Ruark Audio R410

Integrated Music System

Streaming Made Beautiful

Music is a universal language that transcends boundaries and connects people from different cultures and backgrounds. In a good way, music has the ability to make us feel happy or sad. At Ruark, we love sound and how it makes us feel and believe passionately that the best sound is vital when it comes to bringing people closer to the excitement and emotion of music. The striking design of R410 conjures up high expectations, and we’ve worked tirelessly to ensure that it fully delivers, providing sublime performance that will connect you closer to the music you love.

Designed to Be Seen

Music is a universal language that transcends boundaries and connects people from different cultures and backgrounds. In a good way, music has the ability to make us feel happy or sad. At Ruark, we love sound and how it makes us feel and believe passionately that the best sound is vital when it comes to bringing people closer to the excitement and emotion of music. The striking design of R410 conjures up high expectations, and we’ve worked tirelessly to ensure that it fully delivers, providing sublime performance that will connect you closer to the music you love.

Engineered to Be Heard

Our audio heritage means we understand the complexities of cabinet, electronic and driver design in creating sound that will touch your soul. In R410 we’ve painstakingly tuned the reflex enclosures to house our new NS+ bass-mid units and combined with the tweeters from our award-winning MR1 speakers, the result is effortless performance that belies R410’s size. Together with the latest generation digital amplification, audiophile-grade components and the best audio processing technologies, R410 creates a magical performance that will connect you closer to the music you love.

Versatile Hi-Res Connectivity

At the heart of R410 lies a powerful processor, capable of supporting the highest quality music files. Spotify and TIDAL Connect are built-in, but if you like your music home-based, then R410’s media player will allow you to quickly browse and stream music from other devices on your network. Moreover, through R410’s inputs, it’s easy to connect a turntable or play CDs by connecting a CD-ROM drive to the USB input. In particular, with HDMI ARC/eARC connectivity, R410 makes a superb sound system for TVs and a complete solution for all your entertainment needs.

Apple AirPlay and Chromecast built-in

From LPs in the 50s, to CDs in the 80s, to MP3s in the noughties, it’s clear that the way we listen to music has evolved. With R410, you can still connect and enjoy a turntable or CD drive, but primarily R410 has been designed for streaming and making the most of the amazing music services available online.

With Apple AirPlay and Chromecast built-in, you can stream directly to R410 from apps such as ‘BBC Sounds, Amazon Music, Deezer and Qobuz’ with better than CD sound. You can also easily create a multi-room system, linking R410 with other AirPlay and Chromecast speakers. All future 100 Series models will have this interoperability too.

Beautiful to Control

Our RotoDial control system has been a distinctive part of Ruark products since the introduction of our R1 in 2006, but for 100 Series we have refined its design from top to bottom. Also included with R410 is a matching rechargeable remote. Bluetooth connectivity means that aiming is not required – and like a quality watch, it’s an item that you will love to use, as it looks and feels so good.

Beautiful to See

R410’s advanced processor has allowed us to provide a slick user interface, handling input from apps and our control system and promptly displaying the interaction on R410’s colour high-resolution display. The portrait orientation of the display intentionally emulates the way that we view most services on our smartphones, making R410 intuitive to use, but most importantly the display brings an interactive element to R410 that few other systems offer.

SPECIFICATIONS

Audio

• Frequency response 35Hz – 22kHz
• Speaker units
• 2 × Ruark 20mm silk dome tweeters,
• 2 × Ruark 100mm NS+ bass-mid units
• Amplifier 120W RMS Class D amplifier (0.02% THD @ 30W/CH)
• Enhancements
• Adjustable bass and treble settings
• Stereo+ 3D audio enhancement
• Adaptive EQ provides ideal sound according to volume
• Cabinet type Tuned dual bass reflex enclosure
• Digital to Analogue Burr-Brown 32-bit 192kHz DAC
• Analogue to Digital Burr-Brown 32-bit 192kHz ADC

Features

• Controller Intuitive RotoDial control system
• Remote Control RotoDial BT LE rechargeable remote
• Display Hi-Res auto dimming 4″ colour TFT display
• Presets 20 Global presets
• App Control Via Spotify, BBC Sounds etc.
• Auto-Standby Adjustable auto-off power saving mode
• Adjustable Input Levels Adjustable line-in and optical input levels
• USB Charge Port USB-C 5V 1A (5W)
• DST Automatic DST adjustment
• Software Updates Via over-the-air or USB if required
• User Interface Languages Multilingual

Connectivity

• Radio Internet Radio DAB / DAB+ / FM with RDS (87.5-108MHz)
• Multiroom capable Via Apple AirPlay and Google Cast
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, WPS2, WEP, WPA, WPA2
• Streaming Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast built-in
• Built-in music services Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect
• Supported music services Amazon Music, BBC Sounds, Deezer, Qobuz and many more
• Bluetooth 5.1, aptX HD, SBC, AAC, BLE, A2DP
• Ethernet RJ45 connector 10/100 Mbps
• DLNA UPnP™ DLNA media server compatible
• CD player CD playback via external USB CD drive (optional)
• HDMI ARC and eARC
• Line-input Stereo RCA input (up to 2.3Vrms)
• Moving Magnet RIAA phono input Turntable input with MM phono gain stage
• Optical input TOSLINK input up to 24-bit 192kHz
• Subwoofer-output via mono RCA
• USB 2.0 type C FAT32 playback port
• Aerial 75Ω F-type aerial connector

