These days, you may know Ruark Audio best for its excellent range of smart, compact radios and music systems. But the Essex-based brand originally started on a more traditional path with passive loudspeakers, launching its very first speaker – Sabre – in 1985, a year after the company was founded. After well-regarded Talisman, Equinox and Solstice models, it wound down the speaker-making side in 2004 to concentrate on its new niche in DAB radios – or 'small audio', as co-founder and managing director Alan O'Rourke called them in an interview with us last year.
Two decades later, Ruark has now returned to its roots with the launch of the Sabre-R bookshelf speakers. Reviving the name from 40 years ago but embracing a modern outlook, the Sabre-R is a two-way design with a 26mm silk dome tweeter and 15cm treated natural fibre cone mid/bass driver. It quotes a sensitivity of 86dB/W/m and can be used with most modern amplifiers outputting 25-100W of power.
The MDF cabinet is braced and damped and features the same slatted wood design detail as seen on its latest range of five-star R1S and R2 Mk4 radios. The Sabre-R are designed both as a celebration of the Ruark's heritage and to "enthral new generations of music lovers", aiming to deliver a "stunning, natural, musical experience" – no pressure, then! The speakers are built and finished to the high calibre we have come to expect from Ruark, who always manages to create products that look good in any home environment.
Also launched in conjunction with the Sabre-R is the matching R610. Ruark calls it a 'music console', and it is essentially a new addition to the R100 line, which includes all-in-one music systems such as the five-star R410 and the larger R810 radiogram. The R610 just doesn't include any speakers built in.
This combination "allows music lovers to build an entire system that looks every bit as beautiful as it sounds,” says O’Rourke, who founded Ruark Audio with his father Brian O'Rourke.
The R610 has a much smaller footprint than its bigger siblings but shares much of their design language, high-quality materials and components, and tactile controls: handcrafted slatted wood grilles, a five-inch, full-colour touchscreen display, and the signature RotoDial control dial on the unit's top (and as a separate remote). Inside the R610 are two Class D amplifiers delivering 75W of power per channel, Burr Brown DACs and a switch mode power supply.
The R610 can play just about any music from any source, offering immense versatility from a compact music system. It features full wireless streaming with AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect integrated, and is compatible with UPnP network media servers, supporting hi-res files up to 32-bit/384kHz. Bluetooth (aptX HD), DAB/FM and internet radio are supported as well – you'll never be short of music to listen to.
There is even a moving magnet phono stage inside this compact wonder, so you can directly plug in a turntable. You can connect your TV directly too, thanks to HDMI eARC and optical inputs, while a USB port is available for connecting a dedicated CD Drive that Ruark will launch later this year. The disc drive will also be compatible with the R410 and R810.
The Ruark R610 system costs £1200 / $1599 / AU$2299, while the Sabre-R speakers are £699 / $899 / $1499 per pair. Both are available now in two finishes: fused walnut and satin charcoal lacquer. They can be bought together – they are, after all, designed to partner one another both sonically and aesthetically – but there is no package deal price and Ruark says the individual components can work with other brands' products just as well.
Interestingly, the bigger R410 system with built-in speakers, which we awarded five stars to, costs only a little bit more at £1299 / $1699 / AU$2599. We will therefore be curious to find out just how the newer, smaller R610 (with external speakers) will differ in performance to the R410.
The Sabre-R speakers, meanwhile, enter a very crowded and competitive market that is not short of talent, with the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning B&W 607 S3 and 606 S3 (around £549 to £749) their main rivals at this price point. We can't wait to find out how the new Ruark speakers perform.
MORE:
Read our Ruark Audio R410 review
That Was Then: Ruark Solstice review
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And the best bookshelf speakers we recommend across all budgets
