The Ruark R3S is the compact all-in-one music system at the heart of Ruark's R Series range, sitting above the R2 Smart Music System and below the larger R5 High Fidelity System. It consolidates a slot-loading CD player, DAB/DAB+ and FM radio, Wi-Fi streaming, and Bluetooth into a hand-crafted cabinet housing twin full-range drivers and a Class A/B amplifier, with the RotoDial control interface and OLED display that define the Ruark design language.
Cabinet and Construction
The Rich Walnut finish applies a genuine walnut veneer to the hand-crafted wooden cabinet, paired with a slate grey fabric grille. The twin bass reflex cabinet houses two 75mm Ruark NS+ full-range drivers, with cabinet tuning contributing to a typical in-room frequency response of 50Hz to 20kHz. A 30W nominal Class A/B output stage powers the drivers. Ruark's STEREO+ processing is built in alongside user-adjustable bass and treble (±6dB), switchable loudness EQ, and switchable 3D Audio enhancement. Physical control is via the RotoDial controller on the unit and an included IR remote.
CD, Streaming, and Radio
The slot-loading CD player handles standard CD-DA and recordable CD-R discs. Supported file formats for CD-R playback are WAV at 16-bit/44.1kHz, MP3, WMA, and AAC at up to 320kbps. For network streaming, Spotify Connect, Deezer, and Amazon Music are integrated as native services. Internet Radio, DAB/DAB+, and FM with RDS (87.5–108MHz) are supported. A dedicated podcast source is accessible via the RotoDial, IR remote, or Oktiv app. Wi-Fi connectivity is 802.11 b/g/n with WPS 2 setup and WEP/WPA/WPA2 security.
Connectivity
Bluetooth is version 5.2 with SBC audio, BLE, and A2DP profiles, enabling seamless integration with smartphones and tablets including volume control from the connected device. The analogue input is a stereo RCA pair accepting up to 2.3Vrms; a TOSLINK optical input accepts digital audio up to 24-bit/96kHz PCM. Input levels for both the line and optical inputs are independently adjustable. Output connections include a stereo RCA line out, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a mono RCA subwoofer output for connection to the optional RS1 subwoofer. A USB-C port provides 5V/1A charging and MP3 playback (FAT32, up to 48kHz/320kbps) from a connected drive. A 75Ω F-type aerial connector serves the DAB and FM tuner.
Display, Control, and Alarms
An OLED display with auto-dimming provides clear readout in any lighting condition. The RotoDial provides tactile source selection and volume control, while full app control is available via Oktiv on iOS and Android. Two daily alarms are configurable for weekdays, weekends, or a custom schedule, with sleep and snooze functions. Eight presets are available per source mode. Software updates are delivered over the air, via LAN, or via USB.
