The Time-Travelling Twin-Box Beauties

 Ruark’s 1998 Solstice floorstanders still sound impressive

Regular readers will know that we have something of a soft spot for Ruark’s MR1 powered speakers. These compact wireless boxes deliver a surprisingly musical sound while packing in all the features needed in a £330 stereo desktop package. They also stand out in a crowded market by delivering a classy retro appearance without appearing dated at all. It’s a neat trick that few can better.

Quality heritage

Those familiar with the MR1s may not know that Ruark’s foundation is based on traditional high-quality stereo speakers. You’d have to go back a couple of decades to find the company at its peak with such products, though. At their best, Ruark speakers not only sounded good, they were also finished to a standard few in the industry could match.

When it comes to Ruark’s heyday, we have fond memories of the Talisman and Crusader floor standers of the early ’90s in particular. While the company was known for its high quality middle-market products, it wasn’t afraid to aim high. In late 1998 we reviewed one of the company’s most ambitious models, the mighty Solstice. We’ve reprinted the full review here as a reminder of how these speakers performed.

These 114cm tall towers took everything the company had learned at the time and wrapped it in a sophisticated two-box configuration that split the bass section physically from the enclosure housing the 75mm midrange dome and 19mm tweeter.

Together but apart