Back at AXPONA 2026, the Ruark Talisman-R was my second favorite loudspeaker of the entire show. Not my second favorite “affordable” loudspeaker. Not my second favorite “interesting British thing hiding in a room people should have visited.”

My second favorite. Period.

The short list included ATC, Quad, Opera, and DeVore Fidelity; and somehow the Ruark Talisman-R, expected to land under $2,000, was right there with them.

That should make a few far more expensive loudspeakers look over their shoulders.

At the time, Ruark was still keeping some of the details close to the vest. The Talisman-R was not expected to be available until September, and while the compact floorstander sounded far more finished than “forthcoming product” usually suggests, we still did not have the full technical picture.

Now we do.

The Talisman-R has made its European debut at High End Vienna 2026, and the timing is not accidental. Ruark has also launched the new R710 Music Console, the more powerful R-Series component we were told about in confidence at AXPONA — the one being developed specifically to give the Talisman-R the drive, control, and system simplicity it deserved.

That matters because the Talisman-R was already being demonstrated with the smaller R610 at AXPONA, and it did not sound underfed. It sounded bold, articulate, wide, and far more composed than its compact footprint suggested. The R710 changes the equation by bringing substantially more power and a more serious all-in-one platform to the party.

The original story was that Ruark had revived one of its important loudspeaker names and built something that looked like a lifestyle product but behaved like a proper hi-fi speaker. The Vienna story is sharper: Ruark now has the matching electronics to turn the Talisman-R into a complete system.

And not some sad beige “just add speakers” lifestyle rig that apologizes for existing.

The Talisman-R Specs Are Here, and the Little Brit Has Teeth

The new Talisman-R is a compact two-way floorstanding loudspeaker rated at 87 dB sensitivity, with a 6-ohm nominal impedance that dips to 3.8 ohms at 5kHz. Ruark recommends amplifiers between 50 and 250 watts, which makes the arrival of the R710 rather convenient.

The speaker uses a 27mm silk dome tweeter with a neodymium motor and a 17cm / 6.5-inch Ruark NS+ long-throw woofer with a treated fibre cone, 35mm two-layer copper voice coil, and Strontium ferrite motor. The crossover is set at 2.2kHz and uses an optimized second-order design with premium audio film capacitors and low-loss inductors.

Bass output is handled by a dual-flared tuned bass-reflex cabinet with decoupled baffle technology. Cabinet volume is 14.5 litres / 0.51 cubic feet, with a tuning frequency of 42Hz. Ruark specifies frequency response at 40Hz to 22kHz in a typical room, which is exactly the kind of number that made the AXPONA demo feel more convincing than its size suggested.

Physically, the Talisman-R is very living-room friendly for a floorstander: 850mm high, 210mm wide, and 250mm deep, or roughly 33.5 x 8.3 x 9.8 inches. Each speaker weighs 17.6kg / 38.8 pounds. That is substantial enough to feel serious, but not so heavy that you need a friend to help you move them.

Connections are via dual gold-plated 4mm multi-way binding posts for single-wire or bi-wire use, compatible with banana plugs, spades, or bare wire. The removable magnetic grille uses acoustically transparent fabric, and buyers can choose between a Fused Walnut veneer baffle with Charcoal cabinet and mottled fabric grille, or a Satin Charcoal lacquer baffle with matching Charcoal cabinet and grille.

Each speaker ships with a quick start guide, adjustable rubber coned feet, and adjustable carpet spikes.

The Bottom Line

The Talisman-R gives Ruark Audio a proper floorstanding loudspeaker again, while the R710 supplies the power, connectivity, and system simplicity to make it feel fully current in 2026.

The Talisman-R impressed me at AXPONA because it sounded like a speaker built by people who still understand tone, scale, and restraint. It did not chase fake detail. It did not need a room full of glowing monoblocks and emotional support cables to make its point. It just played music with confidence.

Expect a full review once Fidelity Imports gets a pair into our hands. If the Talisman-R lands near $2,000, it could prove to be one of the stronger high-end floorstanding speaker values of 2026. And based on what I heard at AXPONA, the Ruark should not be locked into Ruark electronics only; it sounded like a speaker that will respond well to a range of properly matched amplifiers.

For more information: ruarkaudio.com

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Ruark has uncovered the R710 CD Hi-Fi Console at High End Vienna 2026, and the pitch is not hard to understand. This is a modern music centre inspired by the classic 1970s console era, but rebuilt for listeners who use CDs, streaming services, Internet Radio, Bluetooth, TV audio, headphones, and external loudspeakers in the same system.

