Marshall Stanmore II Wireless Bluetooth Speaker - Black (UK)

Product Information

Replete with Tolex-style finishes and Marshall’s iconic brass control knobs and script logo, the third-generation models have a PVC-free build, with the company claiming each speaker is manufactured from 70% recycled plastic and fully vegan materials.

The rose-gold accents really lend the design of this speaker a sense of sophistication, and are carried through the bottom panel, Marshall logo, and the controls on the top of the casing.The Marshall’s large control knobs offer a satisfying feel, as does the power lever. However, as the volume and tone is controlled by your phone as well as these on-speaker controls, a series of LED light sits around each so you can determine the volume level and bass/treble settings. At first the upper-mids and treble can sound a little unrefined, but I found my ears grew accustomed to the tone within an hour or so. If yours don’t, you can just tame the treble a little with either the treble knob up-top, or through the app. Bass depth is good, too – at its price, if not necessarily the size. The Stanmore II can handle the kind of sub-bass frequencies that a lot of smaller wireless speakers – bar the Sonos One – bow out of entirely. Clattering synths and tactile percussion come through with sharpness and clarity - although, at times the higher frequencies can be slightly harsh, which can cause ear fatigue after a while. Marshall’s Bluetooth app lets you use parametric EQ presets with more bands that just the treble/bass of the top-plate controls, and create your own. For the most part I’ve used the default “flat” mode, though.

Having bass and treble controls is one of Marshall’s calling cards when it comes to its speakers, and it’s a lovely touch, especially if you like being able to control exactly the way your music sounds. Marshall is the most iconic name in guitar amplifiers – but if you’re reading this then you probably know this already. Famous names who have used Marshall kit over the years include Hendrix, Van Halen, Slayer and Spinal Tap. However, it’s getting to this stage that’s frustrating. Alexa’s iOS app isn’t very good, and you sometimes even have to use it to pair new Bluetooth devices, in addition to using it throughout the initial setup. We repeatedly tried to link our Philips Hue and Spotify accounts in it, but it constantly failed. In the end, we turned to the desktop and Alexa’s web interface. Not ideal. Marshall’s Voice app has an equalizer and a few other speaker adjustments, such as the brightness of the volume control lights. It’s reliable, if bland, and you have to install it to make the speaker work. All in all, if you’re looking for a great party speaker with the ability to control your smart home, the Stanmore II Voice could be your new best friend. The controls are fairly similar to those of the Marshall Woburn II, in that you have retro-looking dials to control the volume, bass, and treble output of the speaker - these dials are given a modern twist by the inclusion of micro-LEDs in place of the numbers, which light up as you turn them up and down.It’s a fairly large Bluetooth speaker that perfectly at home being cranked up loud. It has oodles of Marshall style and fairly good audio quality, too. However, since it doesn’t rely on Wi-Fi like its pricier sibling, the Stanmore II Voice, this version is just begging for an integrated battery like the Harman Kardon Go + Play 2. The speaker can put out sound with decent scale and stature, but it can seem a little flat and two-dimensional compared with the best-in-class models. There’s some bass bleed, or at least less-than-ideal tonal control in the area where the bass meets the mids. You could even attach a guitar amp modeller pedal and use the Stanmore II as a low volume guitar practice amp. Wired connections in wireless speakers are, thankfully, fairly common – but here they’re unusually prominent. And the button that switches between them is right there up-top. Fast-forward some 50 years and the bass thud of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes thrummed as well as I hoped it would. The bass frequencies are pretty good, with a warm, generous sound, but it’s in the sub bass that the Stanmore II shines, sending out powerful, thumpy vibrations you can feel in your chest.

The Marshall Stanmore III is a mid-size speaker, for powerful sound that doesn't take over the room. (Image credit: Marshall)The Marshall Stanmore II has two jobs: it needs to sound decent, and to look like a direct descendant of a Marshall guitar amplifier.