Ruark R610 console and Sabre-R speakers bring old-school cool to your music listening room

You’ve carved out a corner of your home as your listening corner — comfy armchair, whisky trolley, vinyls framed on the wall. So, when you’re settling down for a skin-scratching review of your favourite albums, the last thing you want to be staring at is a primary-coloured Bluetooth speaker.

Veteran audio brand Ruark is matching super sonics with slick style for its new releases. It just announced its new R610 console system, and the return of its classic Sabre speakers in a new design it's calling the Sabre-R.

Looking first at the R610, it’s the first console system from the brand, and can play back basically anything you throw at it. Streaming support is covered by AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect integration, it’ll play nicely with UPnP network media servers, and won’t baulk at hi-res files (32-bit/384kHz). DAB/FM and internet radio are built in, and you can throw tunes at it over Bluetooth aptX HD.

If you want to use physical media playback, there’s a moving magnet phono stage for use with a turntable, and a USB port for a sold-separately CD Drive that Ruark will introduce later this year. Optical and HDMI eARC outputs let it act as the driver for a home cinema setup, too.

The R610 of course looks great too. A five-inch full colour touchscreen can be used to control the device alongside a remote and Ruark’s signature ‘RotoDial’ on the top, with black or walnut finishes available, each finished with a gorgeous slatted wood grille frontispiece. Internally, there’s two Class D amplifiers for 75W per channel, Burr Brown DACs and a switch mode power supply.

Over to the Sabre-R, it’s a revival of the original 1985 Sabre speakers from Ruark, with some modern twists thrown in. Matching the black-or-walnut exterior of the R610, the Sabre-R has a two-way design making use of a 26mm silk dome tweeter and 15cm cone mid/bass driver. Though Ruark would love them paired with the R610, they’re compatible with any most amplifiers outputting 25-100W, with a sensitivity of 86dB/W/m.

The hope is that the stereo music system, preferably built combining the R610 and Sabre-R, will once again be the focal point of a living space, rather than its often-current designation as resigned to a corner as part of a smart speaker device.

Both products are available now. You’ll get the Ruark R610 for £1,200, and the Sabre-R speakers are £699 a pair. Both are sold separately.

• Want something to listen to on the new system? Check out our Shortlist of the coolest albums of all time