Customer Ratings & Reviews

Marshall has come out with their Heston 60 & Heston 120 soundbars with the Heston 60 being the more compact of the two. They are sold separately from the Sub 200. This review is for the Heston 60 soundbar which comes with a U.S. power cord, HDMI cable, mounting "knobs, magnetic control cover & Marshall emblem, and paperwork. The speaker bar comes with a manufacturer's 1-year warranty. Disclaimer: I tested the bluetooth (BT) audio using a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. This product comes in black or cream. This review is for the black model. PROS: ----------- * Premium build quality. Marshall's signature leather-like exterior look, gold accents, salt/pepper grill, and guitar amp-inspired design makes a strong visual statement. It's clearly different from other soundbars. * Can be mounted directly to a wall or on it's 8 rubber feet. The mounting "nubs" are screwed directly into the wall and as long as your 2 mounting points are mostly level, the 2 nubs can be rotated to adjust the height slightly on each side. * Building on the last point, if you mount vertically or horizontally, the magnetic control cover and Marshall logo can be flipped/moved depending on orientation of the soundbar. The Marshall logo can be facing forward in either way (see pictures of cover/logo front & back) - or you can remove completely if you're not into the logo showing. * Supports 5.1 Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, and Hi-Res audio so music and movies sound great * Soundbar has 7 drivers (FIVE 1.25" full-range speakers and TWO 3" woofers) that provide 56W power output max. This provides better spatial precision but lacks the bass of some bigger soundbars. * Soundbar has a room tuning function that takes about a minute to perform. It has a couple of mics that test the area so each speaker can be individually tuned. * Distinct listening modes - Music, Movie, Night, Voice. I was impressed at the tuning of each setting as they are very precise and actually sounded exactly how they should. * Soundbar has distinct "height" audio, has punchy bass (for its size), spacial audio is acceptable as bigger/better soundbars do offer more. * Ample connection options: BT, Wi-fi (Spotify/Airable), HDMI with eARC, AUX-in, Subwoofer RCA-out. 5V/1A USB-C port for power/charging other devices. * Can use these interfaces: Apple Airplay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Airable (internet radio) * The plastic cover on the back with groove helps maintain cable management * The SUB-out RCA connection can be used with another sub that's not Marshall. This is the only way to have another sub connected to the soundbar unless you use the Marshall Sub 200 which can be used via RCA cable or BT. * The "PROG" button on the speaker is a single "preset" that can be set in the app. It can be set to automatically go to Spotify or a specific Airable station. If you don't have Spotify Premium, I don't believe Spotify can be saved as the preset. * The 5-channel equalizer is a good addition for more user control rather than "general presets". * The Marshall app generally works ok and has some decent options but was confusing at first on how to switch between the soundbar and the sub - just click on the secondary device in the header to switch between the two (see app pictures). CONS: ----------- * No remote. The only control are the 5 physical buttons and a BT-connected device... however, HDMI-connected devices can use their remote controls to control the volume. * Pairing can be buggy in the app, especially when adding the sub 200. It was not a smooth setup - the app needs a little more work. Sometimes the app images/sections don't load... once the user scrolls up or down, then it usually refreshes the screen. The firmware update did execute just fine once connected and took less than 5 minutes. * Value: The price of this soundbar indicates that the buyer is paying for the "Marshall" brand name. Even though this speaker is very nice for the size, there are a number of other speakers (some include subs) that would provide similar sound/features for a lower price point. * Marshall does not offer a rear speaker setup for the Heston 60 or Heston 120 which is needed. Even though Dolby/DTS sounds extremely good on this soundbar, it offers no real "rear surround" audio. I played various movies and Dolby/DTS audio demos and never got any rear sounds to really pop. Left, center, right (and up, to a degree) were pretty distinct. Rear, not at all there. * One Q&A in the user manual states the following: == Question: My TV does not have an eARC/ARC HDMI port == Answer: If your TV does not support HDMI ARC/eARC, connect your TV's audio output to the RCA inputs on Heston 60. THERE ARE NO RCA inputs on the Heston 60. This entry should be removed from the user manual Q&A section. OTHER OBSERVATIONS: ----------- * Actual full user manual is in PDF format on the Marshall website. You can get there from the Support page (via search) or the product page (bottom of page in the Specs section). * There is no ON/OFF button. The soundbar goes into standby mode after around 20 minutes and will automatically turn on once connected. *The Heston 60 can be "factory-reset" by using a sequence of instructions in the user manual which can be downloaded at Marshall's website. CONCLUSION: ===================== This sound bar has an incredible look and premium build and has a nice punch for such a small soundbar. It's Marshall's first iteration of such a beast in their home audio lineup, and they are on their way to perfecting this gem. With the app a bit glitchy at times and no remote, this can leave the user a little stranded at times. The spacial audio for movies is very good along with great audio balance for music. This is not a soundbar that I would use for a home theater, but more like for a bedroom, small room, or apartment. For complete sound, as with most soundbars, having a sub connected will absolutely finish out the sound spectrum you need for a complete audio experience Ultimately, buying this soundbar may come down to price, look, and connectivity options, because paying for this Marshall will cost a bit extra.

