Ruark Audio R410 & Ruark Audio R810

The Ruark R410 and R810 are all-in-one music systems from the British manufacturer Ruark Audio, sold in real wood cabinets designed to be furniture rather than equipment.

The R410 is the compact model, meant for a kitchen, a study or a bedside. The R810 is the large one, a substantial cabinet on legs that becomes the main system in a living room.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 speaker rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can assign it to a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

You cannot switch it on or set its volume from the Home app the way you would a light. Those stay with the speaker and its own app.

Before you buy

Decide which model the listing refers to before ordering, because they are very different sizes and prices.

Ruark treats radio as a first-class source rather than an afterthought, which is worth something if you still listen to it.

These are bought for rooms where a rack of black boxes would be unwelcome. On sound per pound, separates win; on living in a furnished room, these do.

The R610 sits between them in the range.

Specifications