Question about Bozak E-300 Kit

[Winston101]

To all who are Bozak experts. I am restoring my grandfather's Bozak E-300s. I learned recently that the E-300 was Bozak's take home version of the 302.
My question is, was the E-300 sold only to individual consumers, or did they also sell it to businesses to assemble and then be purchased by customers?

The E-300 explains why my cabinets are from 1965, yet have B-209A, B200X and early B199 woofers.

(I am trying to get an idea if he built them or not, although I find it somewhat doubtful.

 

[Steve Smiley]

Hello there,

Do you think doubtful because he may not have been handy, or something of that nature? He certainly could have bought the set up from someone else.

Bozak was a very expensive speaker and the cabinet kits were a way people could get into Bozak as they could afford it. For your E300 version one might buy the cabinet in kit form to save some money, and then buy the B-209a with the tweeters mounted to the front, like yours. The mid range and crossover could be purchased later still to get the full effect. Actually, given the dates as you described, the drivers were probably collected over a few years first with dreams of building a set of Bozaks! When the driver compliment was all set, then came the cabinet.

I still like the story that he built them by his own hands

We'll see if someone else chimes in here and gives you a bit more insight.

Regards,

Smiley

 

[Winston101]

I didn’t know him, but from what my dad tells me, knew how to solder, and was very frugal, so he wouldn’t have chosen a more expensive option. The reason I personally doubted it is he was a physician who worked a lot, but when he purchased these he would have been younger and had more spare time.



Given all the factors above, I’m actually leaning toward him having built them, which would be pretty cool. His one splurge was his stereo, so I don’t think he would have bought any of this used.

I’m currently in the process of restoring them. (I’ve procured B200Y’s, 209B’s and Brodtek crossovers, so I have the more desirable parts, but will keep these for sentimental value.

I have previously restored his turntable (TD124), and McIntosh (1700), so this is the last step. It’s been about a 2 year process, but worth it, as I personally love having a stereo, along with the sentimental value of it.

 

[Retrovert]

The E-300 was sold to consumers (hobbyists) and systems integrators as a baffle-only system along with plans on how to construct a proper cabinet. Such construction would have been within the abilities of many hobbyists with access to a table saw. But many hobbyists and integrators of the day instead used high-end cabinetry, made by third parties, for HiFi systems. That leads to a significant problem.

If your cabinet was not made by Bozak it likely lacks the crucial lining and curtain, both made from Tufflex (reprocessed cellulose used for upholstery) or thick cotton batting, which are elsewhere discussed in voluminous detail. Without these your Bozak will improperly function. Other threads explain how to manufacture the lining and curtain from commercially available batting. Fiberglass is totally unsuitable for this purpose, yet many integrators mistakenly used it instead of the Tufflex/cotton batting.

 

[rider33]

manufactured box kits tend to have things like rabbited joints, a routed out groove for panels to attach to, that tended to be beyond most home builders to say nothing of the quality of the veneer used. Either way, it's a worthwhile project to restore them, particularly given the connection to your grandfather. 'Good luck.

PS: while others may disagree, the easiest way that I have found to bring a much neglected cabinet back to service is with Howard's Furniture Restorer. Wipe on, wipe off & then cover with the protective wax. Very simple, looks quite nice.

 

[twiiii]

I had my B-4000 bought as Kits and the cabinet man at the Bozak dealership help me build. stuff, and stain them. They built quite a few kits from the factory so the customer could start with partial loads for Symphonys, and Grands. Most folks bought the 302's complete. 305's were also sold with just one B-207 and a N-4 capacitor. I eventually added super tweeters to my Bozaks. Call Audio Classics if you need drivers, Steve has some NIB.

 

[Retrovert]

manufactured box kits tend to have things like rabbited joints, a routed out groove for panels to attach to, that tended to be beyond most home builders to say nothing of the quality of the veneer used.

Umm, that was certainly not true in the 1950s and 1960s.

Popular Mechanics and the other magazines were filled with projects built with table saws, radial arm saws, circular saws, jointers, lathes, etc. Many hobbyists owned such equipment or had access to it through other hobbyists. A rabbet plane or dado blade were common shop tools. My dad had plenty of such tools and he certainly was not a fancy woodworker. Routers were less common; he didn't get one of those until the late 1970s, but it made hanging doors a lot easier.

Books explaining the art of wood finishing, as well as veneering and installation of Formica countertops, were also common. I have read and own many such books from the 1950s and 1960s, which are far better written than most modern tutorials.

Making tongue-and-groove or rabbeted joints is straightforward using a saw blade (table, radial arm, panel, circular) or router. It's rabbet, BTW, because it comes from the French meaning to make a hole in a wall, nothing to do with furry animals.

So building a cabinet was well within the capabilities of the average homeowner.

It is only in the recent times that adult humans generally became utterly and singularly incompetent at any task which does not involve using a smart phone app to order delivery of overpriced food..

PS: while others may disagree, the easiest way that I have found to bring a much neglected cabinet back to service is with Howard's Furniture Restorer. Wipe on, wipe off & then cover with the protective wax. Very simple, looks quite nice.

Howard's is simply a pigmented beeswax, which means it is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Soft, oxidizing, and attracts dust. Not protective, doesn't last. If one wanted a wax finish, a very hard conservation wax could be used.

Howard's Scheme & Scam is perfect, like its hillbilly refinishing cousin furniture oil, to make decrepit wood finishes more seductive to hipsters at a flea market, but it is never suitable for speakers one intends to keep.

 

[rider33]

well, there you go again, as I said, some will disagree....
I was a working carpenter before going to grad school so I'm fairly well versed in cabinet making and assorted wood working tools, I still have quite a few. My point was not that it could not be done but that it was less likely given the tools and skills involved. Veneering or rabbiting is not difficult to do but as with most things in life, to do it well takes skill. Most quality-made factory boxes are not hard to spot from their home brew brethren, you just need to focus on the details. In this case, either way, it's a worthwhile project so Winston have at it!

 

[Retrovert]

Once a cabinet has been waxed, i.e. the beeswax in Howard's Scheme & Scam, it is impossible to apply any sort of actual finish, such as the Maloof varnish unless and until the entirety of the prior waxing has been removed, a task requiring lightweight petroleum solvents and the concomitant hazards and precautions. Waxing precludes further options, and newbies to refinishing may not be aware of the ramifications of slathing wax or oil all over the cabinet. Easy wax on, laborious wax off. That's my point.

My similar point was not that you or I could not today manufacture a Bozak cabinet with proper jointery, because we certainly can. I was, instead, disputing your statement that In the 1950s and 1960s ordinary homeowners lacked such skills and it was thus unlikely for a hobbyist to make a simple rabbeted joint. Them dead old guys had totally mad skills. I knew many of them, and I wish I had been able to obtain detailed lessons in how to use milling machines and screw-cutting lathes. (I should have just quit my job, learned more fabricating skills, and not worried about the loss of income.) I once knew hobbyists who had mastered such skills in the military, by working in industrial jobs, or by working on fabricating racing engines, or all of the foregoing. Nearly all of them are now long dead.

We live in times where such skills are now rare. I know many homeowners who cannot replace a leaking pipe, let alone a leaky valve in a faucet, for whom the concept of caulking or plastering is an alien concept, and who cannot even hang a shelf with wall anchors. But in the 1950s? Naaah. Building a speaker cabinet was well within ordinary sensibilities and capabilities.