Marshall - Tufton Portable Bluetooth Speaker - Black

Marshall Tufton Bluetooth portable speaker : Whether or not you’re familiar with Marshall, this Bluetooth speaker will take you by surprise. Most importantly, this “lovely piece of kit” as the British would say, brings a welcome, different approach to portable Bluetooth speakers. I’m going to describe its design as respectfully nostalgic and fun. Recreating Marshall’s iconic look would be a travesty if it was done with cheap feeling materials or if it ignored Marshall’s attention to details. Corner braces, classic look, but modern materials all around and precise feeling controls. This Tufton speaker has a look, feel and sound that reminds me of the precision and quality that Marshall introduced early in the ’60s to the emerging world of rock & roll. I knew they got the sound right in this Tufton speaker as soon as I queued up my first selection to play on the Tufton: the Rolling Stones’s ”Waiting on a Friend”. Solid, balanced, powerful. And then, Adele followed, only proving that this was one very smooth, nicely detailed speaker. I’m playing lots of other music genres as I write this, and all sound great. SETUP: Couldn’t be easier. I held down the small but obvious bluetooth button, and found “Tufton” in my iPhone’s Bluetooth settings. My iPhone played music immediately, and held onto the BT connection easily out to 50ft where I stopped testing. There’s a very subtly labelled AUX port on the lower rear of the speaker cabinet, intended for a 3.5mm stereo audio plug connection. The Tufton’s Volume, Bass and Treble controls on the top panel allowed me to correct speaker tone for my preferred balance. These are easy to read, exceptionally smooth and tight. They feel high quality adding to the overall feeling of premium quality. [Speaker is 9”x 6.5” x13.7” and weighs under 11 lbs. There are apparently 4 Class D amplifiers!!! specified to deliver 102dB of sound level @1 meter. Marshall specs this to play for 20+ hours. IPX2 water resistance.] PEFORMANCE: The Marshall Tufton is designed to distribute sound to a pretty large area, at significant volume, with clean, accurate reproduction. While the speaker is a bit heavier than typical, the ability to reach loud, undistorted, entertaining levels in those big spaces is worth the effort. And, you look pretty serious carrying that iconic Marshall speaker at your side. Thank you for the thoughtful carry handle. My music was distributed very broadly out in front of the speaker, with additional sound from the rear. The speaker cabinet is mostly all grill on the front panel, with a smaller, round speaker grill on the back panel that conceals a rear firing speaker. That, of course, explains the room filling ability of this Marshall Tufton. I’ll describe the sound as weighted a bit more towards the bass, but the tone controls on the top panel as well as my own phone EQ controls allowed me to adjust the tonal balance to my liking. Because of the tonal balance, older recording are especially nice sounding, with added richness to the sound. The Marshall Tufton is not an ordinary Bluetooth speaker and its appearance may confuse those who miss the historic design reference. But for many, it’s a fun way to remember Rock & Roll history while enjoying an awfully nice sounding portable speaker. I like it and can recommend it for all these reasons.

This speaker is aimed at a very specific market. If you know Marshall speakers and amplifiers from your favorite rock band on stage, then you get that nostalgic feel in your own space. Everything about this speaker makes me feel like I’m a lightweight roadie helping bring in the band's equipment. From the sturdy leather grain box feel, the metal mesh grill with the Marshall logo to the simple volume, bass and treble knobs on top and the felt lined carry strap. The Bluetooth connection and battery life bar is very subtle and at first glance, I didn’t even notice the 3.5mm aux input on the back of it. When you turn this speaker on and hear the small guitar riff you know this is meant to bring the inner rocker out in you. Simple to connect via Bluetooth or aux cable with no frills or special applications. The sound from this speaker is clear and the bass is deep. With four speakers and amplifiers you know they are serious about sound. The front has a woofer, mid range and tweeter speaker with an additional mid range speaker out the back to provide 360 sound. Cranking this speaker to max easily fills the area with your music of choice. As I showed it off at my office, we couldn’t get past half volume without getting the attention of everyone. As with everything wireless, the battery life is very dependent on usage. If you listen to this speaker at ¼ volume using aux cable you will get the 20+ hours they advertise. However, if you crank it up to get the full quality of sound and use Bluetooth you might get 6-8 hours. It came with US and EU power cords and is 110-240v 50/60hz, so you can safely plug it up just about anywhere. I personally find it a bit hard to buy at this price point, as you can get larger multi-functional systems in this range. However, none of them look and feel like the original stage speakers from 50 years ago and none of them make me feel like I’m making a statement of “I like to rock!”

