As the newest member of the What Hi-Fi? team, I have been using my newfound hi-fi knowledge not only to benefit our readers but also to build a hi-fi system for a compact listening space for myself.
My research and testing meant that I had narrowed down the choice of powered desktop speakers to two: the Award-winning Ruark MR1 Mk3 and the recent five-star Onkyo GX-30ARC.
I envisage mainly needing the speakers for listening to a turntable, while occasionally streaming over Bluetooth for more casual listening sessions. The latter is where I started comparing the two versatile speaker sets.
I started with the Ruark pair. I pressed the dial on top of the main speaker to turn them on, and then kept pressing more times than necessary until I went through all the inputs and back to Bluetooth – a process, I admit, that I found rather more enjoyable than perhaps I should.
I then connected my laptop and started streaming over Tidal. The first track, Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 in a Major - 2nd Movement - Allegretto, showcased the MR1 Mk3’s remarkable level of detail, adeptness at presenting a soundstage, and excellent dynamic handling for the price (£399 / $579 / AU$899).
But then I thought, “how much classical music will I listen to at home?” And the answer came back: “Probably none.” So, I moved on to something more in my wheelhouse: the similarly named but totally different Camper Van Beethoven and their brilliant, hard-hitting cover of Status Quo’s Pictures of Matchstick Men.
The Ruark speakers conveyed the track’s raw and delicate moments with equal gusto, and it didn’t take me long to appreciate the clarity of the presentation – although they did seem a little overzealous in the bass department.
I moved the speakers further from the rear wall, which reduced some boom from the low end. Then I streamed the entirety of Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak – and the Ruarks certainly did the hard rock classic justice.
And then it was time for the Onkyo GX-30ARC to do its thing. But Pictures of Matchstick Men didn’t elicit the same number of head nods, and Jailbreak felt somewhat flat in comparison. It all rather left me asking the same question that we had posed in our review: “The Onykos are poised and controlled, but are they a little too dispassionate?”
Dynamic handling and detail levels were not on par with the Ruarks either – but they were still decent, and as they are the cheaper speakers, these things I could willingly accept. A lifeless presentation, on the other hand, I could not.
But then I hooked up the Rega Planar 3 RS Edition turntable to the GX-30ARC’s phono stage. And a massive spanner entered the works.
I started playing Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and it was as if these active speakers had been completely reborn. What was once a lifeless zombie was now a youthful late teenager dancing the night away to their favourite song as they hit the dancefloor of a club for the very first time.
The bass drum on Go Your Own Way thumped along, taking me with it each beat of the way, while Second Hand News and Songbird were so much more engaging than anything I had listened to via the Bluetooth input.
After switching out to the Ruark and playing the same tracks, with the addition of Dreams, I discovered that, overall, I actually prefer the Onkyo pairing.
They sounded so good, in fact, that I started checking whether or not the GX-30ARC will fit on the speaker stands I had picked out for my listening space (they do, for the record).
What’s more, the Onkyos currently cost £100 less than the Ruark offering in the UK, and the money I would save could go towards an Award-winning turntable, the Rega Planar 1.
So, if I was to buy right now, the Onkyo GX-30ARC would definitely be my pick. There is, though, as Columbo would say, just one more thing stopping me from buying them.
I would like, eventually, to get a WiiM Pro Plus for music streaming; and the Ruark’s optical input would allow me to experience high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. Audio resolution on the GX-30ARC is limited to 24-bit/48kHz.
So, as things stand, I haven’t invested in either set of powered speakers, and my journey to find the perfect pair for my compact listening space continues. If only I hadn’t tested that darn phono stage…
MORE:
Check out our list of the best computer speakers
Or this one on the best turntable speakers
How about the best active speakers instead?
