Both of these products are made by a well-known and highly regarded manufacturer. Ruark is a family-owned British company that has been designing and manufacturing high-fidelity speakers for over thirty years and is now also producing well-engineered music systems. Bose is a privately owned American corporation that designs, develops and sells audio equipment worldwide and is best known for its home audio systems and speakers.

Ruark R4 Mk3

The third version of the Ruark R4 is a good-looking system that’s available in a rich walnut veneer finish or in soft black or white lacquer. Like most Ruark products, it produces a good sound quality through twin drivers and a sub-woofer, the sound also augmented by the acoustic properties of the materials used in manufacture.

The R4 is a traditional music centre with modern functionality and connectivity. Radio is provided through FM and DAB tuners and there’s also DAB+ should the UK ever upgrade. However, there’s no WiFi so you can’t access internet radio or services such as Spotify. But there is Bluetooth with aptX so you can stream music of CD quality from compatible devices.

A CD player accepts standard CDs and CD-Rs that are encoded in WAV, MP3, AAC or WMA formats. Information for these can be displayed from the ID3 tag.

Rather than a series of buttons, the R4 is controlled by a RotoDial that’s standard on all Ruark audio devices and there’s also a remote control but no smartphone access via an app.

There’s an aux-in socket and a USB connector so you can play music from connected devices (MP3, AAC and WMA formats) and charge your phone or tablet. Additionally, there’s a headphone jack and an optical input that allows connection to a TV.

It’s mains-powered only and has a bright and easily viewed OLED display. There’s also a dual alarm with sleep and snooze modes.

The Ruark R4 is highly rated by consumers and was Hi-Fi Choice Recommended, attained five stars in the Music Choice Awards and was Editor’s Choice in Android Magazine.

Bose Wave IV

This compact, all-in-one player comes in a choice of three finishes and achieves great sound courtesy of its Waveguide speaker technology. It has an AM radio tuner as well as FM and DAB, with six pre-sets for both FM and DAB, but no DAB+.

The CD player accepts standard CDs and CD-Rs in MP3 format only with track information displayed when available. This appears on the large and bright display screen.

There’s a headphone jack and aux-in socket to connect other devices and the system is mains powered via a supplied cable. Everything is controlled from the unit itself or by a very small and slim remote and there are dual alarms.

The basic Wave IV has neither Bluetooth nor WiFi but these are available on the more expensive Wave SoundTouch IV. This has a separate unit that’s connected by cable and provides two USB ports, Bluetooth and WiFi. Consequently, you can control the system from your phone using the SoundTouch app and have access to internet radio, which means Spotify and other services are available as well as a great choice of worldwide stations.

Which Should You Choose?

Both models provide a great sound and good music options although there are some differences. The Wave IV has an AM tuner, which may be important depending on the radios you listen to, while the R4 has DAB+ for future-proofing. For the CD player, the Ruark R4 has a greater choice of codecs for CD-Rs.

The Ruark R4 has no WiFi connection while the Wave IV supports neither WiFi nor Bluetooth in its standard form. However, you can add both by purchasing the SoundTouch version.

The Wave IV is smaller, lighter and considerably cheaper than the R4 and could be your choice if you only want to play CDs and listen to radio with a great sound. But it becomes somewhat bulkier and more expensive, although still cheaper than the R4, if you buy the SoundTouch version.

As usual, it comes down to personal choice and what you want out of the system. It may also depend on whether you like the R4’s RotoDial control or prefer a more conventional method.

For some more options, see our roundup of the best high-end DAB radios.

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Rather than making standalone radios, Bose produce a range of sound systems (the Wave range) that combine radio with other features such as a CD player, Bluetooth and WiFi. They also produce a range of Bluetooth speakers (the SoundTouch range) that can be used with WiFi to play internet radio.

While some Bose radios have a built-in radio tuner, this is usually only an AM/FM tuner rather than a DAB tuner. This is probably because Bose is focused on the US market, and DAB radio is not currently used in the US.

At the time of writing, we could only find two Bose products with a DAB radio. They are detailed below.

Bose Wave Music System IV

The Bose Wave Music System IV is a sound system that offers a CD player, a dual alarm clock, stereo sound and a remote control. The Wave Music System IV also has an AM/FM/DAB/DAB+ radio.

The product comes with an external antenna, though you might not need to install it. You can save 6 preset digital stations as well as 6 on AM and 6 on FM. The remote control has 6 buttons so you can access your favourite stations easily.

One additional feature is a signal strength indicator that shows how strong the current station’s signal is as a percentage.

Bose Wave SoundTouch System IV

The Wave SoundTouch System IV is essentially the same as the Wave Music System IV detailed above, only with the addition of Bluetooth and WiFi to allow for wirelessly streaming audio from a phone or the internet. The Wave SoundTouch System IV is therefore more versatile than the regular Wave Music System IV, but it’s also more expensive.

Like the Wave Music System IV, the Wave SoundTouch System IV has a radio that picks up AM, FM, DAB and DAB+ stations. It also lets you save 6 preset stations on each of AM, FM and DAB/DAB+, and has a signal strength indicator.

One advantage of the Wave SoundTouch System IV is that you can use it as an internet radio, so you can simply stream radio stations via the internet rather than relying on DAB. This will give you a larger choice of stations and less interference if you have a good broadband connection and live in an area with weak DAB reception.

Alternatives to Bose

Bose products are expensive and many believe the brand is overrated when it comes to sound quality. If you’re looking for a DAB radio with excellent sound quality, there are some potentially better options out there.

One DAB radio with superb sound quality is the Ruark R4 MkIII. The R4 MkIII is a high-end product with a price tag to match, but it’s hard to beat when it comes to sound quality. The R4 Mk III is a stereo radio with a CD player, Bluetooth and a USB port for playing MP3 files. Most importantly, it picks up FM, DAB and DAB+ stations.

Another good choice is the Revo SuperSystem which unlike the Ruark R4 Mk III also features internet radio. The SuperSystem is a stereo radio with a power output of 80 watts. It also features Bluetooth, though it doesn’t have a CD player.

For some more options, see our roundup of the best DAB radios for sound quality.

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