The Article

SABRE-R SPEAKERS FROM RUARK

5th June 2025

Inspired by the original Sabre designs from 1985, Paul Rigby wondered if the new iteration, the Sabre-R speakers, can compete in today’s market

Pulling these neat little boxes out of their packaging and gazing upon them, I was hit by a flood of nostalgia. I’ve said this many times but the largest industry on the planet right now is based upon the notion of memories. Whether you’re talking HiFi or not.

Certainly in the HiFi sphere, there are plenty of new products out there that connect to our past in some way. The Sabre-R aesthetics, certainly do connect to Ruark’s heritage as a creator of speaker designs but they also strike a general chord in terms of 70s and 80s product releases. As such, these speakers are very easy on the eye with their drivers cuddled up to each other, sitting just above wooden accents proudly displaying a company badge that sits off to the right.

Ahhh, the old days,,,

And allow me to emphasise, these speakers were created from the ground up by Ruark designer, Alan O’Rourke and his team. Same guy and same company who produced the original designs back in 1985.

UP CLOSE

Under the magnetic grilles of these 6 Ohm speakers is a 26mm silk dome tweeter with a neodymium motor system with aluminium heatsink, underneath is a 150mm natural fibre cone, a 30mm 4-layer voice coil and long-throw motor. At the back is a bass port and gold-plated binding posts for single or bi-wire connections.

The cabinet is both damped and braced and is finished in either a Fused Walnut veneer (Which is a new finish to me, have to say…fused?) or Satin Charcoal lacquer.

Spanning 290 × 175 × 215mm and weighing in at 5kg per speaker, the sensitivity of the Sabre-Rs is 86db so you’re looking at an amplifier of around 25W or more to push these speakers properly.

SOUND QUALITY

I grabbed a couple of reference designs when testing the Sabre-R speakers. I wanted to utilise speakers of a similar size and price point (at least upon their respective initial releases) but of a slightly different design ethos. Hence, I chose a pair of Martin Logan 15i speakers that tote AMT tweeters as opposed to the domed tweeters of the Sabre Rs.

SPENDOR S3/5R2

Firstly, though, I listened to a pair of Spendor S3/5R2s which also have a domed tweeter. The difference here? The Spendors have a closed cabinet construction, the Ruarks are rear-bass ported.

I then selected my software, this time from the EvoSound record label. A jazz outing, the recently released Harvey Mason album, Changing Partners and the title track featuring piano, upright bass and percussion.

What hit me straight away when the Sabre-R speakers sprang to life was their soundstage which was wide, had depth and was much more lively than the Spendors. The amount of energy contained with that soundstage was impressive with relatively deep bass for the speaker size, allowing the upright bass to really ground this jazz track as well as providing useful forward momentum. Treble was airy and open with with cymbal reverb tails shooting off into the distance and piano giving a sparkling performance.

Yes, that piano did threaten to lose control on occasion because focus and precision was not a strong point from these speakers but it never did, it hung on in there. On the other hand, too much focus and precision can be a little boring, staid and restrictive. The Sabre-Rs never had the problem. If anything they sounded just plain fun to listen to and I will choose ‘fun’ every time.

MARTIN LOGAN 15i

Moving to the Martin Logan 15i speakers now I was stunned – as I always am – by that AMT tweeter. The incredible accuracy from the treble-infused cymbal taps was truly a wonder to behold. They walked all over the Ruark tweeters, it has to be said.

Screenshot

Thing is, though. Speakers are made under the shadow of compromise, especially at this price point and that build budget is finite. Overall, great speakers are more than just treble performance.

So while the Ruark treble couldn’t compete with the 15i speakers, the overall integrated design of the Sabre-Rs produced a livelier, more energetic, possibly more homogenous and tonally balanced presentation. The 15i speakers had focus and precision in the mids and bass but the Ruarks provided better bass punch with more emotionally infused mids that tended to better translate the human effort behind those instruments. You felt these jazz guys were giving their all with this performance.

Moving to vinyl now and that effect was accentuated with more high-energy fare such as Yes’ Close to the Edge. These speakers had a ball with rock music, being free and easy in the mids and treble but adding a rollicking bass response down below.

CONCLUSION

I can best sum up the Ruark Sabre-R speakers in terms of attitude. My two reference speaker pairings were dressed in a suit, tie and shirt with the top button done up. They sat straight backed at the table and behaved correctly and impeccably. The Ruark Sabre-R speakers, on the other hand, dressed in T-shirt and jeans, fell into a comfy sofa and talked wildly while waving an open bottle of beer around for emphasis.

I’ll be getting to that box on the right in a future review

It’s that relaxing, ‘this is music so were gonna damn well enjoy it’, feel from the Ruark that pulls you in. Its also that relaxed easy feel that you might have expected from speakers from the 70s and 80s that the Ruark really connects to here.

For me? These speakers are fun, full of enthusiasm and only here for a good time but will still attract audiophiles and serious HiFi fans with their midrange insight, splendid soundstage and bass reach.

Get them and you will not be disappointed.

RUARK SABRE R STAND-MOUNTED SPEAKERS

Price: £699/$899/AU$1499

Website: www.ruarkaudio.com

GOOD: broad soundstage, bass weight, open treble, spacious mids

BAD: slight lack of focus and precision