Customer Ratings & Reviews

Do not buy this. I have had 3 and not one will charge regardless or wire, outlet, and brick. It is a very expensive single use item. Make sure it charges if you do order it immediately.

Fit and finish is very nice and sound quality is very good. Unfortunately, the speaker did not charge at all so I had to return it.

This is the best they can come up with,really? Worst sounding speaker! The emberton sounds 10x better

Love the sound quality of this! It’s convenient that I can take it places. It also is aesthetically pleasing. I was searching for a good quality speaker for a while and I’m glad I found this one. I highly recommend. For the quality, it should be more expensive. Glad it’s at a good price point.

Wow! Sound is beyond expectations. I went back and forth on this and the model below it. AI told me it was portable and easy to carry with larger hands. The thing is a brick, large and heavy. Not something I would want in my backpack on long hikes. But for around the house, pool, or BBQ, the clear sound and clean bass are unbeatable, even compared to a car or mid-sized home systems. Don't expect ear-numbing loudness, but it is loud enough, clear, and booms.

I’ve always been a fan of Marshall equipment and when their new Middleton speaker came out we just had to try it out. Unboxing and Setting Up: The speaker came in a logoed recyclable box and inside was the speaker, a USB A to C cable, heavy rubber carrying strap, and a QuickStart guide. The speaker itself is surprisingly heavy for its size, “about 4 ¼ lbs.” and feels very substantial. The rubber outer cover has a nice deep grain leather texture and is very easy to grip. On the top are the main control toggle which you use to power on the speaker, then left to right is used for FF/RW, up /down for volume. The main button is very large and easy to see in the dark and the size makes it very easy to use. There are buttons in the rubber covering for Bass, Treble, Battery Strength, and Bluetooth. I like the fact that when you use one of these buttons for adjustment or checking the battery a segmented LED bar graph lights up in 10 segments so you can easily see just where your adjustments are. Pressing the battery button displays how much battery is left. On the back there’s a USB C port for charging and a AUX audio input. Since the speaker doesn’t come with a power adapter, I used one of our power strips that has some high-power USB ports built in and used the very nice quality cable that Marshall included with the speaker, the cable is a little heavier duty feeling over other cables I have “a nice touch”. We didn’t really pay attention to how much of a charge the battery already had, just waited until the indicator showed “full”. I then attached the heavy rubber hand strap “which is very well made” and held securely by a large headed screw together rivet. Everything about this speaker is very robust and feels like it would take a beating. Using: Installing the Marshall Bluetooth Speaker app is highly recommended, especially if you are using with your phone. The app allows you to adjust the Bass / Treble levels without having to find the controls on the speaker. The LEDs light up showing what levels they are set at “also displayed in the app”, and you can update the speaker’s firmware from the app. We had no issues pairing the speaker to our phones Galaxy Flip4 or Galaxy S22 Ultra. We also paired it with our TV and are mainly using it this way. The sound quality is simply amazing, for a speaker of this size it’s just unbelievable how much Bass this little box provides and on top of that it can get very loud. Enough to easily fill our living room and beyond. At max volume there is very little distortion as long as you don’t have the Bass/Treble maxed out “most spears would have a problem with that too”. This is going to be our go to device for listening to the TV. I have some hearing issues and the closer to the speaker I am the better, and I don’t have to turn up the volume like I would if I were trying to listen from the soundbar attached to the TV. Conclusion: If you are looking for a portable “although heavy” Bluetooth speaker that sounds amazing, and one that get’s very loud to cover a pretty good area then I’d look at the Middleton speaker. It’s portable but nothing like some of the ones shaped like a can that can be put in a water bottle holder on your bike, It’s way too big and heavy for that. But it’s perfect for taking to the beach, camping or back yard, anywhere you would benefit from having portable sound. Charging from almost 0 takes around 3-3.5hrs “a little faster than the 4.5hrs listed”, but we did use a higher power charger, and the charge I would say lasts about 24hrs if you are listening at moderate volume levels and higher. Not bad for a speaker of this size. The things I don’t really like “not deal breakers though” are the ports for charging and aux input are not covered and I be concerned about getting dirt/water into those “even thought it’s stated as being water proof” The other thing is the rubber buttons for Battery, Bluetooth, Bass and Treble have very little tactile feedback and are hard to find in the dark “almost impossible” I do wish their symbols were embossed heavier so you could “feel” them easier. Otherwise this is an excellent portable Bluetooth speaker that’s going to be hard to beat.

