Customer Ratings & Reviews

Setting the standard for bluetooth speakers. Looks as good as it sounds. Very satisfied with my purchase.

excellent sound quality! worth every penny of its price!

Looks great, sounds great, 10/10, happy to have it.

This product is amazing and the soound is very nice.

Good and nice sound shaking I love the music you can hear the music is good for indoor or outdoor.

I enjoy music with Marshall every day. Amazing sound

The speaker has amazing sound, but i have issues the the connectivity and app being very finicky.

We absolutely love this speaker, we weren’t sure at first in the store but so glad we made this purchase! It sounds amazing. Definitely recommend this speaker to anyone!

Amazing product- Great sound and good service by Bestbuy

Got this speaker to have a quick and easy way for friends and family to connect and stream music when they come over to our house. One of the things that really caught my eye were as the styling and build quality of this speaker. I have never owned anything from Marshall but know and understand their reputation and this speaker does not disappoint. It was easy and quick the frist time I connected my phone to it. It has analogue adjustment knobs on top to adjust the amount of bass or treble you want for the type of music you are listening to. There is also a button to pause/rewind/fastforward on the speaker in case you aren't near the phone that is streaming music to it. I like the look of the analogue knobs and controls and the whole speaker overall feels rock solid. For a smaller speaker it is not light as you may be used to with other portable bluetooth speakers. It also has an RCA input in the back in the event you have an old analgue receive that you want to play music from to it. Overall this is an amazing speaker and easily rivals that B&W Zepplin that I have in my living room but this is much easier to connect to and play music to. The only caveat or con that could be said is probably that it isn't very portable as it isn't battery power and requires a 110 AC plug to operate it. Other than that I have no complaints about this speaker and knew that when I got it.

This is my second Marshall Bluetooth speaker, having also owned the Acton II model about 4 years ago. Like the Acton II, the Stanmore III is both beautiful and functional, taking you back in time to the style of old-school amplifiers. Pros: - My favorite thing about this speaker is the design. It is gorgeous sitting on a bookshelf, looking like a perfect miniature version of a Marshall amp. From the leathery frame to the fabric and logo on the front, it's just one of those speakers that you want to constantly run your hand across. - The onboard control buttons/knobs look great and function well. If you have used Marshall Bluetooth headphones you will recognize the pause/skip button. It's nice that they keep design between different types of devices similar. - Not only is this a terrific Bluetooth speaker, but you can connect it to a record player or other device via the RCA connection on the back. An AUX port is also available on the top if you would like to connect headphones. The flexibility of how you can use this speaker is a nice bonus. - While there is no rechargeable battery to make this speaker more portable, that is actually a positive as its life span should exceed that of a speaker that is dependent on a lithium ion battery. Just keep in mind that this is designed to be an at-home speaker (or for any place with electricity). - The audio quality, as you would expect from Marshall, is outstanding. I've been going through my favorite playlists with my kids and having dance parties in the living room for several nights in a row. The bass hits better than you would expect for a speaker of this size and the highs were clear as well. Compared to the Acton II that I used years ago, the Stanmore III is a noticeable step above. You can adjust bass/treble with the onboard controls and also use the equalizer in the Marshall app to optimize your experience. Cons: - The price tag on the Stanmore III is pretty high, but you get what you pay for. If it fits within your budget, then don't let the price stand in your way. In summary, I love this speaker and look forward to enjoying it for years to come.

The first thing I noticed taking this speaker out of the box is its weight and build quality. It looks and feels high quality and it's very handsome with its iconic script Marshall logo across a woven front cover. The sides, top and bottom have a sort of leatherette finish. The speaker weighs nine pounds and sits solidly on four rubber type feet. This is a household current powered unit with a standard wall socket plug, so its best placement is on a bookshelf, table, or desk. There's no battery power so this is not a portable unit that can be taken to the beach or a picnic. There are three ways to connect to an audio source - Bluetooth, 3.5mm, or RCA jacks, making it very versatile. I have used it connected to my desktop PC via 3.5mm jack and also to my phone via Bluetooth. The basic controls are all on the top of the unit which makes them easily accessible, although except for the power switch they can all be controlled with the Marshall app. The controls are the Power Switch, Source Selector, Volume, Bass, Treble, and Next/Last Selector. The Volume, Bass, and Treble have very nice-looking LED lit hash marks showing the level settings (See picture). As mentioned, the Marshall app enables full control of everything but the Power Switch, but it's not necessary for Bluetooth connectivity. Also, there is no way that I was able to find to import any songs or other media into the Marshall app. You have to initially select a playlist, music channel, podcast, etc. with a music app or other media source before it is accessible in the Marshall app. Once you do, then it can be controlled (next/last/pause/play/volume/bass/treble) with the Marshall app. The sound quality of this speaker is outstanding. High notes are clear and crisp, bass is strong and there is great depth and balance. It has much better quality and power than a portable battery powered speaker I have that is about the same size. The bottom line for me is It's a bit pricey, but this Marshall Stanmore III is high quality and makes an ideal tabletop or bookshelf speaker with its great looks and great sound, if you don't mind paying for it.

