Ruark Audio was founded in 1985 in Rayleigh, Essex, by father-and-son duo Brian and Alan O'Rourke, launching as a partnership built on a shared love of music and a genuine talent for craftsmanship. Brian had trained as a furniture maker before moving into cabinet work for respected British audio names including Hacker Radio and Dynatron, and it was that hands-on woodworking heritage, combined with Alan's engineering background, that gave Ruark its founding identity: hi-fi that should be approached through the eyes as well as the ears.

Working initially from a rented workshop and funded by their own personal savings, the pair launched their first designs, Sabre and Broadsword, before the acclaimed Equinox monitor speaker's success led to a move into their current Southend-on-Sea factory in 1996. From the 2000s onward, Ruark expanded into tabletop radios and compact music systems, initially under the Vita Audio name before consolidating everything under the Ruark brand in 2012.