When Ruark Audio launched the R410 all-in-one system and R610 streaming amplifier in the last couple of years, the 40-year-old brand thought it was done with CDs. These hi-res streaming-laden music systems also featured radio tuners and a phono stage, but silver disc playback was never part of the picture.
But then everyone started asking about CDs, says owner and managing director Alan O’Rourke. That led to an optional CD drive being offered that you could connect via USB-C to any of the R100 series, but a more integrated solution was clearly needed.
The new Ruark R710 streaming amplifier with integrated CD player launched at High End Vienna 2026, and it shows just how strong customers’ demand for CD playback currently is. This reflects reports across the wider hi-fi and music industry, where physical media as a whole has been on the rise for years, buoyed by vinyl’s astounding continual popularity, and a slow but steady rise in sales of CDs as well.
A recent BPI report shows that CD sales rose by 3.1 per cent to £99.6m last year, which is the format’s best annual revenue total since 2021. As a more portable and wallet-friendly alternative to vinyl records, CDs still have such great appeal – and new releases are the driving force behind the sales, too.
"As human beings, we're natural collectors – we like to collect stuff"
The yearning for more tactility with our music and products is another trend that goes hand-in-hand with the popularity of physical media, too. While streaming remains unquestionably dominant, O'Rourke says he doesn’t see the demand for CDs or CD players going away now.
“It’s the last physical format we’ll ever have,” he says, with CD's sound quality proving to be still comparable to (and more permanent, and lossless than) that of streaming services. And they're cheaper than vinyl records, too.
When I spoke to Alan ahead of the High End Vienna hi-fi show, he said that he feels the CD resurgence is thanks to the younger generation as well as those of us who have had our collections for decades. We might discover music via streaming, but then buy it on CD (or on vinyl record) if we like it enough.
"As human beings, we're natural collectors – we like to collect stuff," he says. As opposed to the idea of never actually owning your music, with it being "there in the ether somewhere... I think it's nice to have a CD or vinyl you can actually hold. It's nice to, every now and then, get a CD out and play it".
"I think that's what will happen with the R710," says Alan, with people easily able to play a CD from their collection when they want, and realise – as many people did with vinyl – that it still "sounds pretty good".
Ruark says the CD player integrated in the R710 is a proper CD drive mechanism, not a ROM or DVD drive such as we’ve encountered in cheaper recent products, with the brand saying they’re on their 4th or 5th mechanism supplier now – and it’s of good quality, we’re assured.
Ruark’s inclusion of a CD player in its newest product isn’t a one-off curiosity, either. The more affordable R series of products includes the table-top R3 system, which has long included a CD player alongside radio tuners and Bluetooth/Spotify.
The R3 (now in its R3S iteration) is still a big seller at home stores such as John Lewis in the UK, along with the smaller R1 radio. “As hi-fi guys", says Ruark, the team were surprised by how many people were buying these compact products.
Ruark was founded in 1985 with passive speakers, but around the turn of the millennium when the BBC was pushing DAB radio the brand decided to pivot from traditional hi-fi speakers into something a little different, more compact, and more lifestyle-friendly. And so the first R1 DAB radio launched in 2004 – and these small-box, integrated radio systems have become almost synonymous with the brand ever since.
Over the years, a series of What Hi-Fi? Awards – for the MR1 desktop Bluetooth speakers, the R1S radio, the R2 Mk4 radio/streaming system – are a testament to the high quality of sound and build you get for the price.
Home is where the art is
Long-time product designer, Jan Paoli – whose first product when he joined Ruark was the turning-point R1 radio – says that the ethos at Ruark HQ has remained the same for the past decades: “We make the products we want in our homes.”
While new technology offers more possibilities, the products’ conception and design remains all about what people – including those on the Ruark team – genuinely want to listen to, look at and enjoy in their houses.
Hence the physical design of the R710 – as with all current Ruark products – is such an integral part of the brand. O’Rourke’s father – the late Brian O’Rourke – was a cabinet maker, and made the wooden cabinets for brands like KEF and Wharfedale, creating the first Ruark speakers with son Alan working as an engineer alongside him.
That heritage follows through in today's products. Ruark's products often look rather beautiful too, with care taken over the cabinets and aesthetics. We find that they fit into most homes and have wider appeal, especially for those customers who wouldn't look twice at a traditional hi-fi separates system but still want great-quality sound in a box that looks stylish, too.
In the flesh, the R710 looks fantastic to our eyes. It follows the same design language as the five-star R610 streaming amp, with wooden details, a large full-colour display screen, and the now-iconic RotoDial controller at the top of the unit which lets you control all aspects of the R710 physically rather than by using an app.
