Fantastic vocal clarity and string reproduction.

Weak mid-range and low frequency response.

These are by far the most musical speakers I have ever owned. As far as vocal accuracy and clean precise reproduction, I have never heard a speaker in my home sound quite like these. I had had a Dialogue one in the front to match these and for speech, vocals, and any detail-oriented listening, they are in a class of their own. The only lacking characteristic I can mention is that they do not reproduce mid-range bass and lower end frequencies well. They claim a 46hz frequency response depth but I found myself cutting off my subwoofer much higher to compensate. For someone listening to Krall, Jones, and anything with immense vocal detail, these speakers are fantastic. If however, you're looking for something with a bit more slam, I would look into the B&W 704/703's. They are a much more well rounded speaker and mated to a Carver m-1.5t, they reproduce "more" of the music with only slightly less vocal accuracy. In summary, this was a great pair of speakers while they were in my home but I traded them even for what I believe to be a much nicer speaker for me. The ultra-low price I paid was due to a very minor chip in the wood near the rear right corner which is barely visible.

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B&W 704, Paradigm Reference Series.

clean, mellow across the range. Treble is sweet and bass is tuneful. Overall balance is very good. Easily likeable. Built like your great aunts furniture. Solid, and beautiful.

Sounds a little forward, in my setup anyways. Lacks outright detail, which can be cured with careful cable selection. May look old-fashioned to some. Drivers look cheap just on physical appearance alone.

Marantz CD67SE, Cyrus 3+ PSX-R, Pro-ject RPM4 turntable. The marantz and cyrus can give a lot of slam and bang. The ruarks are fully capable of keeping up, with good tempo, and enough dynamics to potray the character of the electronics. Best of all, it tames the inherent 'edge' of my Cd67SE. Not just the CD player. CD's I couldn't listen too in the past because they were just too draining to the ears playing thru the 67se are just right on the ruarks. With vinyl, they bring out the realism of voices, and instruments inherent in the medium without a hitch. It makes the music so listenable, and enjoyable, you can listen to it all day. Great for the music, and easily likeable.

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none - my 1st floorstander

The main strength in my eyes is the vocals of any song.

Lack of bass

I am using the Ruark product with the Musical Fidelity A3cr Pre and Power Amplifiers, I find this to be an oustanding combination that shows no sign of stress at any level. I listen to a variety of music from Phill Collins to the Artful Dodger and the only thing i find they lack in is bass, depending on where i situate the speakers. I am very happy with my purchase and would advise anyone to buy them.

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none

Wonderfully even handed, soundstaging is great, perform well beyong their price tag. Look great too.

Not a lot of bass below 40ish Hz. Need reasonably good partnering equipment.

I have acquired a very high end system over the years, but these very modestly priced speakers have remained firmly in my system, happily sitting alongside a £10,000 turntable, £8,000 preamp, and £15,000 monoblocks, with some very, very good cabling in between everything. Each upgrade, however small, has been communicated through these wonderful speakers. Future upgrades will probably see them go - although not for a few years - but these speakers are recommended to anybody who just wants to listen to nothing but music.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Castle, Celestion, Dynaudio, Proac, Monitor Audio.

Sweet and natural, esp mid-upper

Bass tuning takes time

I owned these beautifully finished floorstanders for many years, seeing me through various upgrades of amp and source. The reason it took so long to change was that although I found others (at much higher cost) which did things better in part I never found such a good all-rounder until spending serious money (Naim SBL). The Ruarks strength is a clean and lively mid/upper range with good presentation of detail. Voices in particular have a slightly foward but quite natural presentation. The bass end needs careful setup for best performance, I found different degrees of loading the bottom cavity with dry sand was needed and made big changes. Positioning seemed less critical and i ran them quite close-about 15cm from the wall. After fiddling for a while I got the balance between over-loading (too heavy and characterless) and under doing (too thin). This is worth remembering when you and dem the speakers-few dealers are likely to spend hours playing around and most will have them un-loaded as they get pretty heavy otherwise! When the balance is right the bass is pretty good, not earth quaking but dynamic enough. All speakers are compromised at this price, the Talisman is better value than most with a good all round performance and generally engaging style which is easy to live with and musically satisfying. Worth a good long listen.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Index Shahinian Epos Naim Credo Naim SBL

