Big ol' Bozak Concert Grands - opinions and advice

[DEADTVS]

So - a pair of B-410 Concert Grands has shown up for sale fairly close to my (very rural) area. They seem a pretty good match for my 20x45 high-ceilinged listening space. He's asking $2500, and including the biamp module and N-107 crossovers. They are all original (supposedly), and in the detailed pictures, looks like the cabs are close to an 8 or 9 in condition.

I've never heard ANY Bozaks, but always been curious. My tastes run toward East Coast and Canadian; I have OLAs, EPI 250s, KLH Model 5s and Klipsch KG4's in my backup stable, and currently rotating between Mirage OM-7 and Thiel CS 2 2 for my mains. The Mirage's are winning out over the Thiels, as they seem more uniform top to bottom and fill the big space wonderfully. I will probably move the Thiels down the road eventually.

So - given the size of those Bozaks, and likely the difficulty of getting rid of them without losing too much, should I give them a pass? He's dropped the price once, I'm thinking I might get them for around $2k. For some reason I'm attracted to them. They sure are pretty! My hole grail are EPI 1000s, but that will most likely never happen.

Those of you who know Bozak - how would they compare to my other speakers? With these speakers, is "all-original" good or bad (seems they should they have had some work by now)? Is the price reasonable?

Oh, I'd initially be driving them with either a Speakercraft 2125 (200W) or Yamaha A-700 (100W). From what I've read, they aren't too hard to drive. Bi-amping can wait for now.

 

[Grenadeslio]

only heard them once, WOW, they sound absolutely HUGE and effortless. If you have a chance to audition them I think they'll have a new home.

 

[ACHiPo]

So - a pair of B-410 Concert Grands has shown up for sale fairly close to my (very rural) area. They seem a pretty good match for my 20x45 high-ceilinged listening space. He's asking $2500, and including the biamp module and N-107 crossovers. They are all original (supposedly), and in the detailed pictures, looks like the cabs are close to an 8 or 9 in condition.

I've never heard ANY Bozaks, but always been curious. My tastes run toward East Coast and Canadian; I have OLAs, EPI 250s, KLH Model 5s and Klipsch KG4's in my backup stable, and currently rotating between Mirage OM-7 and Thiel CS 2 2 for my mains. The Mirage's are winning out over the Thiels, as they seem more uniform top to bottom and fill the big space wonderfully. I will probably move the Thiels down the road eventually.

So - given the size of those Bozaks, and likely the difficulty of getting rid of them without losing too much, should I give them a pass? He's dropped the price once, I'm thinking I might get them for around $2k. For some reason I'm attracted to them. They sure are pretty! My hole grail are EPI 1000s, but that will most likely never happen.

Those of you who know Bozak - how would they compare to my other speakers? With these speakers, is "all-original" good or bad (seems they should they have had some work by now)? Is the price reasonable?

Oh, I'd initially be driving them with either a Speakercraft 2125 (200W) or Yamaha A-700 (100W). From what I've read, they aren't too hard to drive. Bi-amping can wait for now.

They are truly outstanding and special speakers for the right (large) space. They throw a 3D soundstage in a fairly small sweet spot—not quite head-in-a-vice, but close. They sound good off-axis, but only image well in a small area. They need to be up against a wall and at least 12’ from the listening position. They are not terribly efficient and definitely respond to amp quality—I heard them driven be Mc tubes and it was a fantastic combination. I’m not familiar with either of your amps, but they are very sensitive to solid state grit and glare, so keep that in mind.

 

[E-Stat]

Just don't ask for much in the way of transparency with the cone tweeters.

 

[DEADTVS]

Thanks all! Obviously an audition would be ideal, but it's about 150 miles away - I need to decide if I want to make that long a trip and return empty-handed if I don't like them. @E-Stat I realize they probably won't be as revealing as modern speakers - I'm OK with that, I even sometimes prefer it (see my backup and bedroom speakers!). @ACHiPo your comment about a small sweet spot is a bit more concerning. My listening room is combination kitchen/dining/sitting room - all in one big rectangular space without walls, so I obviously move around a lot. Of course, when I'm "serious" about listening, I do sit on the couch about 12' from my current speakers, so at least that would match. That's what I like to so much about the Mirage's - their sweet spot is YUGE - practically the whole room! Their omnipolar tech is for real. Maybe I just need to be content with what I have . But if I can free up a Saturday or Sunday in the near future. I may reach out to the buyer and see if I can come give them a listen. I doubt he's going to move them any time soon, unless he drops the price substantially.

 

[Edroom]

I have a pair of concert grands. They are in a fairly small room 12 x 20 and they are on the short wall about 10 feet away from my seating position. I use an SET 4 watt amp and find them to have plenty of power and the imaging is good. The one thing I can say about Bozaks is they roll off pretty low, around 12,000 hz. They benefit immensely from the addition of an external super tweeter. The power you use will be important, you can definitely hear a big difference from one amp to another.
I have a pair of Mirage M-1’s, the drivers on the back definitely create a fantastic sound stage.
I also have a pair of EPI 1000’s I am restoring…I have not listened to them yet but posts like this make me anxious to finish them!
Ed

 

[DEADTVS]

I have a pair of concert grands. They are in a fairly small room 12 x 20 and they are on the short wall about 10 feet away from my seating position. I use an SET 4 watt amp and find them to have plenty of power and the imaging is good. The one thing I can say about Bozaks is they roll off pretty low, around 12,000 hz. They benefit immensely from the addition of an external super tweeter. The power you use will be important, you can definitely hear a big difference from one amp to another.
I have a pair of Mirage M-1’s, the drivers on the back definitely create a fantastic sound stage.
I also have a pair of EPI 1000’s I am restoring…I have not listened to them yet but posts like this make me anxious to finish them!
Ed

Ok, you're my hero! EPI 1000s plus M-1's no less - another almost-holy-grail speaker for me. I've heard about the use of a super-tweet with these. I guess topping off around 12K that makes sense. Of course, with my hearing, it might not matter that much . I did reach out to the guy today, but haven't heard back.