PROs: - Typical of other Marshall portables, the signature guitar amp styling cues of the Tufton make this a classy looking edition to your bookshelf or end table--sold build quality all around with a ruggedized, premium-feeling, pebble-stone leather-like textured shell, raised feet and corner caps for protection and durability, rotary knobs and buttons with reassuring heft to them, and bright, heavy duty fittings on the carry strap's attachment points - Fit and finish ooze with classical (vintage...nostalgic...pick your poison) style--the crushed red velour/velvet fabric backing on the of the electric-guitar style carry strap is a nice touch that color-coordinates well with the minimalist black/red (note, it's just the LEDs that are red) color scheme. Only the iconic "Marshall" logo affixed to the front of the all-metal grill betray any sort of branding--the rest is carried forward by the styling of the speaker itself that is simply, unmistakably, Marshall - The dedicated woofer and small bass port in the back really DOES seem to add some really solid extension and impactful bass to this speaker's performance--at close range, even without corner-loading the speaker, the bass was actually potent enough to "feel" and not just be heard--quite a feat from what still amounts to a pretty small speaker enclosure - Similar to my experience with the Marshall Stanmore, this unit has the horsepower to play it LOUD...we have a very spacious living room with 16 foot vaulted ceilings and 4 other reasonably large rooms on the main floor where this speaker is located...I was clearly able to hear the Tufton in every room, even running off the battery--amazingly, it handled louder volumes without distorting into a muddy/whistling mess even with the bass knob putting some extra energy down low or the treble controls adding a little extra sparkle up high - Battery capacity seems to fit with Marshall's optimistic projections, at least giving my experience thus far; while I didn't let it run for 20 hours straight, it ate through a 5-plus hour dinner party only dropping down 2 bars on the battery level meter (there are 10 indicator levels, BTW) - Some nice design flourishes add to a solid user experience--battery and Bluetooth LED indicators momentarily glow brighter when you adjust a setting on one of the controls; the graduated battery gauge clearly indicates charge level for the juice left in the tank; and a rubber flap covers the rear power port connector to leave you with smooth and uncluttered lines on all sides for those of you taking the speaker on the go or placing it in a centralized area where people will get a 360-degree look at the whole speaker - Distinctive drum-like tones indicate a successful Bluetooth connection or power on/off; it's a small detail, but it adds to the "this is a rock-and-roll-inspired-speaker" vibe - Straightforward and uncluttered controls/display--a single button toggles the Bluetooth on and off; you control power and volume both with the volume dial, make tone adjustments via bass or treble knobs...and that's pretty much it...no fancy readouts, pulsing lights, or anything else to distract from the experience of just listening to the music - There is an Aux 3.5mm port at the back allows for direct connection of phones, DAPs, etc...I used the line-level output from my FiiO X7II and found that direct playback of uncompressed CD-sourced audio tracks sounded virtually indistinguishable from Bluetooth streams of the same source material--go aptX! - Speaking of that Aux port--in another brilliant bit of usability engineering, the Tufton AUTOMATICALLY (!!!) switched from Bluetooth to Aux playback once it sensed a signal on the wire...it even did a cross-fade of the sound sources rather than just abruptly switch from one source to another--nice! - The rear speaker does an admirable job of creating 360-degree music coverage in concert with the drivers up front--yeah, it was clearer listening from the front, but you could definitely hear the music well even if you were sitting at the back of the unit CONs: - We don't host a lot of parties so low- to moderate-volume listening is actually where most of my Bluetooth speakers get their workouts...yet despite the Tufton's high-output potential, I found it to produce slightly hollow, somewhat "echo-y" or overly DSP-sounding vocals at soft, normal, or moderate playback levels that I just couldn't dial into satisfaction no matter what I did to the bass and treble controls...given that most of my music feature vocals, this turned out to be a deal-breaker for me - Be aware that this speaker is ONLY for sound reproduction--there are no playback controls for a connected Bluetooth device, no mic to use it as a fancy (okay, overkill) speakerphone setup, and no smart assistant like Google Home/Alexa built in--mind you, the Tufton never claimed to have any of these features, but you should know what you're getting ahead of time given the price point