Gershman Black Swan: 30th Anniversary Edition Review and Insight

Experience the refined power and elegance of the Gershman Black Swan 30th Anniversary loudspeakers, a true audiophile masterpiece.

A Grand Stage for a Grand Speaker

Walking into a major audio show as a loudspeaker manufacturer, securing a large demo room is like winning the golden ticket. Bigger rooms—often on lower floors of hotels or convention centers—mean more visitors and better acoustics, crucial for showcasing hefty, high-performance speakers. These spaces don’t come cheap or easy, but the payoff is clear: better sound and greater visibility.

Eli and Ofra Gershman, known staples in the hi-fi scene across Canada, the US, and Europe, have mastered this art. Their showrooms offer warmth and welcome, whether you're a first-timer or a longtime fan. Eli, the introverted audio innovator, crafts boundary-pushing designs without a formal engineering degree, while Ofra, the charismatic face of Gershman Acoustics, blends marketing savvy with deep technical knowledge. Their synergy might remind some of legendary duos in high-end audio history—but instead of fast cars, Eli races sailboats, reflecting the duo’s dynamic spirit.

At the 2024 Capital Audiofest in Rockville, Maryland, the Gershmans unveiled the 30th Anniversary edition of their Black Swan loudspeakers in a spacious 1,440-square-foot room, delivering a performance so compelling it snagged "Best Sound of the Show" honors. After that, they kindly dropped off the speakers at my place—much smaller and cozier than the show’s grand Madison Room. I was equal parts excited and anxious: could the Black Swans truly shine in a more intimate setting?

The imposing and elegant Gershman Acoustics 30th Anniversary Black Swan loudspeaker in high-gloss black.

Three Decades of Excellence: What Does "30th Anniversary" Mean?

The "30th Anniversary" label isn't just a marketing flourish—it's a celebration of three decades since Gershman Acoustics was born. Both the Black Swan and the Grand Avant Garde models carry this distinction. The original Black Swan, released in 2005, earned accolades including a Golden Ear Award. Today's 30th Anniversary edition is a towering three-way design, standing an impressive 50 inches tall and tipping the scales at 235 pounds per speaker.

What’s clever about this model is its two-piece construction: a hefty woofer cabinet made from high-density fiberboard supports a separate A-frame structure that houses the 1-inch soft-dome tweeter and 5.25-inch midrange driver inside a truncated pyramid enclosure. These two parts are mechanically isolated by a tiny gap—less than an inch—between them, minimizing unwanted vibrations or interference.

Even better, the tweeter/midrange module slides forward and backward on robust legs with adjustable sliders. This lets owners fine-tune the time alignment to the listening position—a feature you rarely see executed with this level of precision. Whether bi-wiring or bi-amping, the Black Swan offers flexible connectivity with dual binding posts directly on each cabinet, and for simpler setups, a premium interlink cable bridges the two modules.

Improvements in Bass and Build

The biggest leap from the original Black Swan to the 30th Anniversary Edition lies in the bass department. Gone is the ported cabinet; the new model employs sealed enclosures, a design choice that enhances control and tightness but demands smart engineering to handle the woofer’s back-wave energy.

Enter Eli Gershman’s ingenious “Back-Wave Control Technology,” or “Bass Trap.” This internal compartment within the woofer housing uses a resistive matrix to create a pressure differential, significantly reducing internal reflections and mechanical stress sent back to the woofer. This clever innovation pairs with a newly developed 12-inch woofer featuring a dual voice coil and a hefty magnet, custom-built by Creative Sound Systems in Mississippi.

The midrange and tweeter drivers are from Scan-Speak, renowned for their clarity and precision. The crossover was redesigned with first- and second-order slopes at 350Hz and 1.8kHz. As a cherry on top, the speakers rest on eight isolation footers per side, dramatically cutting down cabinet resonance—a subtle but impactful upgrade.

In terms of aesthetics, the review pair dazzled in a mirror-like high-gloss black finish, achieved through 15 layers of Italian piano lacquer. Or, if you prefer a lighter look, a white gloss finish is also available at no extra charge. But honestly, a Black Swan should be... black.

