{"id":2096,"date":"2024-07-16T12:42:52","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T12:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/?post_type=review&p=2096"},"modified":"2024-07-16T12:42:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T12:42:52","slug":"stereophile-report-on-30th-anniversary-black-swan","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/index.php\/review\/stereophile-report-on-30th-anniversary-black-swan\/","title":{"rendered":"Stereophile \u2013 report on 30th Anniversary, Black Swan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cSplendiferous<\/strong>, Best at the show, Captivating!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MONTREAL AUDIOFEST 2024<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>Stereophile<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gershman Acoustics, Eon Art, Oracle Audio, Cardas Audio<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Robert Schryer<\/a>  |  Mar 31, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. \u201cIt was splendiferous<\/strong>, certainly one of the best at the show,\u2026 producing sound that was large-scaled, meaty, suave, detailed, tonally luscious, architecturally layered, with deep bass and palpable images. It was captivating\u2026\u2026.. As good as the smaller system sounded \u2014and it sounded very good\u2014the bigger, much more expensive system <\/strong>took sound reproduction to another level<\/strong>!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Gershman Acoustics are habitual show exhibitors and it shows. They know how to tease out good sound from an acoustically-challenging hotel room. They’ve also found a synergistic match for their products with those from their longstanding exhibit partners Eon Art, Oracle Audio, and Cardas Audio, with whom they reunited for this show to present two systems, a smaller one and a bigger one.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The smaller system consisted of a pair of Gershman Acoustics Studio XdB speakers ($12,995\/pair), the brand new 208Wpc, tube \/ transistor hybrid Eon Art Squark SE integrated amplifier ($27,000), an Eon Art Tachyon DAC prototype ($TBD), and an Oracle Audio CD transport ($14,000). Looking at the XdBs in the photo, you may be surprised to<\/strong> learn how low its bass response<\/strong> is said to be able to reach: 23Hz. To achieve this, Gershman has incorporated its patented Bass Trap feature in the stand itself<\/strong>, which is a permanent part of the speaker, as is the disc-like resonance control device on the top of each cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening to a CD, the system delivered a solid bass foundation, a clear, transparent soundstage, and a naturally sweet frequency balance. Vocals had presence and were well defined.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As good as the smaller system sounded\u2014and it sounded very good\u2014the bigger, much more expensive system took sound reproduction to another level<\/strong>, as it should. It consisted of a pair of Gershman Acoustics’ 30th Anniversary Black Swan speakers ($US 95,000\/pair), a pair of Eon Art Boson mono integrated monoblocks ($76,000 each), each of which combines preamp\/amp sections, tube and transistor designs, and class-A and class-D circuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also in the system was an Oracle analog front end consisting of a Delphi Reference MkVll turntable\/Turbo power supply combo ($16,875), a Reference 1 tonearm ($7500), a Corinth MC cartridge ($2750) and a PH-200 Mklll phono stage ($2420 – $2760).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabling and AC accessories for both systems were by Cardas Audio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the audio fidelity, “Oh l\u00e0 l\u00e0<\/strong>,” as the French say. It was splendiferous<\/strong>, certainly one of the best at the show, producing sound that was large-scaled, meaty, suave, detailed, tonally luscious, architecturally layered, with deep bass and palpable images. It was captivating.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2099,"template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-2096","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/2096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gershmanacoustics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}