The Marshall Middleton Bluetooth Portable Speaker is a nice speaker with great sound in a smaller size package. Following are the pros and cons I found with this speaker. Pros: - I would call it a smaller size speaker. The measurements are 4.29" x 9.06" x 3.74", and it weighs 4.0 lbs, so while on the smaller side of portable speakers, it is still a good size and big enough to produce a good sound. - It is a very sharp looking speaker, all black with gold trim, and it feels very rugged. It also comes with a nice strap so it is easy to carry. - It is IP67 dust and water resistant, so good for indoor or outdoor use. - It can be controlled using the Marshall Bluetooth App, or the physical controls on the device, or you can also just connect via Bluetooth and control the songs and volume with your phone without the App, so the means of controlling it are very flexible. - It is nice to have the top panel controls on the speaker, which include a multi-directional control knob that allows you to play/pause, skip forward or backward, control volume, turn on/off, activate the Bluetooth pairing button, view the battery and volume indicator and control treble and bass levels. - The App allows for all the same controls as the physical ones on the device, but also adds in the ability to update firmware and provides an online instruction manual. - The Middleton was extremely easy to pair with my iPhone and the Bluetooth range is listed as 30 ft. - The Middleton has a stackable feature which would allow you to stack multiple Middleton speakers or have multiple speakers set up around the room and pair them all together to control them all from the same App. I only have one speaker, so was not able to test this, but seems like a cool feature. - The battery takes 4.5 hours for a full charge and will then provide 20+ hours of playback. You can also charge it for 20 minutes to get an additional 2 hours of playback time. - I really like the fact it has multi-directional sound. There are speakers on all four sides, so you get true 360 degree sounds. This will be great for camping, parties or any use where you want to be able to hear from all sides. - There is a 3.5 mm input jack and it comes with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable. - More importantly than all these features is the reason for getting a speaker in the first place - the sound. I tested the Middelton out with a wide variety of music - multiple genre's, heavy, acoustic, men and women singers, loud and soft, etc. In my opinion, the Middleton performed very well and the sound was great in each scenario! For a smaller sized speaker, I was impressed with the amount of bass I could get. The Middleton filled the room very well and sounded good outside also, but also sounded equally well at lower volumes. Cons - it was hard to find many cons to share, but here are two suggestions that are pretty minor overall: - Instead of just providing bass and treble control, it would be nice if it had at least a 3-band or preferably a 5-band equalizer on the App. As I already mentioned, I feel the sound was very good and I like having the treble and bass control, but it would be nice to be able to customize the sound to your specific liking for various music with an equalizer with more bands. - The battery indicator button, Bluetooth pairing button, and treble and bass control buttons on the physical unit are hard to find in darker rooms, as the symbols and buttons are the same black color as the unit and you can't really feel them. It would be nice if a touch of the main control knob would perhaps provide some small LED lights so you can see the buttons in darker rooms. Of course, its not a big deal as you can always control these items from your App also. Overall, I am very impressed with the look, design and sound of the Marshall Middleton and feel this is going to be a very durable speaker I will enjoy for many years to come!

