Ruark Audio R5 All-in-One System Review & Comments

Do you have a photo of it in situ?

It’s hard to get a good idea from brochure photos
 
John Lewis do a cheap equivalent.

 
I have been living with a Grey Ruark R5 for three months now. It was bought to replace my 5 year old stereo which I sold for £7K so you can see what it is being forced to live up to. My old turntable was a Rega RP10 with Apheta2 MC, CD was Naim CD5si and speakers were PMC Wafer 2 all with power conditioning by Isotek Sigmas. So how has this "tiny" box lived up to the challenge?
I have been immensely impressed so far. The system is hardwired via a devolo powerline so I can access the full range of services the R5 has to offer. The Remote control is wonderfully easy to use and the shape of it only helps it to do what it needs to do. A lovely touch. They Grey matches our walls spookily, this was a blessed accident and helped my wife accept the new addition without the usual grumbles. I can only appreciate the comedic value of yer man who was suggesting the Oakington. It is rather like suggesting getting a Dacia Sandero as a replacement for your XC90 because they are roughly the same thing.
Having put the CD / internet radio / DAB / spotify through their paces these last few weeks I am now considering adding a turntable to it so my vinyl doesn't wither on the vine. Because I have had Rega RP8 and RP10 as my vinyl machines over the last 7 years I am tempted to stick with Rega. Has anybody actually put a turntable onto a Ruark R5 yet? Obviously it is pointless getting a £3K turntable to attach to a £950 box but I wondered if anybody has any experience at all. I was thinking of getting a Planar 3 as my days of "big stereo" are way behind me.
In summary it is a beautiful, looking and sounding, box and I am happy to have spent the money to get it. I will be interested to see how it handles vinyl.
 
In my boys room I have a lot of stuff! For music listening I face across the room to a system which includes a Sugden amp and Spendor floorstanders. Facing my TV I used to have a decent surround system driven by an Arcan AV amp again with Spendors. I then scaled that back to Spendor bookshelf speakers with another Sugden stereo amp. Recently I decided to slim down again - took out the Sugden and Spendors and replaced with a Ruark 5. Of course it doesn‘t match what I had, but it still gives me great sound in my 12x10 room. As a versatile one box music centre I’m delighted with it. The photo shows there is still a lot of stuff in the room but it feels much less fussy now.

C7D827A8-FFA6-4850-AEE7-766D314BB892.jpeg
 
In my boys room I have a lot of stuff! For music listening I face across the room to a system which includes a Sugden amp and Spendor floorstanders. Facing my TV I used to have a decent surround system driven by an Arcan AV amp again with Spendors. I then scaled that back to Spendor bookshelf speakers with another Sugden stereo amp. Recently I decided to slim down again - took out the Sugden and Spendors and replaced with a Ruark 5. Of course it doesn‘t match what I had, but it still gives me great sound in my 12x10 room. As a versatile one box music centre I’m delighted with it. The photo shows there is still a lot of stuff in the room but it feels much less fussy now.

View attachment 1580690

For all that they do, and that they do it so well, they seem to be one of hifis better bargains.
 
How did you think it sounded linked up to the TV? I'm toying with the idea of replacing my amp and speakers and trying one of these but I need it to do a decent job with TV as well as music.
Thanks
Mine sits under my TV as shown in my posts above. Obviously it will not match a high end surround costing a few thousand but I got rid of mine and I’m very happy with the Ruark!
 

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