Ruark Audio has long been the purveyor of speakers that look and sound great, but we’re pretty excited about the MR1 Mk3, which has just been announced.
The MR1 Mk2 came out a long time ago, it won our best home audio product in 2017, so suffice to say we’ve been waiting quite a bit for the sequel.
We’re hoping that it doesn’t disappoint, but Ruark’s record of late has been top notch. We saw the speakers at Munich High End 2025 where they were being showcased in Ruark’s room at Motorworld, but we weren’t allowed to talk about them yet.
Tweaked design, bigger price tag
The MR1 Mk3 will cost £399, which is a jump on the older model that launched at £329. In our review we described the MR1 Mk2 as being close to perfection but Ruark hasn’t rested on its laurels and found ways to improve the speakers.
The enclosure is slightly bigger to make space for the new drivers inside, which should allow for a bigger sound and better bass from the new NS+ Bass/Mid units. The amplifier that drives the speakers uses Class D technology that’s been adapted from the excellent R410 music system.
Despite the slightly bigger size, it’s still pretty compact and would be ideal for desktop use or even used on a bookshelf.
The wood cabinets have been handcrafted, adding to the speaker’s luxurious feel; while they come with new Slate Grey fabric grilles that provide a greater contrast to the wood finish. Colours come in a choice of Rich Walnut (brown) or Satin Lacquer (black).
There’s is a remote for control, along with the rotodial controls integrated into the top of one of the speakers.
Boosted connectivity
There’s no Wi-Fi which is a bit of a shame for a speaker that’s pushing the £400 mark, and at this current time more expensive than the Sonos Era 300. But it does come with improved Bluetooth capabilities over the previous model’s aptX support which has been upgraded to aptX HD for the MR1 Mk3. That will help provide higher quality sound over a Bluetooth connection.
Aux and optical output mean that there’s scope for connecting this speaker to a TV should you want to, while the subwoofer output allows for the addition of external subwoofer to take care of the low frequencies, and a USB input means you can connect to a laptop/computer directly for playback of high quality audio files.
A moving magnet phono input also means the MR1 MK3 can be connected to a turntable.
Another winner for Ruark?
While Ruark Audio may not receive as much attention as other audio brands, they quietly get on with their job of creating great-looking products that sound excellent too. This site has been reviewing Ruark products for ten years, and every review has received four stars or more.
But times, they are a changin’, and the desktop speaker market has changed dramatically since Ruark’s last effort. There are much cheaper options from the likes of Majority Audio and Edifier that have swamped the market, while standalone speakers such as the Audio Pro C20, Sonos Era 300, and Bluesound Pulse M offer both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support for the same amount or less.
Ruark certainly has an audience that likes its products, but the question I’d ask is whether it can expand beyond that and draw in new listeners.
