Marshall - Stanmore II Bluetooth Speaker - Black

Marshall has been making amplifiers and speakers for more than 50 years and their expertise truly shines in the Bluetooth speakers they have begun making in recent years. The company has done an exceptional job at combining their classic styling with current technology to produce Bluetooth & Wi-Fi speakers that truly stand out for all of the right reasons. The Stanmore (in particular) sounds absolutely incredible. Not only is it beautiful, but it easily fills small, medium, or large spaces with crisp, clear audio that gets thunderously LOUD (without becoming distorted). It is finally a Bluetooth speaker that has legitimate bass! The Stanmore is absolutely worth the investment as it is a quality speaker that will absolutely delight your ears for many years. The frustration, for me, is that Marshall has begun releasing too many different speaker versions all at different price points. At such a premium price, most customers just want a quality speaker that can work whenever they need music. Sadly, that’s not the case here. …Do you want a Bluetooth speaker? Or, do you want a Wi-Fi speaker that can sync with other speakers throughout your house? Perhaps you want a voice assistant such as Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant? But wait! If you choose a Wi-Fi speaker then you can’t have either voice assistant (built-in). Why so complicated! At over $350.00 it would be nice to have one speaker that has all of the features needed so that it works all the time. Also worth noting is that Marshal has not truly made many changes when they upgraded to the Stanmore version II. The most noticeable difference is in the controls. Instead of the metal mechanical switch of the original Stanmore, the updated version has a metal lever that feels soft and gummy. No more flipping the switch up for on and down for off, you simply squish the lever downward until the unit powers up – which has no tactile feedback. The dials now have rubber grips and they rotate indefinitely. The original had traditional speaker knobs that you could turn up from 1 through 10. Now there is no way to know what the volume is until the unit is powered on. Instead of having an arrow on the knob, the new Stanmore has multiple red LEDs that illuminate as you rotate the knob. It works, but it feels very digital – which is not what is expected from a classic style Marshall Speaker. What I do appreciate is that the volume on the speaker perfectly matches the audio level on your phone. No longer do you have to crank up the volume on your phone and then also adjust the volume on the speaker. If you raise your phone volume, the Stanmore adjusts with it (and vis versa). While I appreciate that Marshall is trying to take their classic design and move it into the future, adding digital functionality cheapens the experience. As virtually none of the audio specs have changed with the Stanmore II, I suggest looking into the original Stanmore which is a savings of around $100.00. If you do want greater app functionality, or voice assistant features – then you will want the updated version. Here are the current costs of each version of the speaker: The original Stanmore currently costs $249.99. Stanmore II - Bluetooth version = $349.99 Stanmore II - with Amazon Alexa = $399.99 Stanmore II - with Google Assistant = $399.99 Stanmore II - with Wi-Fi = $449.99 Marshall’s speakers are absolutely worth purchasing as their build quality and audio quality far surpasses the majority of Bluetooth speakers on the market – but, it may take some research to determine which option will truly suit you best. PROS: + Excellent Audio Quality + Legitimately Strong Bass + Beautiful Design + Superb Build Quality + Equalizer options available within the app + Easy to connect via Bluetooth + Bluetooth 5.0 allows a true indoor range of over 30 feet – even through walls + Easily connects to two audio sources + Can be pulled out of hibernate/sleep mode via phone CONS: - High Price - No longer comes with matching 3.5 mm audio cable - Does not have any optical input - Wi-Fi, Amazon Alexa, & Google Assistant features cost extra - No option to answer phone calls with the speaker - Knobs and dials are controlled digitally/electronically which deviates from the classic feel. These functions lead me to believe that the functions could theoretically malfunction (unlike a manual dial).

Great buy! Great sound! Goes along with the classic look while playing some vinyl!

This is a very cool looking speaker and the knobs/controls give it that classic Marshall amp feel. It has a ton of sound which makes it a bit on the large side and also must be plugged in to operate, so don’t think of it as portable battery speaker. That said - Pros: It totally goes to 11!! – lots and lots of sound with very little distortion as you increase the volume. The bass is more powerful than the treble, which is how it should be. The app is super easy to use and lets you control more than just the straight up bass and treble dials on top of the speaker. There is an equalizer in the app. The range changes are noticeable but not huge so if you consider yourself a music producer, you might be let down. I am not a music producer, so I was pleased with the capabilities. Also some “pre-programmed” settings like rock, pop, jazz, electronic, etc. Cons: Only minor thing we found is you can't use the Aux and bluetooth at the same time (example if you wanted to use it for a mini karaoke setup and plug in a mic while bluetoothing music). There are RCA jacks in the back so you might have the ability to do more with those – we don’t have an RCA microphone so could not test that out. All in all though - looks "really really" cool - gets "really really" loud - and sounds great!

