Ruark Prelude II Floor standing speakers
The British company Ruark Acoustic long ago accustomed to the fact that any their speaker system is a sample of impeccable manual work. It seems that in the design and finish of Prelude II there are no special tricks. Under the grill we see a dome tweeter, a woofer with a diameter of 165 mm with a polymer diffuser and a very flexible rubber suspension, as well as small in the diameter bass-reflex. The cases are covered with a veneer of natural wood. And their shape is unpretentious - almost a square turret with a slightly inclined front panel.
But how carefully everything is made! Neat bevels are made on the vertical ribs. Not just some technological niche for a couple of gold-plated terminals, but an oval hole with rounded polished edges is cut on the back panel.
Before turning on it is recommendable to tighten the attached black powerful platforms to the loudspeakers and then screw the spikes in them. "Prelude" looks decently on such stands. In addition, there is a hole on the back panel, closed with a stopper, designed for backfilling.
We are listening. Ruark Prelude II will not enchant everybody who starves for the deepest and strongest bass. The only woofer, loaded on a relatively small volume, sounds at the bottoms in the "monitor" manner: full order is in the quality, as well as in quantity, but not so full. The reproduction of most percussion and bass instruments differs by clear and precise articulation - each bass line is easily traced in the sound. But when a double bass or bass guitar comes in, the sound is not so much full as intense.
But the reproduction of medium frequencies is unlikely to disappoint anyone. The voices are clean and focused so precisely that even serenity arises: the sound flows out comfortably, in details, naturally. The nature of the transfer of the middle changes with the increase in volume. Serenity disappears, the first signs of overload appear in the form of coloring.
The quality of the transfer of the upper range can cause controversy. Subjectively everything is very linear, with great dynamics, but not very clean. Discants are sometimes as if falling to pieces, although the flavor of instruments is very true.
Anyway, many audiophiles like when the discants are not just ringing, but already sparkling - all this is interpreted by them as high detailing at the top. However, true high-sound resolution shows itself another way - the quietest, most complex and highest sounds become simply recognizable in general polyphony. But such realism in Prelude II is still insufficient.
Ruark Prelude II deserves the highest praise for the sound stage. Let the localization of high-frequency instruments be not always correct, but among competitors there were no such a clear separation by plans, such harmony and logical construction of the whole sound space.