Supported Audio Formats

• MP3 up to 48kHz 320kbps
• AAC formats up to 96kHz 320kbps
• FLAC up to 24-bit 192kHz
• WAV up to 24-bit 192kHz
• WMA formats up to 48kHz 320kbps
• WMA 9 up to 48kHz 256kbps

General Specifications

• Standard finishes Fused Walnut Veneer or Soft Grey Lacquer
• Product dimensions H150 × W560 × D290mm
• Product weight 9.5kg
• Product power input 90-240VAC, 50-60Hz, 2.5A
• Power consumption <2W standby. 5-10W typical
• Gift Box Content
• 2m mains power cable,
• Quick start guide,
• RotoDial BT LE rechargeable remote,
• Telescopic aerial and spanner

Ruark Audio R410 review

The R410 has the sound, and the looks to match 

By What Hi-Fi?  published October 13, 2023

The idea of the ‘music system’ never really went away – it just needed a moment to catch up with consumer requirements. Ruark Audio is the latest brand to toss its hat into the ‘all-in-one’ ring with this, the fully loaded, specified-to-compete R410. Have another glance at that picture – looks the part, doesn’t it? So as long as it has the performance to match, the likes of Naim should be glancing rather nervously over their shoulders…

• Ruark Audio R410 vs Naim Mu-so 2: which all-in-one music system is better?

Price

The Ruark Audio R410 all-in-one system is on sale now and as you might have discerned, it is a rather premium system. In the United Kingdom it’s priced at £1299, in the United States you're looking to spend $1699, while those in Australia can expect to pay AU$2599. Budget, it ain't. 

In any currency, though, this puts the R410 up against some pretty formidable all-in-one competition. They may not have exactly the same form-factor, but everything from the Technics SA-C600 (£899, just add speakers) and the KEF LSX II (£1099, entirely speakers) to the Naim Mu-so 2 (£1149) and the Sonus Faber Omnia (£1599) is ready to offer you a viable alternative. Ruark Audio by no means has this particular field clear.

Design & build

Ruark Audio has worked its specific magic with the way the R410 looks. Those 15 x 56 x 29cm (hwd) dimensions are just correct, somehow, and the aesthetic is familiar. From the little metal legs on which it stands to the trademark vertical wooden slats that constitute a grille, this is a product with a confident, coherent look – and while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it seems fair to say the R410 will find favour with any number of interior decorators and/or set-dressers.  

Get up close and the good news keeps on coming. Build quality is exemplary, and the ‘fused’ walnut veneer is both elegant and unusual. It’s engineered from sustainable woods, and then spliced, coloured and recomposed. The result is a consistent grain pattern and a resistance to colour change over time, and consequently a finish that’s admirable both on a visual and a tactile level. If this is all a bit too much wood for your particular taste, Ruark Audio offers an equally successful, if slightly less unusual, ‘soft grey’ finish (such as our review sample) as an alternative.   

The interface options available here are all well implemented – but there could, perhaps, be more of them. The top of the cabinet features Ruark’s familiar RotoDial controller; it covers all major functions, feels nicely weighted and is simple to operate. The R410 also comes with a second RotoDial – it’s identical to the integrated control, but it’s portable and can be recharged via USB-C. As remote controls go, it’s as pleasant to hold and operate as they come.

A product as feature-heavy as this needs quite extensive menus, of course, and here they’re accessed via the 102mm (4-inch) colour TFT display on the R410’s front panel. This ‘portrait’ configuration that splits the fascia grille is bright, crisp and high-resolution, but it’s a tad on the small side. As a consequence, you need to be quite close to it to find out what’s what, as the font, while nice to read, is necessarily titchy.

A control app would help in this respect, but the R410 goes without. The argument that says wireless sources can be controlled from your smartphone or tablet (and will probably have apps of their own), and that wired sources can be operated as much as is possible from one of the two RotoDial controls, is fair enough. 

But customers with this sort of money to spend might well imagine a control app into which they can integrate all their favourite streaming services and what-have-you would be part of the deal. After all, it is with equivalent products from KEF, Naim, Technics and plenty of other rivals…

Features

Did anyone mention ‘flexibility’ or ‘extensive functionality’? Yes? Well, that’s handy – because the Ruark Audio R410 is loaded with both.

As far as wireless connectivity is concerned, there are plenty of options. The R410 has Bluetooth 5.1 on board, and it’s compatible with SBC, AAC and aptX HD codecs. There’s dual-band wi-fi, too, giving access not only to the ‘Connect’ versions of Spotify and Tidal, Apple AirPlay 2 and Chromecast, but also to network-stored content via UPnP. Ruark has a rich history with radios (such as the superb Ruark R2 Mk4) and so we can expect FM, DAB/DAB+ and internet radio to come as standard.

