Marshall Acton III Bluetooth Speaker (Cream)

This is a beautiful speaker that sounds great and looks the part due to its iconic Marshall amp-like style. The build quality is awesome. It's going to look great in the kitchen, the living room or the office / music room / man cave. Although it's not portable.I've not tried the placement compensation feature - but it's nice to have.The only drawback for me is that it's not a smart speaker. If you want a smart speaker, then get a smart speaker, I suppose. But if you want to listen to music from your phone/other Bluetooth devices, then this is a lovely piece of kit, which looks great on the shelf.

I got this for my husband, so here's his review...Love it. I haven't enjoyed listening to music this much since I was a youngster with a massive HiFi. Would actively encourage anyone who's always loved their music and misses their old vinyl and cd collections to get one. Would be a great present to receive.Practicalities:Everything about it is quality, from the packaging, to the switches, to the classy classic look. The black feels very rock music roadie (think I'd have preferred brown, as a jazz rat, but don't tell my wife). It's compact so can go anywhere, though the power cable isn't super-long.Tech:It links really nicely to the marshal app on my phone, so the phone is then the volume, equaliser, play/skip remote control. The sound source I used was ... MoreI got this for my husband, so here's his review...Love it. I haven't enjoyed listening to music this much since I was a youngster with a massive HiFi. Would actively encourage anyone who's always loved their music and misses their old vinyl and cd collections to get one. Would be a great present to receive.Practicalities:Everything about it is quality, from the packaging, to the switches, to the classy classic look. The black feels very rock music roadie (think I'd have preferred brown, as a jazz rat, but don't tell my wife). It's compact so can go anywhere, though the power cable isn't super-long.Tech:It links really nicely to the marshal app on my phone, so the phone is then the volume, equaliser, play/skip remote control. The sound source I used was Spotify and it created a really nice rich sound.Sound:This feels a bit weird to write, but listening to music on this speaker which I listen to all the time on other devices was hugely enjoyable. So much better than my other digital speakers or headphones. I could really pick out instruments and feel the music. It was a lot like being at a gig when I closed my eyes, daft as that sounds!I can caught myself being excited to hear different types of music on it and ended actually stopping and sitting down to listen to music, rather than just having tunes on in the background. I'm 47 and it took me back to being in my 20s again.My taste are at the jazz, funk, soul, classical end of the spectrum. The kinds of recordings that seemed to come alive most were old analogue recordings that had been digitised (like Glen Miller or Lalo Schifrin). The bass got a touch overloaded on some of the really extreme stuff up really loud, but that's the only thing I can fault it on sound-wise.I found it sounded best in a mid sized room (4m x 4m). We've got a big conservatory and whilst it sounded good, it was sensational in a close setting.Thinking of buying another one for the bedroom now.

I use this speaker in my (very messy) garden room/office to listen to music and podcasts while I'm working. It's a good looking, weighty and solidly built speaker, it deserves to be in a great looking room but until I get my act together it lives here but that doesn't mean it doesn't do a great job. The sound from it is amazing, whether it's music or speech and I like to listen to things loud so clear undistorted sound is what I need and what I get. I'm not really techie about bass etc so I haven't really explored the treble or bass controls, volume and Bluetooth are what I need. It connects seamlessly and very quickly to two different devices at the same time so I can switch between them rather than disconnecting one which just adds a little bit more convenience. I ... MoreI use this speaker in my (very messy) garden room/office to listen to music and podcasts while I'm working. It's a good looking, weighty and solidly built speaker, it deserves to be in a great looking room but until I get my act together it lives here but that doesn't mean it doesn't do a great job. The sound from it is amazing, whether it's music or speech and I like to listen to things loud so clear undistorted sound is what I need and what I get. I'm not really techie about bass etc so I haven't really explored the treble or bass controls, volume and Bluetooth are what I need. It connects seamlessly and very quickly to two different devices at the same time so I can switch between them rather than disconnecting one which just adds a little bit more convenience. I have three other bluetooth speakers from very cheap to similarly priced to this one (but that one is a much smaller speaker) and they all have their place especially since they're all rechargeable and therefore portable. Which is the only drawback to the Acton as it's wired but without going into the technical specs I don't think I'd get the power from it if it wasn't wired, or at least I'd have to recharge it often. Now I just need to decide where I'll listen to it the most and find it a permanent place to live in my home.