Rudy Bozak B301 Tempo II loudspeakers

Today we present something you may not see twice. So if you are a vintage Hi-Fi collector, and want to add something to pick the curiosity of your mates, read further.

Rudy Bozak was a renowned audio engineer and loudspeaker designer, founder of Bozak Loudspeakers in 1952. Its innovative designs were highly regarded for their sound quality and transient response. The man itself was also known for a culture of secrecy, being very reluctant to have the components measured.

Bozak made partnerships with people that became overly more notorious in the Hi-Fi scene; namely Frank McIntosh and Saul Marantz.

Back to this loudspeaker model, the 301 Tempo II. We are in the the middle of the range, a 3 way bass reflex design that was present on, the catalog celebrating the "25 years of Bozak", so here 1977. All products were heavy, floor standing loudspeakers, but categorized as "compact" in the catalogs.

Bozak was not following the flock, to say the least. The woofers are special and unique. The cones are molded from a slurry containing paper pulp, lamb's wool and other secret ingredients and made thicker at the center, becoming progressively thinner toward the periphery. An additional doping of the inner area made it stronger at the center. The result was a cone with 'variable density' from center to rim and virtually no breakup or standing waves, the major sources of distortion in conventional paper cones. So yeah, what you see on the pictures is not UV decoloration, it's the actual thing!

The tweeters and mid-ranges were also an innovation for the period - cones made of a spun aluminum with a layer of black latex sprayed over the top.

These speakers just sound outstanding, and very distinctive. There is a combination of warmth and detail that will orient you to a tube or warm solid state amp (Luxman or Sansui-esque). While very efficient at 94dB, they need some watts to sing. The bass is so "firm" and absoluty not booming nor lagging that it is a true signature. We recommend to test drive them with acoustic or electric bass solos; try Jaco, Weather Report, Stanley Clarke or Avishai Cohen etc., you will be surprised by the so particular character of these woofers that read every note, regarless of speed of play. 

We love also the setting labels on the filter adjustment for mids and highs, that can be set to "bright", "normal" or… "mellow"…  so vintage! And the combination provides an absolutely no ear fatigue loudspeaker. While unfortunately no evidence stands out due to a missing model label, very probably a matched pair.