Ruark Audio R5 - Grey

I wanted both a more compact single audio unit plus god quality sound after a large sized kitchen refurbishment to replace the old style Denon separate units with two separate speakers and based on the reviews I settled for this item.I had no prior use of Ruark audio units but experience of this example had made me keen to try more for the other rooms in my home! The audio as explained in other reviews is engineered for quality sound - after placing initially on a stone kitchen surface and the sound feeling "cold" given the underside bass speaker, I found by placing this unit on top of a small thick table cloth underneath "warmed" the sound appreciably. If the initial factory settings are a bit too bass driven for the music that you enjoy, you are able to adjust them as needed in the menu system.The CD and DAB radio in the unit both work impeccably. I am London based so using the lengthy aerial extension has not been needed.The initial start up menu and given poor internal WiFi connection made for a slow start initially until I installed the Ethernet cable link via electric plug connection. After downloading and installing updates, everything has since worked fine. The paired portable control with the on unit top control dial are the same in operation and design which makes very easy once mastered to use as needed.As an old style audio guy I also have a tape deck and multi disc CD player in close proximity on shelves below the unit level. The phono connection at the back of the unit will only take a phono input connection, so be warned! Fortunately one of the units I wanted to connect has an optical cable connection so using such appropriate cables I have been able to link up both units and play through the Ruark unit.The whole build of the unit is heavy but robust - I suspect I am in for many pleasurable years usage of this unit!

Bought to replace a 30 odd year old hi fi separates system that took up rather too much space in our current small cottage (having downsized home on retirement). Very pleased with the audio quality of the Ruark. It’s not quite up to the standard of the separates, but to be honest, they were overkill in the present home. Bonus that I can begin to explore more modern ways of listening; streaming etc, but still play my extensive CD collection. The Ruark looks very neat and tidy, no more miles of trailing cabling, and is pretty simple to operate.

There are better on the market for half the price

I've had one of these in my bedroom for 2-3 years and I really wouldn't want to do without it. The purchase price was a bit of a stretch at the time but I haven't regretted it since.The stereo soundfield is pretty good considering the speakers are fairly close together, but you couldn't expect it to compete in producing a wide sound field like a full hi-fi seperates system. For the size of the unit I think the overall sound quality is excellent, and the amount of bass it can produce is fantastic.I have never been able to find any documentation or reference on the Internet as to whether it is capable of reporducing Hi-Res streaming content, such as is available from Amazon HD and Tidal HD. The docs and reviews simply say it supports Amazon Music and Tidal. Amazon HD started up shortly after my purchase, and yes the unit does get firmware updates over the Internet, but you would think Ruark would be pushing any HD streaming capability a lot harder if the unit did support HD formats. I have seen no indication from the unit that it has HD streaming capability. Ruark are a bit mealy-mouthed about what CD formats and local file playback formats are available. Internet trawls of reviews and advertising has made me no wiser. Before making such a relatively expensive purchase I would suggest you contact Ruark and ask some direct questions if HD formats are important to you.I have noticed a few more things that I personally don't like:1) Connecting to an Alexa device via bluetooth does produce quite a lot of low level background noise and crackle. If you do ask Alexa to play music to the Ruark R5 then you will get music of the quality produced by the Alexa device's bluetooth transmitter. It is probably obvious, but you won't be using the Ruark R5 as the music source. It won't be the same result as if you were using a quality speaker with a smart assistant built it, such as a Sonos smart speaker, or just directly streaming using the R5's own capabilities and foregoing voice control. The Ruark advertsisng does not make this explicit. Voice control is easier than scrolling through lists with the remote control and mini-display panel, and if there is a successor to the R5 I have then I would expect it to come with a smart assistant built in.2) CD playback works by the Ruark sampling the CD into memory before playback starts. The "reading" delay is not extended but it is noticeable. It has also resulted sometimes in an error message telling me there is no music content on the CD - even for brand new commercially produced CDs right out of the shrink wrap. If my PC Blu-Ray or CDRW drives can read such mint condition CDs then I wonder why the Ruark sometimes cannot. Happliy repeated re-insertion of the CD, or sometimes just trying at a later time, has always resulted in the CD being read successfully - but it is frustrating and annoying, and while not a common occurence it happens too frquently for such a "high-end" device. I emphasise this problem is not with damaged or dirty CDs. It also makes me wonder if this pre-reading of a CD includes all the normal in-built error correction that a conventional CD Player would apply as the CD is read and played concurrently with the large pre-buffering the Ruark appears to do..Perhaps associated with this is another very occasional error I have experienced with CD playback. The playback will suddenly stop and the player resets and begins re-reading of the CD into memory. It is as if the player has run out of data in the memory buffer where it stores the pre-read data. Again this is not a common event, but it shouldn't be happening at all with a unit at this high price point. I have a large CD collection so CD media processing is still a major feature I want of a device like the Ruark R5. It may matter less to those with a greater interest in the streaming of music from external sources.3. I also notice there are are often clicks and thumps in the gaps between CD tracks. As a hobbyist musician intersted in sampling I know this can occur when playback switches between one sampled track and another due to the join between the samples not being connected at the same sample volume level. These clicks and thumps do not appear during playback on a conventional CD player. They occur even with brand new CDs, and extract from the appreciation of the next track, especially where the music starts quietly. I would have thought this was something that might be fixed in a firmware update but it has never been addressed.In the past I did try to raise these issues with Ruark support but basically got fobbed off.. Overall I am happy with this purchase, but I would advise you get a demonstration before you spend any money.Lastly, hidden away inside the packaging is some bumpf, and in that bumpf is an offer to double the guarantee period if you register your new device with Ruark within a fairly limited period after your purchase. If you are not the sort who pores over documentation you could miss this, so be warned. An extra year of guarantee is worth having!