The R710 joins Ruark’s growing 100 Series family alongside the R410 all-in-one system, R610 Music Console, and R810 High Fidelity Radiogram. It also arrives as Ruark continues expanding beyond compact lifestyle audio with the new Talisman-R floorstanding loudspeakers, which we previewed at AXPONA 2026. That context matters. The R710 is not just a pretty box with a slot-loading CD player hiding behind the wooden slats. It is Ruark making a stronger play for the listener who wants a complete hi-fi hub without building a shrine to black boxes and cable anxiety. These blokes are so thoughtful that they even include 10 feet of speaker cable in the packaging.

Built-In CD Playback Returns to the Console

The R710 includes an integrated slot-loading CD player that supports Red Book CD-DA and CD-R discs. That gives Ruark a clear point of separation from some of its other 100 Series products, where CD playback depends on an external component. If the internal CD player offers the playback quality of Ruark’s existing R-CD100 CD Player, the value of this console starts looking a lot better; like finding a clean seat on the Central line and realizing nobody has spilled lager on it.

Streaming, Internet Radio, AirPlay 2, and Google Cast

Ruark has loaded the R710 with the streaming options most users actually need. Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Cast are built in, along with Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz Connect, and Internet Radio. The console is also UPnP/DLNA compatible for playback from networked media servers.

That combination makes the R710 flexible without forcing every user into one control method. Apple users, Android users, TIDAL users, Qobuz users, Spotify users, and Internet Radio listeners are all covered. Democracy, but with better woodwork.

Hi-Res Playback and Burr-Brown Digital Conversion

The R710 supports high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/192kHz, with FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, and WAV supported up to that resolution. MP3 is supported up to 48kHz/320kbps, while AAC is supported up to 96kHz/320kbps.

Ruark also specifies Burr-Brown 32-bit/192kHz DAC and ADC stages. That is useful because the R710 is not only dealing with digital sources. It also includes analog inputs, including a moving-magnet phono stage, so the quality of both digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion matters inside the system.

400 Watts of Class D Amplification

The amplifier section is rated at 2 × 200 watts into 4 ohms at 0.01% THD. That gives the R710 considerably more drive than a typical compact all-in-one music system and positions it as a proper hub for passive loudspeakers.

Ruark also includes adjustable bass and treble, switchable Loudness EQ, and switchable Stereo+ processing. The goal is clearly not just source flexibility, but enough control to make the R710 work in much larger systems beyond the existing speaker lineup. Think Spendor, Neat, Q Acoustics, ProAc, Wharfedale, and Acoustic Energy.

HDMI ARC/eARC and Real System Connectivity

The R710 includes HDMI ARC/eARC, which makes it suitable for TV audio without adding a soundbar. It also includes optical input up to 24-bit/96kHz PCM, stereo RCA line input, RCA selectable line/pre-out, mono RCA subwoofer output, and gold-plated 4mm multi-way speaker binding posts.

There is also an MM phono input rated for cartridges up to 8mV, giving turntable owners a direct path into the system. That makes the R710 a more complete music console than the word “console” might suggest.

Bluetooth, Headphones, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB-C

Wireless support includes Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Ethernet via RJ45, and Bluetooth 5.1 with aptX HD, SBC, and AAC. Ruark also includes Bluetooth headphone support and a 3.5mm wired headphone output.

The USB-C port provides 5V/1A charging and multi-format audio file playback. That gives the R710 another practical source option for listeners who still keep music on local storage rather than trusting everything to the cloud. A wise move. The cloud has commitment issues.

Display, RotoDial, and Physical Control

The R710 uses a 6.8-inch high-contrast colour TFT display with auto dimming, along with Ruark’s familiar RotoDial control system. A rechargeable wireless remote is included.

That interface matters because one of Ruark’s strengths has always been usability. The R710 is designed to be operated from the front panel, the remote, or modern streaming apps without making the user feel like they are configuring enterprise networking gear during a power outage.

Finishes, Dimensions, and What Comes in the Box

Ruark lists two standard finishes: Fused Walnut cabinet with Fused Walnut facia, and Charcoal Lacquer cabinet with Fused Walnut facia. The cabinet measures 105 x 375 x 310mm, or approximately 4.1 x 14.8 x 12.2 inches. Including feet, controls, and cables, it measures 125 x 375 x 345mm, or approximately 4.9 x 14.8 x 13.6 inches. Product weight is 6.6kg, or about 14.6 pounds.

