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Ruark
Epilogue 'R' Speakers. Small, but perfectly formed? Issue 4 - December 1999 |
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The
baby of Ruark's three year old Contemporary Series, the tiny Epilogue is
the junior of a family of six speakers headed by the Prologue. Within the
Epilogue range, the new 'R' version is essentially the super' version of
the standard Epilogue, which retails at some £170 less. The Epilogue line-up
now looks like this: 'Standard' which is essentially the old' cabinet design
with a conventional cloth grille, and is now available in black vinyl finish
only. 'V' which is the first of the Contemporary series designs offering an all wood veneered cabinet and curved plastic grille. 'R' the beast reviewed here, which is available with the option of an anodised aluminium front baffle. |
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The 'R' has been designed to both expand choice within the Epilogue range and to offer the highest performance within a tightly defined cost band. Com-plete with the aluminium faceplate the 'R' retails at £417 against the entry level Standard' at £249. Although it uses the same drivers, crossover com-ponents have been upgraded, and the 'R' uses a thicker MDF cabinet. The aluminium front baffle also provides a tad more rigidity in what was already a pretty chunky little box. Beefier all metal terminals have also replaced the standard models plastic cased originals. The 'R' should therefore offer significant improvements over the standard Epilogue, itself no slouch, so let's see. Aside from the improvements, the Contemporary Series as the name might suggest, are designed to look much more up to date than the standard models. Gone are the usual conventional cloth baffles, as are the familiar Ruark veneered side panels and black top plate. The new speakers certainly look different: The grille is still removable but this shouldn't be so necessary since it now consists of a frameless bowed plastic mesh which slots into the sides of the baffle and stands a good 2cm clear of the centre of each drive unit. The speakers are constructed of chunky 18mm MDF (the Standard cabinet is 15mm), and as I've come to expect from Ruark, are beautifully veneered. The optional anodised aluminium baffle contributes to the distinctly 'un-Ruarky' look as does the 'Epilogue' name, which is now lasered onto the top panel of each speaker. This is strictly a personal, subjective view, but I feel that these speakers, in particular with the aluminium baffles, look a lot less contemporary than the standard Epilogues. They actually have a retro 70's feel to them which is fine if that's what you like, but for me it ain't contemporary I also feel that the lasered names cheapen' the speakers a bit. If I had to guess, judging purely on appearance, I'd say that the standard Epilogues, at least in the old wood veneered option, were the more expensive speaker. That said, I understand that the lasered name was heartily endorsed by Ruarks distributors and that the design has generally been well accepted, so what do I know! And of course, ifs what they do that counts, so let's have a listen. |
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| First, to gauge the difference between the basic Epilogue and the R's I kicked off with a pair of Standard Epilogues. They proved relatively simple to set up, the best siting - mounted on chunky double column Partington stands - was 3' into the room and well clear of side walls. Wired up to my Orca/ Stereo Alectos's and Gyrodec, I was immediately impressed with how much these little beasts can deliver from a small cabinet. Low bass is of course absent, and thankfully these speakers don't try and pretend it's there with an overblown, pumped up mid bass. | ||||||
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For the price they do a good job of pulling the essential detail from the music, and although stage depth is less cavernous than I'd like, with this exception they do a fine jot) of re-creating tangible soundstages. They also play pretty loud and can take a deal of punishment before any noticeable stress kicks in: 'Geronimo's Free' from Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls as featured on the excellent new Naim Sampler 2, was punched out with the requisite kick and momentum. The treble is mildly splashy but pretty good within this price bracket. It was of course essential that the conventional fabric and wood-framed grilles were removed for any serious Iistening. The little speakers coped pretty well with whatever I chose to throw at them from The Stone Roses, to Nick Cave, to Bartok, to Charlie Rowse. And, crucially I didn't long to return to my bigger, more expensive speakers. A sure sign that musically they were doing things right. |
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Moving to the 'R's (Oh dear, it doesn't work in the plural, does it!), it quickly became apparent what the extra £'s are helping deliver. It was immediately obvious that resolution was much improved, with fine details that were tar from obvious with the Standards now clearly in place: On the Ted Sirota track there was more 'swish' to the cymbals, more bite to the horns. I was that crucial bit more aware of what each instrument was doing in the mix. The soundstage had opened out considerably Stage depth was also a bit less restricted, gaining a foot or two over the standard models, and the dynamic headroom had increased allowing the music to flow with more ease. This improved headroom also brought another quality into play: These little buggers love to be played loud. It's not that they can't handle lower levels and 'quieter' music, they can (see below). It's just that they seem to love a bit of punishment (maybe a leather and rubber trim would make them really contemporary?!), and they really start to sing and open up when driven hard. At levels where the standard Epilogues would start to cry mercy the R's were begging for more! Bass was not noticeably deeper, in fact it was much less obvious than with the standard Epilogues, and at first listen the R's could sound superficially bright in comparison. Familiarity quickly dispensed with most of this impression though: the bass is simply a lot cleaner and better defined