Neutrality

Needs very good source and amplification, otherwise nothing

I have used these loudspeakers for over two years now and never tire of them. Perhaps this is the best recommendation I can give.
I have read reviews of these speakers and seen comments about lack of bass. Perhaps the users are not "loading" the speakers as recommended by Ruark. This does vastly improve the quality and quantity of the bass. Be careful though because if you use too much loading the bass can become slow and ponderous.
One of the best things about these loudspeakers is that once purchased, they can stand many upgrades of the source and amplification equipment to which they are connected, in fact I would go as far as to say that to hear them at their very best, they need equipment which at first may seem to be too good (expensive) for them. I have used them with a Naim Audio CD3.5 player with Hi-Cap power supply, NAC 102 pre amp., Hi-Cap power supply and NAP 250 power amplifier, A Krell KV-300i integrated amp and my current Advantage S100 integrated amp. and they have sounded brilliant. So do not think that if you upgrade your source and amplification that you must upgrade these very underrated speakers. Just listen to what they are capable of doing.
I have listened to many loudspeakers in the Ruarks price range but I really think that unless you are prepared to spend twice as much as they cost, you will not get much of an improvement in all-round ability.

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Proac studio 105

Ok, after comparing extensively against the B&W CDM7SE and a pair of Linn's (forgot the name, $1800 range, very popular), the Ruark's win hands down.I, and my audiophile friend who was auditioning also, were completely blown away by the clarity and imaging of the ruarks. Although the CDM7SE is a fine speaker, it sounds muddy, undefined, and slow in comparison with the Talisman. Even though the B&W is more efficient of a speaker.
The linn sounded terrible, we didn't even spend any time on it. I'd probably blame that on the 4ohm setup w/ my Cary integrated amp, perhaps a mismatch.

Anyway, the B&W's did satisfy us with more low end, less effort in the low end. it was something i missed in the ruark, and something i like hearing. However, i'd gladly give up the eager low end bass for clarity and imaging (beyond the speakers!) that's out of this world! don't get me wrong, the talisman's will produce plenty of tight defined bass when called upon, they just don't satisfy when it comes to an aggressive cello/bass peice. you want to feel the low groan of that cello, and with the B&W's i did, but not as much with the ruarks.

Note the ruarks are less expensive also.
My next speaker will be the Crusader II.

I found the Talisman II's by Ruark to be a fabulous speaker for the price.I was impressed at the quantity and quality of bass they produce.
Furthuremore, the midrange is warm, fluid, and realistic, probably the best part about this speaker. The highs are satisfying without being 'bright' or harsh.
Imaging is deep, wide and stable.
I'm currently auditioning these speakers against B&W CDM7SE, B&W Matrix 804, vienna accoustic Mozart.
My system:
Rega Planet
QED Qnect 1's interconnects
Cary SLI-30 integrated tube amp
Audioquest Crystal+ spkr cable

I have been auditioning the Talisman II for many hours now, and I am impressed and surprised. These speakers-in fact, the manufacturer-seem to be below the radar for most of the audio press, but what an oversight. I have not heard anything at this price point that does so much well. Another review here complained about lacking bass. I do not find this to be the case at all. In fact, I think it is natural and clear over a wider sonic range than any speaker in this class. Worth a careful listen.

great imageing,good clear mid-top end,tight bass,these speakers are fab.

none that i can think of,

ive had these speakers just over a week.listened to various
others,castle,b+w,mission,jm-labs,monitor audio,but these were the best.yes some had better bass but what you get with
the ruarks is tight.they dont go as low as the b+w.but i like my bass tight.the midrange is one of the best,at the price and above.the highs are very clear with no harsness.they sound good straight form the box,but i know they will get even better once there run in. i would recommend these speakers highly. p.s my kit is cyrus 3i+power,dad3q+psxr,bi-amped these ruarks just sing.audioquest-indigo spkr,cable,A,Q.Quartz interconnects.
p.s if your into heavy rock dont buy these.

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ruark templers,castle avon,