Inside the box, Ruark includes the R710, a 2m AC power cable, quick start guide, rechargeable wireless remote, and two 3m oxygen-free copper 400-strand speaker cables.

The Bottom Line

The Ruark R710 CD Hi-Fi Console is not just another retro-inspired box with a pretty face. For £2,199, it combines a slot-loading CD player, 32-bit/192kHz hi-res support, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz Connect, Internet Radio, MM phono input, HDMI ARC/eARC, wired and Bluetooth headphone support, subwoofer output, and 2 × 200W of Class D amplification into one compact console.

What makes it unique is the mix: CD playback, modern streaming, TV integration, real loudspeaker power, and Ruark’s furniture-grade industrial design in one system. It is aimed at listeners who want fewer boxes without surrendering physical media or proper stereo playback.

U.K. pricing is £2,199, with Ruark working toward October availability. U.S. pricing has not been announced yet, which means American buyers will have to wait for the inevitable exchange-rate pain parade.

For more information: ruarkaudio.com

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SCIENCE

Business is back to normal in the orbital station, but one of two newly discovered leaks is still unrepaired

A serious air leak in the Russian segment of the ISS forced NASA astronauts to put on their spacesuits and shelter in their Dragon capsule for a brief period of time on Friday, but all appears to be safe for now and operations have resumed.

At around 1316 UTC Friday, NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens announced that, after the crew discovered new leaks, Roscosmos had decided to do a repair operation. During this time, the US space agency ordered astronaut Chris Williams and the four-member SpaceX Crew-12 team into the Dragon spacecraft as part of a precautionary safe-haven procedure.

Reuters, citing an unnamed NASA official, said that leaks in the Russian section of the station escalated this week from around a pound of air a day to two pounds. A source The Register spoke with said that the latest discoveries were the longest cracks in the module they’d seen, though we’re still not clear on how large the cracks actually are. 

Approximately two hours later, Stevens confirmed that NASA had instructed crew members sheltering in a docked Dragon spacecraft to resume normal operations aboard the International Space Station after Roscosmos paused repair work in the Zvezda service module’s transfer tunnel, known as PrK.

The Roscosmos crew was planning to conduct repairs on the transfer tunnel on Friday, but Stevens said that the plan was paused in order to further assess “measurements and data” regarding the new leaks. 

“Given this development, NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station,” Stevens said. 

What’s life in space without some risks?

Just how big is this crack, exactly?

We’ve known about problems with Zvezda leaks for some time now, as Stevens noted.

“The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely,” the NASA mouthpiece said in Friday’s X post about the leak. “NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.” 

The Register has been reporting on leaks in the Russian segment of the orbital lab since they were first identified in 2020. Multiple repair efforts over the past few years have failed to stop the leaks entirely, and newly identified cracks suggest the problem is continuing.

Russian news wire Interfax reported that cosmonauts identified two potential air leaks in the transfer chamber, one of which was sealed on Friday with a layer of Germetall-1 two-component sealant, but the second hasn’t been addressed yet. 

“Efforts are underway to prepare it for hermetic sealing,” Roscosmos said in a statement. 

We’ll update this story if we hear anything new from NASA, including whether the continued leaks, with cause unknown, could lead to an early retirement for the station. ®

What you’re reading started as yet another takedown of Universes Beyond.

Maybe not a takedown, but certainly something fuelled by fatigue.

Solo Stove makes some of the best smokeless fire pits, including the Ranger, Bonfire and Yukon backyard fire pits. But if you’re looking for something a little smaller, it also makes a line of tabletop fire pits, including the Mesa and Mesa XL. Both come in several color options, including traditional stainless steel. 

I started off using the smaller Mesa, but when the Mesa XL was subsequently released, I moved to the larger version of the mini fire pit (pictured on the left) because it looks and feels a little more substantial while remaining compact. (As you might expect, it does produce a bigger fire with a heat radius of 2 to 3 feet compared with the Mesa’s 1 to 2 feet.) 

As its name implies, the Mesa XL is designed to sit on a tabletop and is quite portable. Naturally, you could also set it on the ground, but when you put it on a table, it’s at a good height for comfortably roasting marshmallows. It has the same 360-degree Signature Airflow system as Solo Stove’s larger fire pits.

security

Good luck, sys admins

The threat is real. Unknown miscreants are exploiting a high-severity, zero-day bug in Cisco’s SD-WAN management software, and the networking giant hasn’t said when it will patch the flaw.

