Part 5 — Lower Level, And Left (Outremont / St. Laurent Rooms) At The Montreal Audiofest 2026 Show
Major demos, new high-end audio tech, and very interesting audiophile innovation.
Montreal Audiofest Show Report By Rick Becker

S8  Cardas Audio, Eon Art Canada, Gershman Acoustics, Oracle Audio Technologies, And Solid Mueble
Last, but not least, was another of the Canadian A-Teams. This group of manufacturers has been together for years, with the only variations being different models of Gershman speakers and Eon Art providing a stereo amp or monoblocks. It is so consistently good that I almost don't have to visit this room, except to reaffirm it as a benchmark for the show.

This was the third time I've heard the Gershman Symphoria speaker—the other times being the Toronto show and at Capital Audiofest, where it was driven by VAC tube amplification and the new flagship DAC from LampizatOr that was $100k USD all by itself. Personally, I prefer tube amplifiers, but these speakers will likely be great with any top-shelf amp. My only fear is that the Symphoria is so good it may steal sales from their Black Swan speaker.

The Symphoria also has a more compact footprint and is easier to set up. Also note the "Symphoria" in script on the inset metal plate on the mid-tweeter module. There are similar, plain plates inset on the sides of the bass module. The heavily contorted midrange drive is still unique among all the speakers I've seen, but it obviously does a superb job. The blue cast on the drivers is from a small accent light on the floor. Eli and Ofra Gershman showed the Symphoria in white at AXPONA this year, and I expect it will be shown at other shows this year as well.

The Solid Mueble racks have been a constant for years now. On the far left is an Oracle CD transport with a power supply below it (I believe). In the middle is the large Eon Art Quark integrated hybrid amp ($92,175 CAD, ~ $66,900 USD), which puts out 208 wrms into 8 Ohms. I failed to inquire about the Eon Art black component directly below the silver Quark amp. I followed up with Stéphane Hautcoeur, owner of Eon Art, who replied: "It was the prototype of our upcoming Tachyon DAC, featuring a Merging Technology OEM Ethernet card supporting Ravenna. At the show, we were playing the prototype with an S/Pdif connection to the Oracle CD drive." The price will be $57,600 USD.

I don't say enough about Eon Art, so let me add that it is a very high-end Canadian company working with exacting scientific principles and NASA-level quality. Their total annual output is lower than that of the big dogs in this industry; you will seldom, if ever, see any advertising from them. Nor have I ever seen them at a show in the U.S., as best I can recall. You just about have to be an industry insider to know about them. And if you do, you know why they are on this A-Team at Montreal every year.

Off to the side, under a turntable cover, was the internals of this new DAC, which will have a multitude of inputs.

On the right of the equipment racks is Oracle's flagship turntable. And one of Oracle's two phono stages sits below the turntable, along with the separate power supply for the turntable.

At a table off to the side was a less expensive, but still gorgeous, turntable from Oracle Audio Technologies. And there are two more models below this one in their line. Unfortunately, I missed seeing Jacques Riendeau of Oracle at the show this year.

Coming Soon: Best Rooms and Honorable Mentions
Part 5 wraps up my coverage of nearly every room at the show, but there is still more to come. I'll review my show coverage and listen to my audio clips again and come back in Part 6 with the Best Rooms and Honorable Mentions at the show, along with some final thoughts about the show and the industry. Keep coming back for the final wrap-up and a special dedication.

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