There’s an aerial to facilitate radio reception on the rear of the R410, and that’s also where you find all the physical connections. There’s an ethernet socket, naturally, and a pair of stereo RCA inputs operating at line level. There’s another pair of RCAs leading to a moving magnet phono stage – so your turntable can get involved. An HDMI eARC input means the R410 can take audio information from your TV, so your home cinema and/or television sound can get a significant boost too. There’s a digital optical input, and a USB-C input too, and a pre-out for a subwoofer for good measure.

No matter which of the very many options you use to get your audio information on board, it’s examined by a 32-bit/192kHz high-resolution digital-to-analogue convertor (or, at least, the digital audio information is). It’s then amplified by a total of 120 watts of Class D power – this is a bit of a departure for Ruark Audio, which ordinarily prefers the less efficient Class A/B alternative for its hardcore hi-fi credibility. 

From here, it’s delivered to you via a pair of 20mm silk dome tweeters (these are carried over from the Award-winning MR1 Mk2 desktop speakers and anyone familiar with that product will know this is the opposite of ‘a bad thing’) and a couple of brand new 10cm paper cone mid/bass drivers. Low-frequency reinforcement is provided by two bass reflex ports on the bottom of the cabinet (a position that means they’re always an ideal distance from a fixed boundary). This results in a frequency response (according to Ruark Audio, at least) of 30Hz - 22kHz – which means ‘extremely deep’ to ‘very high indeed’. 

Sound

It’s one remove from what you might immediately think of when we’re discussing ‘sound’, but nevertheless it’s worth noting just how consistent the R410 is. Naturally there are qualitative differences between the same song heard as a 320kbps Bluetooth stream, through the moving magnet phono stage or as a hi-res audio file accessed from some network-attached storage – but no matter the source, the sonic characteristics remain consistent throughout. And that holds true no matter the volume level at which you’re listening. These things are never a given, no matter how much money your all-in-one system costs.

The specifics of those characteristics are just as agreeable. The R410’s tonality is fairly even from the top of the frequency range to the bottom, and quite neutral and naturalistic throughout. Straight from the box, with its EQ settings left alone, the frequency response is a little slanted at the bottom end – the presentation is rather happily bassy, and the fact that the low-frequency presence is well-controlled and nicely straight-edged doesn’t alter that fact. Getting into the menus and knocking a couple of dB off the ‘bass’ output evens things out, though. 

Give the R410 some well-recorded and accomplished vocals to deal with – David Bowie’s ‘Tis a Pity She Was a Whore, for example – and it’s capable of an eloquent, insightful midrange performance. Detail levels are high, as they are across the entire frequency range, and the Ruark gives singers a very pleasant sense of directness and positivity. The soundstage the system creates isn’t, in the final analysis, the most expansive a system like this ever served up – but because it’s so well-organised and coherent, it allows vocalists enough space in which to stretch out and properly express themselves.

At the top of the frequency range, the R410 is apparently involved in a game of ‘chicken’. Treble reproduction is absolutely as bright and crisp as is advisable, but because the top end has plenty of substance to go along with its brilliance, it just about stays on the right side of ‘edgy’ or, even worse, ‘hard’. Treble sounds are never less than enthusiastic, though – the R410 attacks the top of the frequency range with something approaching relish. The customary levels of detail and insight are apparent, and – just as there is across the entire frequency range – there’s good second-stage harmonic and dynamic variation on offer.

Despite the numerous drivers here, aided and abetted by those bass reflex ports, there’s no obvious sensation of cross-over. The R410 knits the frequency range together well and offers a genuine sensation of unity and singularity to its sound. The overall sound is positive and confident, without being in any way brash or overly assertive – there’s decent momentum to the sound, and good rhythmic expression thanks to the relative amount of low-end control on show.

It’s perhaps not the most dynamic sound you've ever heard, mind you. There’s always a distance to be travelled between the quietest, most contemplative moments of a recording and its loudest, most intense sections, of course, but that distance just doesn’t seem especially far where the R410 is concerned. The difference between ‘quiet’ and ‘LOUD’ is apparent, of course, but perhaps not as pronounced as it might be.  

That’s not to imply the Ruark isn’t capable of quite oppressive volume levels, you understand. ‘Room-filling’ is not too mild a description of its talents where out-and-out volume is concerned – which, for some listeners at least, will be reason enough to buy one in the first place.   

Verdict

The Ruark Audio R410 is a success, to a lesser or greater extent, in every respect. As an object, a piece of furniture, it’s brilliantly realised. As a flexible, function-rich piece of audio equipment, it is hard to find fault with (except for the absence of a control app, of course). And in terms of the sound it makes, there’s an awful lot to like, not least its eloquent, direct and balanced presentation – and next-to-nothing to take issue with. It’s a fearsomely competitive product, and represents money well spent.  

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Features 5