and features available from the competition - The IPX2 rating sounds great--let's take this to the beach or jam by the pool! But beware that IPX2 means the Tufton is really only rated for slight water resistance against a few drops of liquid hitting vertically to a slight angle...the open bass port on the back and the beautiful metal grillwork on the front are also likely danger zones for sand or dirt collection--yeah, it's "portable-ish," but probably only suited to being moved from one slightly isolated/protected indoor location to another where the risk of spilled drinks, splashing pool water, or exposure to rainfall is minimal Summary review: Oh how I disappointed I was in my Tufton experience. I mean, I desperately wanted to love this speaker--gobs of power, long battery life, multi-driver setup, aptX-capable, classic/iconic styling I'd be proud to have on a shelf or tabletop, some brilliant bits of usability in the controls and some simple elegance in it's functional yet uncluttered design/interface. It seemed to have all the right ingredients for a spectacular portable speaker, even without some of the frills available in the competition (party lighting, digital assistants, playback controls, etc.). Physically speaking, this is essentially a Kilburn II that's been stretched vertically. It's solidly/reassuringly built, but not overly heavy or unwieldy and the integrated carrying strap is actually pretty comfortable to grip...and while it may look a bit short, the strap is actually just long enough to afford easy carrying in the hand without getting in the way once you set it down. Its potential for room-filling output and bass performance in particular were impressive. Personally, I love the palpable feeling of tight, snappy and responsive bass that thumps without being muddy or bloated--the Tufton performed exceedingly well in this capacity and I would imagine that corner loading the speaker would do well to reinforce its already admirable bass performance. For background music, music with lots of mid-bass, or music without vocals, I think the Tufton is a solid choice to give you a premium Bluetooth experience, especially if the classical design elements appeal to your sense of style. For me, however, it just wasn’t a good fit for the bulk of my music collection. I consider myself a critical music listener and while I wouldn’t expect audiophile performance from a portable Bluetooth speaker, I do look for products that offer top-tier sound quality in their class/product range if they’re going to stay in my stable. I read on another site that the Tufton is designed to create a 360-degree blumlein stereo sound field by having that second mid-range driver in the rear of the cabinet. That sounded intriguing though I don't know if it was actually the intent or not; but if that was the goal, I personally didn't get any sense of stereo separation (or even stereo immersion) thanks to those dual drivers. Instead, I just got sound that was a bit clearer at the back of the speaker than it would have been had everything simply pushed out the front. In retrospect, it may be exactly this design choice/effect that I didn't care for in the Tufton's sound signature overall. Specifically, instead of what some might characterize as 360-degree sound, I simply perceived two speakers playing similar signals 180 degrees off-axis, therefore adding some delay to the sound hitting my ears from the rear speaker vs the front. While that made for some lively instrumentals, I believe this is what also made for the unpleasant, artificial-sounding hollowness in the vocals I mentioned earlier, especially given that I couldn’t eliminate the effect no matter what I did with the tone controls. What’s strange is that Marshall made this design choice at all…I mean, it’s so stylish and striking from the front, but kind of meh from the back. I would therefore imagine that most people (okay, at least me) are likely going to put it on a shelf or table at the side/corner of a room so that they can see and hear it from straight on, rather than having it sit out in the open where people are looking and listening from the back as well. I could be wrong, of course; and if your use-case involves putting this speaker in the middle of your listening area, then the Tufton could be your jam. But in my case, I simply couldn’t get acceptable sound dialed in, no matter how hard I tried, or how much I wanted to be wrong. If you don’t plan/care to listen to your music very critically (i.e. “I just want something that’s cool looking and can play loud at a party”), then none of this might matter to you in the first place. But if you care about the sound quality of your gear, especially when you’re talking about a speaker in this price range, I strongly suggest you audition the Tufton yourself before you buy…maybe even playing it against a wall if that’s where you think you’ll place it, to see if you’re sensitive to the same issues I was.