For those looking for a neutral, audiophile type sound, read no further – this speaker isn’t for you. But if you want a clean, rich sound with lots of volume, easily to use controls, and a rock-solid cabinet, then the Marshall Middleton is an excellent choice. The first thing you notice about the Middleton is the classic Marshall amplifier look. Everything from the Tolex-like texture to the Marshall logo script screams rock concert. Carrying the image a bit further, the included wrist strap is designed to look like a guitar strap. The controls feel solid and intuitive, and the central knob is refreshingly simple to use. Push for on/off, tap lightly for pause/play, press up/down for volume, left/right for next or previous track. The only other controls are to adjust the treble and bass levels and pair with Bluetooth, and a button to check the battery level. Built-in lights show you the volume, treble, and bass levels. The cabinet is the previously-mentioned amplifier look, with IP67 dust and water resistance. One thing I saw is that sand and other small particles can get behind into the small mesh around the front of the speaker and are difficult to clean out. Otherwise, it’s easy to wipe down and a small amount of dirt or water won’t damage it. The sound is quite good, with plenty of available volume (Marshall advertises this as the “heaviest” portable speaker you can buy). The Middleton has two tweeters and two woofers, with an additional two passive bass radiators. The unusual thing about this is that the speakers are arrayed in the front, back, and both sides of the amp, with the right channel playing through the front and one side, the left channel through the back and the other side. While this appears to be an odd arrangement, it works really well. The sound is remarkably spacious, with outstanding stereo separate that defies the small size of the speaker. There’s a point to make about the available volume. While the Middleton will really fill a room with sound, the real advantage to having lots of volume available is when you don’t use it. Pushing any amplifier to its volume limits causes distortion, but the extra volume available here means you probably won’t be doing this. The result is a really clean, distortion-free sound at any reasonable listening level. If you should find that a single Middleton isn’t up to your space, Marshall also allows “stack mode,” a simple way to combine multiple Middleton speakers into a single wall of sound, or to spread them out over a wider area. Marshall claims up to 20 hours of playback with each full charge, and a partial charge in as little as 20 minutes. Based on my experience, this seems about right. There are a couple of negatives to note here. As mentioned earlier, Marshall calls this the “heaviest” portable speaker. While they clearly meant this to refer to the sound, it could just as easily apply to the heft of the unit. At four pounds, it’s noticeably heavier than my similarly sized Sony speakers. While not too heavy for most uses, carrying four pounds for an extended distance, particularly using a wrist strap, can be tiring. The other downside is the lack of multiple CODEC support for Bluetooth. The Middleton supports only SBC, the lowest common denominator of CODECs. It works and is reliable, but there can be some data loss. In most situations, you probably won’t notice the difference, but if you want higher quality data transfers, they simply aren’t available here. (The work-around to this is to use an audio cable when you don’t need portability.) Overall, this is an excellent unit. With great sound, easy to use controls, and adjustable bass and treble controls, a solid build, and plenty of volume, the Middleton is an outstanding portable speaker.

First and foremost, I'll admit it. I kinda love Marshall products in general. It all started with the Major IV wireless bluetooth headphones and sort of just went on from there. It's been a few years and I still daily drive the Major IVs so when the opportunity came to get my hands on a bluetooth speaker offering, I jumped on it. As I expected, I was not sorry. Where to begin. Well I guess we can start with the battery. I was trying to hold off writing this review until I knew how long a charge would last, but the thing hasn't died yet! It's unbelievable. Ive used it extensively since I got it and it still has quite a bit of juice left. Admittedly I don't use it at max volume since it's pretty loud even at 50%, but jeez, I'm loving that battery life. I find the sound quality to be excellent. Perhaps a bit bass-heavy, but that's is in line with my particular taste so it's fine for me. Rock and Pop of any sort sounds fantastic. Lo-Fi stuff too. You can even play with bass and treble settings a bit since they are adjustable right on the device. Speaking of controls, I'm very much a fan of what Marshall has done here. A dedicated pairing button, a dedicated battery status button, the aforementioned bass and treble controls, and a 5 direction control knob make operation very intuitive. I didn't even need to read any directions. I also like that the battery indicator also functions as a volume, bass, treble or charging indicator depending on what you're doing at the time. One reason I specifically wanted the Middleton is the presence of the 3.5mm aux jack. That comes in handy a lot more than one might think. For instance, I travel quite a bit and tend to use AirBNBs more than hotels when I do. Most AirBNBs will have a TV, but not a soundbar or any method of playing audio other than the (usually horrible) television speakers. These TVs will usually have a 3.5mm headphone jack though. Combine that with a decent length 3.5mm audio cable and the Middleton becomes a nifty travel-size soundbar. No bells or whistles. Simple stereo, but MAN is it a huge improvement over builtin TV speakers. USB-C for charging is also very much appreciated and I love that I can charge my phone from it if need be. I've done so a few times already and it's not the fastest charge, but it's great in a pinch. Now for what people might not like. For what this is, I personally do not mind this, but the unit is a bit on the heavy side. It wouldn't be untruthful for one to refer to this as a "luggable" speaker more than a "portable" one. That said, I'm totally willing to accept the extra weight if the battery life is as good as this has and the sound quality as good as it is is as well. Marshall including the carry strap is a big plus in this regard. I've seen some people gripe about the lack of a speakerphone capability. I personally have never used a bluetooth speaker for this even though all of my other bluetooth speakers support it. It's not a big deal to me, but something you should consider if it is to you. All in all, I think Marshall has a winner on their hands here and I look forward to the many trips, cookouts, and homeowner DIY projects this will provide the soundtrack to in the future.