than with the Standard Epilogue, and against this tighter performance, the 'brightness' can largely be put down to improved resolution across the range. There is still a trace of splash in the treble, and this was most noticeable where bass is a critical component of a sound. An example is the splendid Arc Choir Walk with Me (Mapleshade 04132) where in the opening number 'Shady Green Pastures' the spread of the 30 voices, and range from bass on up is well captured. But as the music builds and the choir starts clapping, there was a brittleness to the hand-claps that is just too bright, too sharp and unnatural, and is missing that critical low end' component. This doesn't destroy what is otherwise a convincingly reproduced, enthralling performance; it's merely a pointer to the Achilles heel of a fine little speaker Moving to classical music, Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Decca SXL 6111, opens with a hectic mix of percussion and brass symbolising a hustling city Street Scene. This is coupled with the strings and woodwind belting out a rhythmic, scurrying figure. Here there was far less suggestion of brightness. The layering of the string section, the bite of the brass, the sheer sense of urgency of this opening section is very well conveyed, and I was immediately drawn into the music. So much so, that I sat through the whole piece rather than simply listening to the opening, a sure sign that something was right. This carried over to another favourite classical piece, the Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis, HMV ASD 521, which from the gentle opening notes was the magical experience it should be. Lower strings had a reasonable degree of body and the sense of large forces at work, physical - a full orchestra and a double string quartet - and emotional, was obvious and properly involving. Cannonball Adderley's Quintet in Chicago LP (Mercury SR 60134), cut in '59 when the band were working as Miles Davis' sidemen, was put across with real authority. Adderley's Alto had just the right breathy intonation, pairing superbly with Coltrane's Tenor in 'Grand Central', whilst Paul Chamber's bass and Jimmy Cobb's drums were allowed to do their job of driving the music ahead without hindrance. This helped prove that the R's were no slouches when it came to conveying the essential drive and rhythm in a piece, the key structure of the music. |
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The speakers also did a great job of capturing one of my favourite albums of the year, Taj Mahal and Touman Diabate's Kulanjan. From the warmth of Mahal's voice, the soaring tones of the Mailinese singer's vocals, and the percussive attack of Diahate's kora, the speaker's simply disappeared, and the atmosphere so well captured from that Athens, Georgia session takes over. The sense of a group of musicians pooling ideas across two different but linked musical cultures, and thoroughly enjoying the experience, their sheer joy in the music making, is put across with conviction. The opening track, 'Queen Bee', starts with Mahal's guitar and for a millisecond sounds like a conventional number, then the kora shimmers in stage right, followed by Ramatou Diakite's vocals which lift the music to a different plane. |
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Soon she and Mahal are trading phrases whilst the guitar and kora do likewise stage left and right. This track brought out the best in the speakers which caught the very different character of each instrument and made the most of their interplay whilst conveying the dynamic shadings of each singer. Simpler material like Shinobu Sato's Red Dragonfly (Flying Fish FF476), particularly in the opening duet of 'Three Shamisen Pieces', puts across the alternate flurries of notes between the guitar and mandolin where a real tension between the two players is felt as they fight to keep the beat. Again the speakers were again able to clearly differentiate between the two instruments, which this time are much closer in character than in the Mahal album, another sign of good resolution. Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat performing 'Cold, Cold, Cold' from the Lowell George tribute album Rock and Roll Doctor (a Japanese pressed CD, Kalgan KGCW-24), was a bit more telling of the speakers diminutive stature. They delivered plenty of slam and attack, but there wasn't quite the bass weight required to realise this number with the proper authority. That said, I can't think of another speaker at anywhere near this price bracket and size that would be up to the job, and what the Ruarks did they did well and without complaint. The plastic grilles were very transparent in use and whilst the music suffered none of the penalties of leaving the grilles in place on the standard Epilogues, there was a very slight increase in transparency with the grilles removed. There was also an added benefit in that the aluminium fronted speakers suddenly looking a lot more attractive! All in all the 'R' is a fine speaker for the money and for most applications well worth the upgrade over the Standard model. However, if you have or are considering a relatively modest front end and amplification, I'd recommend that you audition both the standard Epilogues and the 'R': The standard models might just prove to be less critical, and therefore more enjoyable in simpler systems. Ruark will be manufacturing custom stands for these speakers - the prototypes I saw looked intriguing, three cylindrical mass-loadable steel legs on a curved metal base, but weren't ready for audition. They should now be completed, and whilst the Partingtons proved fine, you should also audition the Ruarks on their own stands. The Epilogues R's, carefully matched, will deliver a great deal of highly enjoyable sound for a modest outlay. They work well across a very broad range of music, and as long as you're not seeking stygian bass levels and have a room smaller than Chartres Cathedral, will be a worthy member of any caring souls shortlist. |
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Ruark
Epilogue R Options:
Price: £379, £416.90 with aluminium baffle Manufacturer:
Tel.
44(0)1702-601410 Back to Last Page | Top | Forward to Next Page | Technical Review index
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