When looking for a new soundbar for my living room TV, I wanted something that would give me immersive sound and good sound quality. I selected the Marshall Heston 60 5.1 soundbar. With a smaller footprint, the 60 measures 3” high, 29” long and 5 “deep and sat nicely below my television. The Heston 60 has that cool retro Marshall amp/speaker look from the seventies with the pho leather wrap. Controls for the 60 are on the top center of the unit and include source selector, media control, volume control, program button and sound modes. One thing that was absent was a physical remote control. All remote functions are controlled through the apple/Google apps or through eARC. Included in the box is a power cable, HDMI cable, wall mounts and the quick start guide. As for connections, the 60 has only one minijack for audio and one eARC HDMI 2.1 input and an RCA Subwoofer output. That’s it for physical in and outputs. You also have both WI-FI and Bluetooth connectivity for music from external devices and connecting to the Heston 200 Sub which is sold separately from the 60 soundbar. Marshall states that the frequency response is 45-20khz and with the Heston 200 Sub it goes down to 30hz for bigger booms! You can mount the Heston 60 to the wall or place it on your TV stand below your TV. Once you plug in the soundbar to power and connect your TV with the provided HDMI cable, the quick start guide requires you to download the Marshall app to complete the setup. The app has you create a profile, then add the Heston 60. Once the Heston 60 is connected to the app you are required to do a firmware update. From there, follow the instructions to complete the setup and sound correction for your room. Included are several sound modes, movie, music, night and voice. The 60 is also Dolby Atmos capable and sounds great and pulls you into the programs you are watching. Once setup is completed you are off to the races. This soundbar sounds great and could be used on it’s own. I chose to use it with the Heston 200 subwoofer for deeper bass. Music and Movies sound very satisfying with clean highs and deep mid bass on it’s own, but I would recommend if you could afford it, the Heston 200 sub to bring on the boom! I would recommend this soundbar for a small to mid-size room.

I needed a new soundbar for a bedroom television so I was excited to try the Marshall Heston 60 Soundbar. This is my first Marshall product, but I anticipated great things on brand knowledge alone. First impressions are meaningful and just upon seeing the box I was already impressed with its cool detailed protective packaging. In the box you find the Heston 60 along with a smaller box containing the magnetic control panel and a magnetic Marshall name plate, hdmi cable, power cable, quickstart guide, and a wall mount guide and template. Unveiling the Heston 60 revealed a stunning device with the trademark Marshall design which of course has its inspiration in their legendary amps. I was eager to get up and running so I downloaded the Marshall app which guides you through the setup. After connecting to my tv via the included hdmi cable and plugging it in. I slapped on the magnetic nameplate and the magnetic control panel. The app is slick and guides you through setup. I was very surprised that there was no prompt to sign up for an account. Refreshingly rare. I like it. You start by simply selecting if you want to connect via wifi or bluetooth. The wifi option offers more compete features so this was an obvious choice. I did however experience some difficulty here getting the soundbar to connect to my wifi. I actually had to make numerous attempts before ultimately succeeding. I noticed a firmware update was available so did that immediately. Then the app performs a room correction process where it calibrates the soundbar based on placement and room noise levels to fine-tune the sound. This plays a series of tones and is fast and effective. Ultimately setup was a breeze. There are settings on the soundbar for audio, movie, night, and voice. I was excited to hear the sound quality so I started with some music. The Heston 60 offers a bunch of connection options for listening including Wi-Fi with AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect or TIDAL Connect or simply use Bluetooth. I opted for AirPlay. Sound quality was fantastic. The Heston 60 isn’t huge but the soundstage it produces is expansive with nice bass even without a sub. The Heston 60 is a Dolby Atmos soundbar so Atmos Spatial Audio tracks sound particularly immersive with a great sense of height. The Heston 60 accomplishes this with multiple angled drivers not through some cheap virtual processing. I was impressed. Moving onto to checking out the sound quality with a movie. I thought Frankenstein would be a great test film. Full of dialog and atmospheric action. Dialog clarity was exceptionally clear and intelligible. Action scenes had great spatial detail with a definite sense of Atmos height and width and also a great sense of directional movement. The Heston 60 quickly transformed my dull bedroom TV setup into a cinematic experience. The sound doesn’t just get louder it fills the entire room with clarity, depth, and atmosphere. A fantastic upgrade. Highly recommended.