Portable music players with headphones have undoubtedly killed off the traditional ‘transistor radio’ as we knew it, but nevertheless from talking with customers we found that many still desire a radio that can be carried and enjoyed where mains power is not available.

As always with Ruark Audio we’ve not followed convention! Placing batteries inside a radio steals valuable speaker capacity and this often results in poor sound quality. To overcome this we developed an optional rechargeable power pack which attaches and integrates onto the back panel of the new R1. Called ‘BackPack’ this stylish device provides power for hours of ‘mains-free’ listening. The power supply that comes with R1 doubles as a charger making R1 always ready for picnics or just ‘chilling out’ in the bath.