Are these still around? I haven't seen them mentioned in a long time, they used to be well reviewed but I've seen nothing new from Ruark in a very long time. Are they too laid back sound wise?

Some Ruarks have a reputation for being a little 'soft'.
My Prologue IIs are fantastic. Not at all laidback. The tweeter can be a bit 'hot' on-axis but partnering with the right Amp (they do like a bit of grunt) pays dividends.

I haven't heard of any recent new products but they appear to still be trading.

I am more than happy with the overall sound and would not consider upgrading them for quite some time.

Ruark are still around and are also responsible for the distributioon of Vita Audio products in the UK.

Some models of theirs could be a little laid back, but their later models weren't. Prologue II was good, Prelude II was pretty good too and the C10, 20, 30 were very good although they were a commercial disaster due to their looks which didn't go down well in the market. The newer models aren't the best perceived value for money but they are good, albeit they need a good bit of driving too.

They look like Kudos model numbers, what did they look like? ruark used to like nice.

My mistake CL10, CL20 and CL30...

They were beautifully made but had somewhat questionable looks - a real break from the traditional look of Ruark. The CL10 was a high quality standmount, the 20 and 30 floorstanders leaned back like parallelograms. The prettiest was the CL20. In each bcase, the baffle was made from a very robust plastic which wrapped around the sides of the speaker and braced there. The CL30 was a 3 way, big and bold but not beautiful - loads of speaker for the money but the looks went against it.

CL10 - http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/ruark_cl10.htm

CL20 - http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://img.u-audio.com.tw/showimage.asp%3Fimgid%3D2010578&imgrefurl=http://news.u-audio.com.tw/newsdetail.asp%3Fnewsid%3D470&usg=__6FGaD2NMvHj7ohxE2ff0HNVICn0=&h=397&w=300&sz=24&hl=en&start=0&sig2=rk1NWJUmvAmiRcLxs2KhRw&tbnid=JKS-4gt98A9gNM:&tbnh=169&tbnw=129&ei=PFFhTJ3uOZSKOMqNmMAJ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Druark%2BCL20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enGB359GB361%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D474%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=453&oei=PFFhTJ3uOZSKOMqNmMAJ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=77&ty=84

or:

http://www.esoterica.ru/main/cl20.htm

CL30 - difficult to find pics:

http://www.esoterica.ru/main/cl30.htm

Oops, I see what you mean.

A real shame because sonically they were very very good.

Who let them out? don't worry I'll get him, someone needs a good talking too, pass me the sick bag.

Yeah...but....but... (showing me 80s anorak-like hairshirt approach)...they were sonically very very good!

Yes but designed by a blind aesthetics pervert by the looks of them!

Those pictures are 8 years old? Did that range kill them off?

It's kinda odd how some companies you don't hear nothing from them in years and years and you wonder if they are still around, is it good to be so quiet and keep such a low profile?

No, they're still going as far as I know with the Crusader III and Talisman III (and possibly some wall-hanging speakers), but I think that range did hurt them pretty badly.

following on from Franks point, you really need to be careful with two factors I believe today that will or should I say can break you, the first is ugly looks, the I don't care how it sounds as long as it looks good applies to about 1% of the buying population, most buy with their eyes, so make sure the styling is nice, a second a bad review, if you get 3 stars from a well know rag you might as well scrap it, if you get 1 star you might as well change your company name.

I heard a 1 star saxon CD300SE cd player, it was slated, it actually sounded very good but build could have been better, but I'll never fathom why it only got a 1 star review, it's things like this that cab destroy a company and you see them go off the radar for a few years.