Ruark Audio R410

The R410 has great sound, and the looks to match

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₹1,79,999

The idea of the 'music system' never really went away - it just needed a moment to catch up with consumer requirements. Ruark Audio's contribution to the all-in-one market is the fully loaded, specified-tocompete R410. It is a rather premium system - its price tag puts the R410 up against some pretty formidable all-in-one competition. Over the previous pages you will have already seen that Cambridge Audio's new Evo One, plus established Naim rivals and JBL, B&W and Revo models are all ready to offer a viable alternative.

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 reassuringly 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 is 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 is 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 as an alternative.