First off, I’ll say I really like this speaker. I got the Marshall Bluetooth headphones last year and they are great. I was very excited to have the chance to review this new portable Bluetooth speaker from Marshall. The speaker looks amazing with the retro vibe of the amps of the past. It is a good size speaker and weighs in at around 4lbs. The speaker has a rubberized material on all sides and a metal mesh grill with the Marshall logo on the front. I have several high-end Bluetooth speakers and this Marshall sounds as good as any of the others I have. The Marshall has woofers and tweeters on both the front and back of the speaker along with passive radiators on each side. This configuration gives the Marshall a very open and airy sound and you don’t just need to be right in front of the speaker to get good sound. The bass is strong and the mids and highs are excellent. I have the speaker connected to my phone and tablet and connecting was easy and fast. There are controls on the top of the speaker for bass and treble adjustment so you don’t have to use an app to control the eq. The battery level indicator serves as the level indicator for the bass and treble as well. There is a brass button in the middle of the top of the speaker to control volume and next and previous song selection. The battery charged quickly and the battery indicator makes it easy to tell when it is fully charged. It comes with a charging cable and the charging port can also charge another device. There is a 3.5mm aux input for connecting other devices as well. Marshall claims 20 hours of play time and IP67 water and dust proof capability. I haven’t tested this claim but based on the build quality I wouldn’t be surprised. There is a carrying strap included as well. This obviously isn’t the least expensive Bluetooth speaker out there but compared to comparably priced speakers that I own this is a great speaker and the fact you can get this much sound and still be able to take it with you without having to plug it in is worth it.

The Middleton speaker is extremely easy to set up and use. It has both USB-C and aux input ports (one each). I will probably repeat myself several times but - it has phenomenally strong and clean bass and is loud, with good sound quality, and well-balanced. The charging seams a little slow but that probably lengthens battery life. About the size of a loaf of bread and a pound short of a 5-pound bag of sugar, it provides up to 20 hours of battery life. It has a nice app interface that pretty much mirrors the physical controls on the speaker including both bass and treble controls. Repeat - it has phenomenally strong and clean bass The Middleton embodies the design fundamentals of Marshall’s other speakers. It is rather retro in design and it is beautiful. Because of the rectangular form factor and substantial weight for its size, the Middleton is not likely to get knocked over. If knocked over the heavy-duty rubber clad exterior looks and feels like it is an extremely good shock absorber and survivor. The implemented IP67 dust and water resistance are quite good for a portable Bluetooth speaker. Repeat it has phenomenally strong and clean bass. Multiple speakers and be synced to create a totally immersive experience I would like to see a microphone for speakerphone/intelligent agent functionality. All in all this is a phenomenal portable Bluetooth speaker! – it kicks!

I am a huge fan of Marshall products/speakers. Every product that I own produced by Marshall is well built and always a great product. This Marshall Middleton Bluetooth portable speaker is no exception. When I received this speaker and opened the outer box that it was packaged in the first thing I noticed is the packaging for this speaker. Black box that is well designed on the outside showing the Middleton on the packaging, and I couldn’t wait to open it. The Middleton is a “cube” of exceptionalism from which music erupts, I charged it overnight and read the included quick start up guide that is included. I powered it on and w/ in two minutes I had it paired w/ both my phone and tablet. The setup is simple and in no time I was listening to my library of songs on this wonderfully and beautifully made speaker. The highs and the lows, the bass is so pleasing, I had intentions of using this at our beach house and to take out on the ocean w/ us, but I just couldn’t do it. I have it in our family room and everyone has the Marshall App on their respective phones and it’s a first come, first listen policy. I have heard my 19 year old sons library and though I’m not a big fan of some of his music this speaker makes it sound good. The App made it easy to add the Middleton to our other Marshall speakers as well as combining the other Marshall products together. It is unreal how seamless the connections are and I own three other Marshall products, I have to say this Middleton is by far the BEST! I love the quality of workmanship that Marshall puts into their products, the color, the details, but it always comes back to this, they make AWESOME speakers! My only “negative” that I have w/ the Middleton is for some reason it seems to attract dust really quick. That’s the only negative thing I can write about this speaker. If you are wanting/looking for a quality made, aesthetically looking speaker, look no further than the Marshall Middleton portable speaker. I would HIGHLY recommend it.

