfather's in a slightly-similar situation (although he doesn't live for the music like some of us do). I feel for ya'. Hopefully things will change.
 
I'm not sure if he was the first or not but it was not an issue before stereo so it might be. He had an issue with the hemispherical array imaging in stereo so he had to redesign the system. It might be he was the first to attack the issue as it was a major problem for him at the time.
 
I heard Susurus' pair of Bozaks and IMHO they were horrible (sorry man). Dark, thick, not well defined. I really did not like them at all which was disappointing. They were not setup well, on cinder blocks and driven funny. His DQ30 were my favorite in that room.

I own W90's, they got me into vintage and i bought them not knowing anything about them. Lots of speakers have come and gone but these are still here. I love them. the bass is excellent and real. The mids are very nice and the top end is also excellent but limited range. A very inviting a smooth jazz speaker. Attached to my low watt Fisher amp they are wonderful and WARM. For what they do they do it well. Imaging kinda sucks a little.
 
Rudy had Synphony's at his house, was said to prefer them to the Concert Grands. Could have been as issue with waf, who knows.

I recently went from a Pioneer SX 950 at 85 watts rms, EW recapped, to a high current Aragon power amp with 100 per, and man. As I have read, the Bozaks will take what you give them and make it work, source sensitive. The difference was a wow. They say bi-amping is the next step.

I have ran them using a 40 watt Kenwood receiver, sounded great. IMO Spend all your money on big Bozaks and then upgrade the rest as you get the bucks, and they'll respond.
 
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