Southend On Sea, Essex. It sounds picturesque. It's where the new R810 High Fidelity Radiogram by Ruark is from. As Bang & Olufsen know only too well, if you make good-looking hifi kit, you'll be shoe-horned into the Lifestyle category so shunned by 'serious' a'philes. Will $5'999 for today's console be serious enough for their elite kind?
With claimed response of 30Hz to 22kHz, the specs are grown up. Tucked into the enclosure are two 4" two-way ported speakers plus a downfiring sealed 8" mono woofer. The lot powers by a 5-channel 180Wrms class AB circuit so not class D. There's a 4" full-colour TFT display, a Bluetooth remote and a matching RotoDial controller built into the console itself. Data support goes up to 32/384 PCM. The next list shows extensive featurization. There's also HDMI ARC/eARC, MM phono, USB-C, Toslink and an optional USB-connected CD drive.
It all packs into 15x100x40cm to which the chromed box stand adds 65cm of height. The total weighs a confidence-inspiring 30.7kg. Finishes are a fused walnut veneer with matched wooden slot grill or soft grey with the walnut grille. On the moons it's rare to feature this type product because I'm not on email lists of PR firms which promote it. Today was different so here we are. This is the antithesis of altars to hifi which as a concept pass by many prospective clients whose lifestyle and décor simply won't support classic separates and big free-standing even wall-hugging speakers. But what if one still wants good sound so something superior to a generic soundbar beneath a wall-hung tellie?
Ruark to the rescue?
Ruark's website