There's a matching Bluetooth remote too, which further extends the tangible connection to the music system. It’s all about offering tactility – Ruark says they’re hearing “people are fed up with touchscreens; they want buttons again”.
Cleverly, the CD drive mechanism is hidden in one of the wooden slats at the front of the unit. It’s near-invisible, but the slot loading mechanism works smoothly when loading and ejecting a CD. You can see it in action in the video embedded below, or on our Instagram page:
Keeping up with the times
Anyone thinking Ruark is only harkening back to the ‘good old days’ of CD and vinyl, and 70s-inspired design, will be pleased to know that the R710 is also packed with modern streaming features.
Yes, it can play CDs and you can connect a turntable to it thanks to the built-in MM phono stage, but the R710 also has networked streaming and DLNA compatibility so you can stream hi-res files from any connected storage.
Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect and Spotify Connect are also supported, while you can easily stream from devices using Bluetooth (aptX HD), AirPlay and Google Cast. Internet radio is on board, and there is even HDMI ARC connectivity for integrating into a home cinema system.
The only thing the R710 doesn’t seem to have is integrated FM/DAB tuners, which the R610 does. However, the R710 packs a bigger punch with 200W of Class D amplification per channel, a huge step up over the more compact R610’s 75W per channel. It’s also a slightly bigger unit, with the R610 looking almost petite next to its bigger brother.
All you need to do is add a pair of speakers, and to help with that Ruark has launched the fourth-generation Talisman-R floorstanding speakers alongside the R710.
With its trademark sloped baffle (a design carried on from the 1990 original), updated drivers, improved cabinet bracing and decoupled front baffle to further reduce colouration to the sound quality, the new floorstanders are matched – acoustically and aesthetically – to work with the R710.
Listening to the R710 and Talisman-R duo
I recently had a chance to listen to this new R710 and Talisman-R pairing at the High End Vienna 2026 show. The usual caveats about listening to new products in an unfamiliar environment on a busy trade-show floor should be implied, although admittedly the Ruark demo room was nicely isolated from the noise outside it, even if the room wasn’t fully acoustically treated.
We were treated to a few tracks played via Qobuz Connect during the brief demo, and were met with a rich, lush tone that sounded smooth, punchy and detailed. The R710’s increase in power seems to be evident in the ease and confidence with which it handles plunging, deep basslines, as well as the punctuality of notes. It comfortably filled the demo room with a large-scale, open sound, while voices sounded well integrated.
The piano notes in Bruce Springsteen's version of A Rainy Night In Soho certainly sounded solid and richly textured, with Springsteen’s voice coming through all earthy and, well, lush. The overall impression was one of smooth confidence, with greater authority and a good handling of subtle dynamic shifts and engaging rhythmic drive.
Ruark says the team spent a lot of time integrating the drivers on the Talisman-R to get a "natural" sound, with the use of natural materials throughout – silk dome tweeters, fibre woofers – aiding the resultant sound signature. The sloped baffle has been further damped and isolated in this latest model, which promises to improve things even more.
Considering the previous Talisman III received an effusive five-star review from us for its rhythmically exciting, expressive sound, we can’t wait to hear how the new speakers – and the R710 – perform when we get full review samples into our dedicated test room in due course.
It’s hard to separate the sound of the R710 from the Talisman-R – but that’s kind of the point.
We found when testing the R610 and Sabre-R bookshelf speakers that they fit together like pieces of a musical puzzle with the seams near-indistinguishable, and it seems Ruark has repeated the trick with the new pairing. As always, we’ll also be testing the two products individually to see how they fare with price-compatible components and rivals.
The R710 is priced a bit more premium at £2199 (the R610 is £1199), while the Talisman-R are yours for £1500 – as the Sabre-R found, there's no shortage of formidable rivals on the market when it comes passive speakers, so they'll have their work cut out. You can buy the products separately or as a bundle when they're available from October.
When we spoke to Alan O'Rourke earlier this year about the changing trends in hi-fi over the past 50 years, he said that he has seen this rather niche, hobbyist hi-fi industry start to increasingly cater to modern tastes and common budgets, positing that it's now "probably more about hi-fi for the whole family, which is a bit like a radiogram being the centre of home listening again. The market has moved towards making hi-fi more accessible and ensuring it has a wider-ranging appeal”.
With Ruark's visual appeal and living-room friendly design, not to mention the various ways you can listen to music through products like the new R710 – BBC radio, CDs, vinyl, Spotify, hi-res streams – it certainly shows that hi-fi can be accessible, modern and – potentially – offer great sound quality, too.
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Read our Ruark Audio R610 review
10 of the most exciting hi-fi products we saw at High End Vienna 2026