I just scooped up this speaker a few days ago and so far Impressed with the sound of this speaker. The first thing that I noticed that this thing has some WEIGHT on it. It's a solid 4 pounds dry. So this will not be a speaker that you just toss in your bag and not feel it. Now on to the sound. As I primarily listen to hip-hop, jazz, and some EDM music, the bass has to be good on any speaker. I understand that at this size it's hard to find a speaker that can carry that baseline without distortion The bass is solid and tight at low to medium volume, but I find it drops out as the volume gets above 75%. As for the highs, they are crisp! As I understand it this speaker has 2 low drivers, and 2 high tweeters. This thing sounds great. As a bonus I love that you can adjust the EQ right on top of the unit to add bass or treble to your liking! Overall, this is a solid speaker! I think it's priced slightly high. If you find it on sale for $200-$250 grab it. You will not be disappointed for that price. At $299 you can get a JBL PartyBox Encore Essential. That speaker destroys this one on Bass and Overall volume, its just not as portable as this one. Something to consider as you are making your choices.

This is a great compact Bluetooth speaker. Definitely not the Smallest, but size is manageable which is really helped with the strap that comes with it. I have owned several small Bluetooth speakers, and this one is the best all around. First, the construction is well built and solid. The external skin and surface has a textured rubberized layer that looks great and gives it that nostalgic speaker amplifier look. The feel and weight Of the speaker are of high quality and the speaker feels like it could take a lot of wear and tear. Next the set up is as easy as you can imagine. The power on and function gives a neat and unique guitar rift, which I I like. Connects easy to many music services and instantly recognized with my iPhone and Bluetooth settings. I used Apple Music and Spotify and Amazon music and all of those services played really easily on this speaker. NextI like. Connects easy too many music services in instantly recognized with my iPhone and Bluetooth settings. I used Apple Music and Spotify and Amazon music and all of those services played really easily on this speaker. Next the sound was incredible. For the size. I found it gave really rich highs and mids without sounding too harsh or bright. Next I thought the base was impressive for its size. This is of course altered and magnified if you placed the speaker approximately a foot from a wall or if it’s left in anopen space, the lows will drop a bit. But based on your preference, you can change the sound a bit with placement. It is nice that this speaker head, tone controls, Bass and treble, but I thought it sounded just fine with everything balanced. The Marshall logo and branding look really sharp and as I said earlier, the nostalgic, vintage look of the older, amplifier speakers used for Live music really set this apart. I highly recommend and think it’s worth a trial

The Marshall Middleton is an amazing sounding and looking Bluetooth speaker. It has phenomenal sound quality right out the box. All the controls are on the top and easy to navigate and use. You can even adjust bass and treble. This speaker is ready to use rain or shine, making it perfect for camping or any other outdoor activities. It also perfect for indoor use as well, like small gatherings or just jamming out by yourself. I can confirm that it has sound coming out of the front, back, left and right, so the 360 sound claim is spot on. It easily fills rooms with sound. I've been on an 80's music kick lately, and everything from Kenny Rodgers to Motlley Crue sounds amazing on this speaker. You get over 20 hours of playback on a full charge, and it charges up fairly quickly. Also you can use it as a power pack to charge your phone if needed. The only issue I have is that at about 60 percent volume, the sound quality changes. The bass drops off dramatically the higher the volume, and treble kicks in decreasing the sound quality dramatically. The speaker gets loud, just no bass. Overall I really enjoying listening to all types of music at low to moderate volume on this speaker. Likes: 1.) Amazing sound 2.) Looks fancy 3.) Easy to setup and use Dislikes: 1.) Bass decreases as you increase volume which

An excellent sound system that is ideal for any party or event is the Marshall speaker. With its strong audio output, which produces clear highs, rich mids, and deep bass, it captivates listeners with an immersive sound. The speaker can survive the rigors of any event because to its sturdy build quality, which emanates toughness. The Marshall speaker's adaptability is what really makes it stand out. Its lightweight design makes it easy to take indoors or out, and its long-lasting battery guarantees continuous music playback all night long. You can DJ from wherever in the venue thanks to the speaker's simple controls and Bluetooth connectivity, which also make pairing with any device a breeze.

Marshall has been making loud speakers for years and I was first aware of their existence many years ago as my high school band used their equipment to jam out! They have since moved to portable speakers and in doing so have put their expertise into personal devices like this one. The speaker is satisfyingly heavy and a very nice rubberized feel and the classic gold logo. A small feature that I really like is the heavy rubberized strap. This adds a secure way to grab onto the speaker securely. It is water resistant not waterproof which is just fine as I have yet to use any of my other portable speakers under water. Just be aware that a little rain or splash from the pool is fine but leaving it in a downpour might be ill-advised. A feature I am excited to try out is the stack mode where you can connect Middleton to other Middleton speakers and amplify the sound with a multi-speaker Stack session. Stack them up or spread them out for a colossal sound that fits whatever space you’re in. That being said, this singular small speaker makes a surprisingly big sound. The multi directional speaker placement really creates the illusion of a sound field which is very pleasing with all sorts of music. The controls are easy to use and with the app you can customize the listening experience. to suit your aesthetic.

