Gershman Acoustics is a brand I’ve been following for years. Visually, the speakers are arresting and a little on the avant-garde side of the design spectrum, but sonically, these little buggers can jump.
Shown here was the Grande Avant Garde (see?) at $12,500/pair. A specified frequency response of 22Hz-20kHz might make this the most compact full-range loudspeaker I’ve run across in recent memory. I’m not precisely sure how this kind of performance is possible, but reading over the brochure, Gershman makes reference to BCT — “back-wave control technology” — which has been combined with their “proprietary Regulation Line” design, derived from their Avant Garde R1 model. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a full readout on what any of this means. What I can tell you is that these red hotrods, fronted by this system, were filling the room quite handily with full and impactful sound.
On top of the rack was the new Backert Labs Rhythm 1.1 ($7,500) I first saw at Capital Audiofest. The new preamp looks just as hot then as it did back in July! I have more details in that report, but suffice it to say that I want to get my hands on one of these.
Also in the rack, The VPI Classic 2 with a 3-D printed tonearm ($5,500 for the combo), mounted with a Dynavector XX-2 MkII cartridge ($1,950). For digital, a battery-powered Hugo from Chord Electronics ($2,495) was standing in. A pair of Odyssey Audio Kismet mono blocks ($5,000/pair) provided power. A Naim CD5si ($1,995) spun discs.