Setting the Stage at Home

My listening ritual typically has two phases. The first is dedicated to confirming the gear’s performance and tweaking setup details like speaker placement and cable choices. For the Black Swans, this meant shifting my sofa back eight inches, placing the speakers 17 inches from the front wall, and spacing them eight and a half feet apart, with the soundstage about 11 feet away.

Grilles? Surprisingly transparent but still better off without. Cables? My go-to Siltech 880 series speaker cables outperformed T+A Speaker Hex cables, but a recent pair of AudioQuest ThunderBird Zero cables and AudioQuest ThunderBird Bass cables struck the perfect chord, especially for the Black Swans’ impressive low-end. I ran the system through my usual Tidal Contros DAC/controller and Tidal Ferios monoblock amplifiers, streaming high-res files from Qobuz and local storage.

Taming the Room: Treatments and Correction

Ah, rooms—the eternal nemesis and ally of any audiophile. My 15 by 15-foot space (with ceilings between 10 and 12 feet) is modest but thoughtfully treated. I have six 2’x2’ GIK quadratic diffusors behind the speakers and an absorptive panel behind my sweet spot. Adding two more absorptive panels at sidewall reflection points sharpened imaging and tightened bass.

I also experimented with BACCH-SP DSP room correction, including crosstalk cancellation, which brought further refinement. Yet for fairness to prospective buyers, I judged the Black Swans mostly with just the sidewall absorbers in place. Realistically, anyone investing in such elite loudspeakers should consider some room tuning, physical or digital, to get the best from these majestic speakers.

A Playlist for Perfection

The main listening phase—spanning weeks—relied on a bespoke playlist of over 60 tracks, each chosen to test specific facets of sound. From the heroic bass of César Franck’s organ masterpiece performed by Jean Guillou to the bass slam of Mighty Sam McClain’s “Too Proud,” every nuance was scrutinized.

The Black Swans aced every test: bass power, extension, slam, dynamics, and tunefulness, not to mention treble speed, imaging, tone color, and rhythmic fidelity. I even let the playlist shuffle for hours, savoring the Black Swans’ effortless versatility. Whether it was symphonic weight or jazzy nuance, these speakers delivered in spades.

“The balance of boldness and sensitivity is what makes the Black Swan speaker truly complete.” – Ofra Gershman

Room, Music, and Magic

While room treatment matters, the Black Swan is already a world-class performer without it. This speaker embodies a unique duality—bold yet sensitive, powerful yet graceful—that mirrors its namesake Odile, the Black Swan of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Unlike the villainous interpretation, the Gershmans see the Black Swan as a symbol of complex beauty and balance.

If your budget allows, and you’re looking for a loudspeaker that combines innovation, artistry, and sheer musicality, the Gershman Black Swan 30th Anniversary Edition might just be the sound investment for your listening sanctuary.

Specs & Pricing

• Type: Three-way, sealed box
• Drivers: Scan-Speak 1″ soft-dome tweeter, Scan-Speak 5.25″ midrange, CSS 12″ woofer
• Frequency Response: 18 Hz – 24 kHz
• Impedance: 6 ohms
• Sensitivity: 88 dB
• Dimensions: 21″ (W) x 50″ (H) x 18″ (D)
• Weight: 235 lbs. each
• Price: $95,000 per pair

Final Thoughts

The Gershman Black Swan 30th Anniversary Edition is a triumph in high-end loudspeaker design, marrying technical innovation, aesthetic beauty, and emotional depth. Whether your room is large or modest, with some attention to acoustics, these speakers will reward you with a listening experience that’s as captivating as it is truthful.

FAQ

• What makes the 30th Anniversary Black Swan different from the original?
  The key difference is the switch from a ported to a sealed cabinet design with innovative Back-Wave Control Technology, enabling cleaner, tighter bass response.
• Do the Black Swans require a large listening room?
  While they excel in larger spaces, they can perform superbly in smaller rooms with proper room treatments or DSP correction.
• Can the two parts of the speaker be adjusted separately?
  Yes! The tweeter/midrange enclosure slides forward and backward to perfectly align the drivers’ timing with your listening position.
• Are the speakers bi-wire or bi-amp capable?
  Absolutely. There are separate binding posts for the woofer and the tweeter/midrange sections.
• What finishes are available?
  The speakers come in high-gloss black (15 layers of Italian piano lacquer) and an optional white gloss finish at no extra cost.

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