Too close to call. I had until recently a set of the original W70s and Urban 302a. I also had a set of the Symphonys. I am downsizing so the Symphonys very sadly had to go. The 302a was original and the W70s did have a new pio cap.
As they are so close to size for this contest sound was the standard as which would stay, not size. I used several amps including Sony, Philips, HK, Sherwood and, Yamaha. Sources were fm, records, cassettes and cd. Music preference was classical, chamber, jazz, male and female vocals and, solo acoustic instruments.
To make a long story and test short, over time a Sherwoods S9500c became the standard test amp for all testing as it, along with the matching S3300 tuner had outclassed all others. Rated at 20 watts per channel, it was at higher end of the recommended power range for the W70s and near the bottom of the range recommended by Bozak for the 302a. It has enough juice to easily run both at my average listening levels and have sufficient juice remaining to not compress the dynamics. Average juice used was .004 on the W70s and some 2x that on the Bozaks. This made sense based on the advertised efficiency rates of each.
The big difference is overall sound. The W70 sounded like it was more effortless producing the music. It also had more slightly more coherence that the Bozak in the transition from the mid range to either the tweeter or woofer. The bass on the Bozak was a little more forceful and showed the W70 had a very slight well, hard to describe. Think lf looking through a window that was absolutely clean vs one that had the slightest bit of haze on it. The Bozak mid range driver was and imho is still one of the best mid range drivers. The W70 midrange however on some of the selections did better, no clear winner. The SuperTweeter in the W70 is much talked about and worshipped by those whom find a cone tweeter to be the way to heaven and with good reason. Rudy, as good as he did in developing a metal cone driver, he was the first to get it right, needed more time to get his tweeter to be as great as his midrsnge.
I finally threw my hands up. I loved the 302a for its sound and had a bias towards it as it used the same drivers and my Symphonys and sounded like a slightly smaller version of them. However, the W70s sounded so close to the much earlier owned W70Ds I owned in the late '60s and fell in love with. There were times I really thought about taking them back from my brother to whom I had given them to. I really could not decide for they were equally as good to my ears and heart. I thought about stacking them as a way to keep them but, had a problem.
I had bought the 302a system that included the utility cabinet. I had decided it would not be included in my new system so, it was to go. However, as these complete sets are rare and this set had some interesting history I was reluctant to break them up. It became the deciding point. The 302a set would go, ending some 26+ years of Bozak ownership and a set of Bozaks being my main speakers. If not for the utility cabinet, I would be still likely be running the competition.
My Bozaks ran stock crossovers and I have not heard Pat's modded one so can not definitively comment. While most say there is some improvement I have not read any saying the originals were rebuilt and those compared to Pat's. I have read some found no discernible difference. I am not sure how much of a difference Pat's crossover would have to make for the 302a to be a clear winner.
The Bozaks have a more aggressive forward presentation, say row f-h while the W70s seem more cohesive and relaxing or laid back interpretation lf say rows m-q, if that means anything to you.
Good luck, both are worth sitting as main speakers but, these will equally just as likely addict you to their sound and against your will and all reason force you to want more and bigger. Soon you will be reading about the W90 with its several versions and lusting for a set or worse, digging through all, the Bozaks driver versions and reading about the very large 11 driver Symphony or even larger Concert Grand housing 4 12" woofers and 8 tweeters. Plus 2 mids in each cabinet that can substitute as a coffin. Seems few of us devotees of either brand escape this incurable disease.
