Ruark's super-chic CD player wants to bring out the best from your disc collection

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Ruark's R-CD100 teases "whisper quiet" operation

Ruark R-CD100 cd player CD on a marble sideboard
(Image credit: Ruark)

Ruark Audio – the brand behind the likes of the stylish Ruark Audio R410 all-in-one music system and the Award-winning Ruark Audio R1S digital radio – is back with something for fans of physical media. The Ruark R-CD100 is the brand's new CD player which, thanks to its smooth operation and signature design, aims to get the best out of your CD collection. You still have a CD collection, right?

Ruark is calling the R-CD100 a CD player, but it's more akin to a CD transport, as there is no DAC built-in and needs to be paired with one of Ruark's 100 Series of products, such as the Ruark R410, R610 or R810, to work properly. Once connected, the CD100 pops up as an option in the product’s source list, with signal processing carried out by the DACs built into the 100 Series product.

Ruark R-CD100 cd player CD closeup

(Image credit: Ruark)

The CD player features a similar design to many of the company's recent constructions, with precision machined top and bottom plates coming together with a hand-crafted walnut cabinet to give the ensemble a "tactile and sleek aesthetic". It's not all about mere looks, either, with Ruark promising that the specially designed enclosure isolates the CD mechanism from external vibrations for improved sonic performance.

In terms of controls, the slot-loading R-CD100 offers an eject button alongside a power LED housed at the front of the unit. The new player is compatible with CD-DA, CD-R and CD-RW discs and features a USB-C connection at the rear.

Ruark is on a mighty hot streak at the moment and continues to impress us with products that merge robust, convincing sound with some of the most handsome designs on the market. Let's hope that the Ruark R-CD100 – available now and priced at £250 / $349 / AU$499 – offers more of the same.

MORE:

Read our Ruark Audio R410 review

These are the best CD players you can buy right now

Discover 9 of the best British albums for testing your hi-fi system

Harry McKerrell
Harry McKerrell
Senior staff writer

Harry McKerrell is a senior staff writer at What Hi-Fi?. During his time at the publication, he has written countless news stories alongside features, advice and reviews of products ranging from floorstanding speakers and music streamers to over-ear headphones, wireless earbuds and portable DACs. He has covered launches from hi-fi and consumer tech brands, and major industry events including IFA, High End Munich and, of course, the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. When not at work he can be found playing hockey, practising the piano or trying to pet strangers' dogs. 

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • PJB
    What Hi-Fi? said:
    Ruark's new R-CD100 CD player offers an isolated enclosure and teases "whisper quiet" operation for your CDs.

    Ruark's super-chic CD player wants to bring out the best from your music collection : Read more
    This player, sadly, is a huge disappointment. It generates two prominent whirring noises every time it moves from track to track. This happens in normal play, not just when skipping forward or back between tracks. Annoying generally, infuriating on anything continuous or with a quiet open. Mystifyingly Ruark have told me this is 'normal'. It really isn't. If this is Ruark's only way to play cds on its more premium range it's a real problem.

    Absolutely don't buy without demo-ing to see if you can live with the noise.
    Reply
  • GSV Ethics Gradient
    PJB said:
    This player, sadly, is a huge disappointment. It generates two prominent whirring noises every time it moves from track to track. This happens in normal play, not just when skipping forward or back between tracks. Annoying generally, infuriating on anything continuous or with a quiet open. Mystifyingly Ruark have told me this is 'normal'. It really isn't. If this is Ruark's only way to play cds on its more premium range it's a real problem.

    Absolutely don't buy without demo-ing to see if you can live with the noise.
    And as you've pointed out elsewhere, Ruark are towing the 'they all do that, sir' line.
    Reply
  • PJB
    Update - having commented above, I wanted to let anyone interested in this product know that the issue has been resolved. I was eventually able (to be fair, with some help from Ruark customer services at this point) to persuade Ruark's tech team that this wasn't acceptable and that they were undermining their consumer proposition entirely by not addressing it. Turns out the 'parent' R410 unit was forcing the transport to re-index the disc at the beginning of every track. They've fixed this via a firmware update, and the transport now performs as expected.

    Obviously should have been picked up before launch, and probably the tech team should have given their customer facing colleagues a more constructive line to take. But they have fixed it, so I wanted to put that on the record
    Reply