From the initial box opening you can tell you have a quality made product. This is my first opportunity to review a Marshall speaker so I have no reference of the other speakers in there line up to compare too. This Speaker is approx. 9" x 6.5" x 14" and weighs in at almost 11 lb.’s, so not backpack portable. The classic amp look of this speaker is great. The front is made of a steel mesh grill and the rest is wrapped in a nice black leather like material with durable flush mounted end caps on all corners.. Nice strong flexible handle rounds it off. This unit is IPX2 Water resistant which means it can handle dripping water at an angle of 15%. So I wouldn’t leave this on in the rain. Connectivity: Easy to connect to Bluetooth 5.0. (W/Multi-host Functionality) Simply press and hold the dedicated button on the top and pair with phone. No problems here at all. You also have aux. jack you could use. Battery Life: Box states you get 20 + hours. I have used for 2 days straight before recharging, so that sounds accurate. Sound: Tufton is engineered as a 3-Way System, produced sound from three separate devices - a tweeter, mid-range driver, and sub-woofer. Specs: 1 x 40w + 2 x 15W + 1 x 10W I have to be honest, I have no idea how they get Stereo sound out of this set up. The box states they use the Blumlein stereo technique. The top of the speaker has the classic Volume, Bass and Treble Controls which I really like. I had trouble getting good vocals out of the music using the manual controls. I had to crank up the mid-tones in my smartphones EQ to get the sound I liked. This is the only reason for the 4-star rating. I did look for an App on Google Play store for this speaker to perhaps tweak the sound, but no luck at the time of this review. It appears (As I cannot see inside) they have one mid-range speaker facing the front and one facing the rear of the speaker. I believe this must be how they separate into stereo. I found that it simply sounds better in a larger room and you’re not sitting right next to the speaker. That being said. this speaker delivers the boom. Massive bass and can get very loud. Bottom line; Only Con - Needs better mid-range (Vocal) sound without having to tweak through EQ. Pros - High end solid unit, Great Bass, Portable, Great looking with impressive battery life.

I was in search for a long lasting portable Bluetooth speaker with great sound. As soon as I heard Marshall was coming out with one I quickly had to have it. Marshall has been well known in the music business for centuries with quality products. I am very impressed with this speaker! Pros: Great Battery Life Deep Bass High Treble No Distortion Nobs for controls Long Power Cord Made very well / Easy carry Cons: Price - ($399 at time writing this) Lack Features Lack Software :: Setup :: The setup of this speak is extremely easy, there is a button you press and hold to enable the sync of Bluetooth. I used my smartphone to sync with and did not experience any problems. There is no software included / needed and pretty much plug n play :: Volume / Bass / Treble :: The speaker has nobs to manually control the Volume , Bass and Treble along with a battery power indicator on far right. I personally like having actual nobs to control the levels versus having to go into software to modify them. What is very impressive is with max setting on Volume / Bass / Treble there is absolutely no distortion. This speaker is able to handle whatever music is thrown at it. The lows are deep and clear and the highs are crystal sharp. This speaker can get very very loud and still sound great. :: Environment / Hardware :: This speaker sounds amazing in small to medium room settings, even large or outdoor rooms it sounds great. I tested this speaker in both indoor / outdoor environments without any issues on sound quality or volume. It is made to sit up on 4 legs with no chance of rocking / falling over. Very stable along with a strap that is comfortable to hold onto for long carry's. Overall I would recommend this Bluetooth speaker for anyone looking for a high quality portable speaker with great battery life. It lakes software and special features however if you are only wanting it for portable sound it does it job perfectly.