If price is not an issue, this is definitely the best Bluetooth speaker you can get right now. First, let talk design. Probably the most premium looking and feeling Bluetooth speaker out there. From the leather finish, to to the gold colored metal control knobs and panel. Last, but not least, the front of the speaker with the Marshall logo is just fantastic. It is a welcome retro-modern design in a sea of plastic competitors. As for sound quality, it is second to none. Clear, crisp, with and impressive amount of bass for a speaker its size. The loudest volumes available will probably never be used as they are ear splitting. I only have it at about 60% right now and it is already loud enough to make it hard to have a conversation in the same room. The Marshall App is pretty basic, most useful feature of it is to set the equalizer settings and perhaps a quick way to connect to the speaker over Bluetooth, otherwise I don't see using it very much. You have to go to an upgraded version to get Alexa or Google assistants built-in. But if you have an echo or Google home, you can easily pair them with this speaker to get full assistant functionality with much better sound than anything from Google or Amazon. The only strike against this is the price, it is expensive compared to other Bluetooth speakers out there, but considering the premium build and sound quality, the price is probably justified.

So i bought this system fro just my vynil player and this product bumps man too good. I will be looking out for thr portable one to buy in the future.

The Stanmore II is a beautiful speaker. This has a look similar to a guitar amp with a leather grain like surface with a aluminium front grill brushed with gold highlights at the base of the grill embossed with”Est. 1962”. There is also a large aluminium Marshall logo found centered on the grill. At the top of the you have control dials for volume, bass and treble as well as a play/pause button, an audio source toggle (bluetooth, ux or RCA mode) and finally a power switch. Also at the top there is 3.5mm aux input while at the rear there is a RCA input. Based on the dimensions and weight of this speaker I don’t think it is intended for regular movement, it comes off more like a tabletop fixture. In the guts of the Stanmore II there is a pair of 15-watt tweeters along with a single 50-watt woofer delivering an impressive frequency range of 50Hz-20kHz. With the knobs on top you can manually adjust adjust the sound to your liking but with the Marshall app found in the Play and Apple store, you have more options. Through the app you can carry out firmware updates to the speaker. You can use and create custom EQ presets, adjust the brightness of the red LEDs around each control knob as well as pair the speaker with another Marshall unit. The Stanmore II has strong Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX support and also allows two different devices to be connected at once. Personally I found that the speaker provided solid sound across a wide range of genres without the needing to change anything. The default levels of the bass and treble were well balanced and this was pleasing. The audio overwhelmingly came through clear crisp and distinct no matter what track I threw at it. Editing the EQ the app or with the knobs happened instantly and you can experience this change right as the music is playing. The only problem I ran into was with tracks having deep bass. With the bass turned up , some distortion occurred at high volumes (not that anyone would normally listen to it that loud in a house setting) . In conclusion the Stanmore II is great speaker with a classic retro look , matching its style with its stellar audio performance.

So happy with the Marshall Stanmore II bluetooth speaker. Had been searching for a good quality affordable speaker to place in my living room in order to play stored music from my PC located in my home office. After researching and reading so many reviews of this speaker and others, both wired and wireless, I decided on this one. I am not a very techy person and didn't want to mess with a bunch of set up. I received the speaker in just a couple of days - very fast delivery. To set up I did go to the Marshall website and downloaded the full instruction book which made set up a breeze and also provided helpful info. In just a couple of minutes, after plugging it into the living room outlet, selecting bluetooth speaker in my PC sound settings, I had music playing in my living room and adjacent kitchen. Sound quality and volume is excellent for my purposes and size of the area for listening. Style of the speaker is classy and fits in with my living room and doesn't look out of place. Very happy with this purchase and it totally meets my expectations. Purchased on Black Friday special and saved $100. Couldn't be happier.

I was very hesitant to purchase this speaker at first. Caught in on a great sale. First thing you notice when you open the box is this a beautiful pice of furniture. The classic look is awesome. When you connect to the speaker and play music. The first thing is wow!! I come from the era of the big house speakers and I will say this not so little guy is reminiscent of those speakers. You will not be disappointed with this purchase, this is for audiophiles and if you want to listen to podcast or connect to your tv also and it can handle that as well. Great product.