Marshall Stanmore II Wireless Bluetooth Speaker - Black (UK)

Product Information

Stanmore II by Marshall enhances the audio experience of just about any room. It pairs superbly with your phone. This here is a bluetooth speaker. Bluetooth, with which the Stanmore II utilises, is the most prevalent kind of wireless tranmission. It makes a direct link between two appliances. Overall, it is more environmentally-friendly than models that are mains-operated. These are some of the most accessible choice. They can be used in any space around the home and can also be brought along on a trip to the beach. Good Quality British Design

None of this is criticism. However, a Marshall amp in a living room has a tendency to make a flat or house look “studenty”. A Marshall Stanmore II won’t. 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. The placement compensation feature is controlled through the app, and basically functions to modify the equalizer settings if there are obstructions nearby the speaker. 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. While this seems like a downgrade, it really doesn’t make much of a difference. In fact, it contributes to the decreased product weight of Stanmore 3.

Conclusion

Testing bluetooth speakers can sometimes feel monotonous – an endless sea of cheap plastic and fabric. But any Marshall speaker turns this trend upside down. Whether the Marshall Stanmore III is the right choice for you or not will depend largely on what you need from a wireless speaker. If you want something that will look really cool and sound fantastic with loads of power then this will be perfect, but if you’re looking for advanced smarts like voice control and multiroom then you won’t get either of those and you’re better off looking elsewhere.

The Stanmore 2 and Stanmore 3 both have equalizers that can be controlled right from the device, with knobs for bass and treble on the top control panel. This is an unusual feature for a bluetooth speaker, and we give Marshall a lot of credit for including this. Stanmore 3 features more recycled plastic, which may prove to be a durability concern over time. But we honestly just trust that Marshall knows what they are doing. Marshall has done a great job of making the Stanmore II resemble an amp, while at the same time adding a bit of glamour and softness for it to comfortably fit in a living room. The Stanmore II is a mid-size model in the Marshall lineup. It’s a similar size to a Sonos Play:5; big enough to be thought of as your main music source. You can also create a stereo pair of Stanmore IIs using the Marshall app. Marshall Stanmore II Bluetooth – Sound quality Sound quality is balanced and crisp on both speakers, without much difference on the newer iteration. The Stanmore 2 seems to get slightly louder than the 3, but the difference will only be observable during side-by-side testing.

Conclusions

This is the reason it sounds so relaxed; it’s at ease at volumes that will make your neighbours feel anything but. The Stanmore II is a great party speaker. The Stanmore 3 also features the updated Bluetooth 5.2 whereas the Stanmore 2 has the older (but still functional) Bluetooth 5.0.

Small batteries, especially those that experience the drain/recharge cycle on a repeated basis, are destined to fail. The Stanmore, on the other hand, avoids this risk by relying on a constant power source instead.Dynamic loudness, on the other hand, changes the equalizer based on the speaker’s volume, in an attempt to find the right sound balance at any level. Historically, if the technology is nearly ready, it gets added before the speaker goes to market. There are numerous examples of bluetooth speakers that have had app-compatibility “coming soon” for years – without ever receiving the update. It sounds its best when played fairly loud, but doesn’t quite have the separation and dynamics of the very top performers. The same criticism can be levelled at Marshall’s other speakers, too. 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.

There’s tonnes of power behind it too, easily filling up the room with music and then some. Dynamic Loudness is a feature built-in that “adjusts the tonal balance of the sound to ensure your music sounds brilliant at every volume” and you can definitely hear that in action as you dial the sound all the way up because you don’t lose out at all on detail.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. 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. Bluetooth 5.2 has the potential to make the speaker much more functional by reducing power consumption and improving communication between devices. Essentially, 5.2 should give us the ability to connect to multiple devices simultaneously while also decreasing latency. However, the one true omission is portability. The Marshall Stanmore II would be a great speaker for summer days – and if that appeals then you should consider the Harman Kardon Go + Play while it’s still available. Verdict Hopefully this new bluetooth version will eliminate some of the lag issues that occasionally affected the Stanmore 2. But for the time being, there just isn’t a huge difference between the functionality of the 2 and 3.