Marketed as the “mightiest portable speaker from Marshall”, the Tufton Bluetooth Speaker more than lives up to this claim. Weighing in at 10.8lbs, this beautiful solid retro iconic design delivers an awesome quality and clear sound that spans across all frequencies. Designed for durability, its compact size of just under 14” tall, approximately 9” wide and slightly shy of 6.5 inches deep, makes it very portable. Portability is further enhanced with a detachable carrying handle whose appearance, in a retro way, resembles that of a guitar strap. The Tufton offers a multi-directional sound through an active stereo loudspeaker and a bass reflex system. Engineered as a 3-Way System, the speaker produces sound from three separate devices - a tweeter, mid-range driver, and subwoofer. And with an additional midrange driver on the rear of the speaker, the listener receives a true 360-degree Blumlein stereo sound experience. Reminiscent of the Marshall Guitar Amps of earlier days including the bass sound when you initially turn the volume, bass, or treble knobs and the battery charge indicator light, the Tufton is certainly not short on present day technology. Enjoy your favorite music via Bluetooth or by using the AUX plug with the 3.5 mm stereo jack. The 5.0 Bluetooth technology paired instantly for me with several devices, and because of the speaker’s multi-host functionality design, each of these devices can work together up to 30 feet. Water resistant with an IPX2 rating and 20+ hours of portable playtime, coupled with its rugged design and construction, this little gem of a speaker is made to be great for indoor or outdoor use. The Marshall Tufton Bluetooth Speaker is ruggedly designed, extremely durable, has an exceptional sound and is obviously made to take ANYWHERE you go! I have two other “top of the line” portable and comparable speakers that are really nice, but they are not my favorites anymore. The Marshall Tufton is a terrific speaker! Specifications: Class D amplifier: 1 x x40w + 2 x 15W +1x10W Max SPL: 102 dB @ 1m Frequency Range: 40-20 000Hz Mains Input Voltage 100-240v Mains Frequency: 50/60 Hz

I love the classic style of this speaker and how it looks like an amp that will fit in any room. Solid build, looks and feels expensive and has a metal mesh grille that provides protection for the internal speakers. Its portable weighing in at 10.8lbs, but not light enough to carry around for a long period of time. What is great about it is that it holds charge for ~ 20hrs so you can take it to the beach or party and still have charge left over and it is water-resistant. I can't wait to set it up by the pool and control it with my waterproof phone. The sound quality is amazing, its clear and surrounds you. This unit comes with Bluetooth 5.0 which allows you to pair two devices simultaneously so my friends can play music from their new and older phones. Big, full sound with 80 watts of power. It also has a 3.5mm stereo minijack input for portable devices so you can also use it with a mic. The Tufton's 3-way speaker design delivers clean, balanced sound in a 360° radius. A front-firing tweeter, midrange driver, and woofer cover the full range of frequencies. An additional rear-firing midrange driver opens up the soundfield even further. I highly recommend this speaker if you like the amp style and solid build bluetooth speaker.

Great speaker that is compact but can deliver a punch. Much better than the JBL portable line. This is as loud as you can get before investing into a party speaker Ex. LbJ 300. I was going to buy a aiwa Exos-9 but this was closer to a size I was looking for. I bought it at 329.99 and at that price it is hard to beat. If you don't want to pay full retail the Exos-9 is a better deal. Battery life on the Tufton is amazing with intermittent use and pretty good when close to full volume. It charges very fast. The one con will be it is very analog. No app, updates, and Wi-Fi connection. I didn't buy it to have Alexa or Google function. I bought this to have the baddest compact speaker with Big Sound. I have taken this to parties and it blows people away of how good it sounds for the size. Great buy and very content with it. You do get what you are paying for.