The first thing that you will notice is that this speaker is rather heavy compared to similarly sized products. This is not necessarily a bad thing because you can tell right off that this is a very well made and high quality product. It weights about four pounds and has armor like body. The strap is heavy duty as well and can be attached and removed easily. It charges quickly out of the box and basic controls easily assessable on the top of the unit. The power button and music control is gold in color and matches the cool looking logo on the front of the device. You can also control bass and treble settings from the device itself. Connecting to my phone was super easy. You just need to power it on, depress the Bluetooth sync button, search for it in your Bluetooth settings on your phone, connect and your are ready to go. The software notification automatically pops and directs you to the app store for either Google or Apple. The app pretty much has the same controls as that are the unit itself. The sound is excellent and it has a speaker on all four sides that provides deep, room feeling sound. It rivals my full size surround sound speaker bar system that have connected to my TV. The weight justifies the amount of power that this little speaker can output. I look forward to using it on my summer cookouts.

Marshall has a long history of excellent amps/speakers. Those they produce today still meet or exceed the high bar they set years ago. I have a Marshall Willen that I totally love. It’s approx. 4”x4”x 1.5” yet it sounds as good, if not better than, many of the big boys. Getting the opportunity to try out the new Middleton model was an offer I could not refuse. After a full charge, I Bluetooth connected the speaker (quick and easy) to an Alexa Show. It did not take long to have me impressed with its performance. From Buffett to Pink Floyd and other genres in between, the Middleton produced terrific musical enjoyment. Once you locate the bass and treble controls on the black-on-black top of the speaker, they are readily accessible thereafter. Because the high/low sounds so good at the out of the box setting, I haven’t felt the need to change anything. Along with the bass/treble controls, the others are also on top for easy access. In the center is a brass toggle button that controls on/off, play/pause, volume up/down, and skip forward/backward. I was delighted to see that, because I was used to the toggle on the Willen that works perfectly. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Other than the on/off functions, the play/pause and volume up/down were a bit slow to respond. The forward/backward does not work at all. This is unfortunate because the Middleton is a slam dunk 5-star performer. Other features include solid build that is water and dust resistant, 20+ hours of battery power, and a stack mode for utilizing a second Middleton (good for parties or other functions where people are spread out. If I could take a half star off for the operational issues, I would. Thus, the 4-star rating. That said, with a caveat regarding the toggle, I would recommend the Middleton.

As I’ve come to expect with Marshall speakers, the Middleton set itself apart in the crowded field of portable Bluetooth speakers. It is on the pricey side, but you get what you pay for. It’s large and surprisingly heavy (4 pounds) for a portable speaker. However, it can punch out a level of sound, quality, presence, and bass that’s astounding for a speaker its size. The build quality and appearance are excellent, as you would expect from Marshall and its distinctive styling. As with all Marshall speakers, there’s an auxiliary in connection. The charging is by a USB C, and an A to C cord is included but not a charger. The specs say the battery lasts “up to” 20 hours. You might get that playing it quietly, but if you push it the way it likes to be played, the battery time is half or so of that. The Marshall app is rather ho-hum. If you’re not going to use the ability to form a “stack” of multiple Marshalls playing in unison, I find no need for it. Bluetooth pairing is quick and easy, and once that’s done, it just delivers great sound. One of the unique things about the Middleton is that it delivers sound from the front, the sides, and the rear. This allows it to provide a remarkable sense of stereo separation and presence. However, I found that along with this ability comes a high sensitivity to where and how it’s placed. The bass and stereo effect increased dramatically when it was close to, but not pushed back into a corner. The Middleton can deliver a crazy amount of volume that will fill a large room or work well outside while staying balanced and crisp. In fact, it wants to be played loud. That’s when it comes to life and sets itself apart from the competition. It's a lot of money, but it delivers an amazing sound. At a medium to high volume level, it sounds better than many multi-speaker home stereo systems. At modest levels, it’s still very, very good, but other speakers are competitive. If you want to fill a space with great sound, it will amaze your friends when they realize it’s coming from that little box.