Cisco issued an advisory on Thursday for the Catalyst SD-WAN Manager vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-20245, and it sounds like attackers have been exploiting this security failure for at least the last week.

It’s due to a validation error – the software fails to properly validate user-supplied input – and an authenticated, local attacker can exploit the flaw by uploading a specially crafted file to vulnerable systems. From there, they can escalate privileges and execute commands with root privileges.

The vulnerability affects all versions of the SD-WAN software, regardless of device configuration, and across all deployment types including on-premises, cloud-based, and FedRAMP-certified deployments.

Switchzilla says it became aware of attacks against this vulnerability in June.

“To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have netadmin privileges on an affected system,” the vendor said. “This would require valid credentials or exploitation of CVE-2026-20182 or CVE-2026-20127. Cisco is not aware of successful exploitation by other methods.”

Both of these earlier SD-WAN security holes have also been hit by attackers in previous months.

The good news: an attacker needs valid credentials to abuse the new hole. The bad news: exposed credentials aren’t hard to find (or buy) online.

We don’t know the scope of exploitation or exactly when attackers began hitting this SD-WAN hole. Cisco declined to answer The Register’s questions, and instead sent us a statement via email.

“Cisco recommends customers upgrade to the fixed software released in May 2026 for CVE-2026-20182 as a protective measure,” a spokesperson said. “A patch for this vulnerability will be provided on a future date. Customers needing assistance should contact Cisco TAC.”

This latest bug is the sixth SD-WAN vulnerability listed as under attack since the start of the year, and the second zero-day in two months.

The most recent is the one the Cisco spokesperson mentioned in an email to The Register.

In May, Switchzilla disclosed a max-severity make-me-admin bug (CVE-2026-20182) affecting Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager, and warned that attackers had already found and exploited the hole before it issued a patch.

A month earlier, America’s lead cyber-defense agency said that three Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager bugs (CVE-2026-20128, CVE-2026-20133, and CVE-2026-20122) were under attack, and gave federal agencies just four days to patch the security holes.

Cisco fixed all three CVEs in late February, and in March warned of attackers abusing two of them.

Also in February, the networking vendor patched a max-severity improper authentication flaw (CVE-2026-20127) affecting the same SD-WAN software, prompting a Five Eyes countries’ joint intelligence alert urgently warning defenders to patch it – plus an old SD-WAN vulnerability (CVE-2022-20775) – or risk root takeover. 

“Malicious cyber threat actors are targeting Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN used by organizations globally,” the UK’s lead cyber agency said at the time. “These actors are compromising SD-WANs to add a malicious rogue peer and then conduct a range of follow-on actions to achieve root access and maintain persistent access to the SD-WAN.”

And while this one isn’t listed as under active exploitation (yet), on Wednesday, Cisco warned about a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2026-20230, a critical bug in its Unified Communications Manager that also allows attackers to gain root privileges. ®

Cosmetics will make me god.

The company says most users don’t need to use the feature.

Fake reviews are a real menace for online shoppers. If you have ever bought something online based on glowing reviews only to receive a disappointingly subpar product, you know what I mean. A new study published in the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology proposes an AI-powered system that can not only detect fake reviews, but also trace how they spread.

Why existing tools keep falling short

Most existing fake review detection systems focus on the text of a review. That approach worked for a while, but fake reviewers have gotten smarter. They now pair carefully written text with misleading images to make their reviews look authentic. Text-only tools struggle to catch this, and that’s a real problem for shoppers and honest sellers alike.

The researchers addressed this by building a system that looks at multiple signals at once. It analyzes the review text using two different methods, a text convolutional neural network and pre-trained language models, to capture both surface-level and deeper meaning in the words. It also factors in reviewer behavior, since fake accounts tend to have default profile pictures and system-generated usernames, unlike real users who tend to personalize their accounts.

Can AI really catch a fake image too?

The short answer is yes. Review images are analyzed separately using a residual network, a type of deep learning tool commonly used for processing visuals. Once all these signals are gathered, the system fuses them together to make a final call on whether a review is genuine.

When a review is flagged as fake, a Transformer model kicks in to map its origin and track how far it spread through the network.

Tests on a large dataset from JD.com showed that the system achieved a recognition accuracy of 94.2% and a tracing accuracy of 93.5%, outperforming all existing methods it was compared against. This kind of accuracy could eventually mean fewer misleading reviews and more trustworthy ratings to shop by.