It’s hard not to love the Stanmore III speaker. It’s got a style and quality to it that just begs you to interact with it. And it sounds great to boot. The fact that it doesn’t include any sort of Wi-Fi-based streaming is a letdown for a home speaker in this price range, but I think it has a lot of qualities that a lot of people would be really happy with (myself included). Unboxing the speaker I was immediately drawn to the build quality. The vegan leather that wraps the side feels great to touch and the buttons and knobs across the top are the highest quality I can remember in any speaker I’ve owned. I normally prefer to interact with most of my speakers via my phone, but I’m constantly drawn to the Stanmore. It’s got a such a cool timeless aesthetic that is backed up by the build quality and looks fantastic. For sources you get Bluetooth 5.2, a 3.5mm input, and an RCA input. The sources are swapped via a button on the top of the speaker. The controls on top offer 3 knobs for volume, bass, and treble, a play/pause/skip control, and a power switch (which is VERY satisfying to use). There’s no AirPlay or Cast built-in, which is a shame, and while you’re getting the (mostly) latest Bluetooth 5.2 built-in, there isn’t any support for hi-res codes like aptX or LDAC. This is consider a home speaker, so no built in battery. There’s no power brick to contend with, just a regular power cord, which is nice. Getting connected to the Stanmore III via my Pixel 7 was dead simple. I switched it on and almost immediately got a notification to connect to the speaker via Android Fast Pair. Marshall doesn’t seem to advertise it on the box, but there is an app you can download for the Stanmore, though it only offers some basic room correction controls and firmware updates in addition to the audio controls already present on the speaker itself. It’s likely you won’t be accessing the app much and that’s actually fine with me - everything seems to have an app these days and I appreciate the simplicity here while still being able to apply the occasional update to the speaker firmware. It would be nice if Marshall added more granular EQ adjustments to the app in the future, but I could see this clashing with the treble/bass controls. I listened to the Stanmore III mainly through Bluetooth via my Pixel 7. I was a little worried the volume/bass/treble controls on the speaker wouldn’t be synced via Bluetooth, but they are and you can adjust volume on your phone or the speaker. In general I found myself leaving the bass/treble controls at their default 50% values, though they do make a noticeable difference without completely destroying the audio if you find either of them to be lacking. Music sounded really great through the speaker and felt clear and balanced to me. I could pick out lots of detail in all the tracks I played and while the bass isn’t room-shaking it’s still very present and not muddy at all. I don’t mind listening to music over Bluetooth and sound quality is not an issue here, but one thing I don’t like about listening to music via Bluetooth is that I’m more-or-less tethered to the area the speaker is in if I don’t want the audio to drop out and the music is potentially prone to being interrupted by my alerts and phone calls. This is the main reason I would have liked to see AirPlay or Cast built-in, especially since this is considered a ‘home’ speaker. I was able to travel around my living room and kitchen with my phone with no issues though. The Stanmore III is advertised with a 30ft Bluetooth range, which seems about right to me not factoring in walls. I think the Stanmore III offers a unique set of features. It sounds great and has the looks to match. Without Wi-Fi it does feel like an incomplete home solution, but if that’s not a factor to you there’s a lot to like.

The biggest reason I love this speaker, is it's design. A million bluetooth speakers can have varying sound quality to cater to any need but there is only one Marshall design. No one else can spell this better for us, but this brand. My experience with it makes it even better: it is easy to connect, and with 5.2 Bluetooth technology, it future proofs me if I decide to dual connect it to another 5.2 Bluetooth speaker. Sounds quality is great that it fills my living area with awesome sound with hardly any distortion on high volume. The range is not that wide-- the highs are not that far off from the lows, but the volume power is enough to make it sound big, while keeping the highs to a crisp level without much distortion. The bass is powerful and not overpowering, while the app and the device itself has dials for settings. I love it that the dials have the light indicators so it does not make me guess what levels they currently are. The dials and its lights are also synced with the app so it does not have that weird feeling like other apps that I maxed it out in the software but the hardware still is on the "same level"--- when you turn up the app levels, the hardward levels move as well; pretty useful. I also like it that this is not a wifi device-- wifi devices nowadays are tied to a brand ecosystem, so it makes multi-speaker systems so limiting. Instead, this has an aux, and an RCA so I placed my wifi (cast) device on it, and it works the same. Build-quality-- there is no question with a device like this. material finish, coating, texture-- name it-- it looks gorgeous. It replaced some items on one of our display shelves because, besides that this device is powerful enough to throw out sound everythere in our living space, it also looks so beautiful on there. I have to display this speaker-- I just have to. Glad that it sounds as well as it looks.

Initial Impressions: The Marshall Stanmore III has a clean and sophisticated look. I will never be embarrassed showing this off in any room. It is a very handsome piece. The speaker has a faux leather wrap, cloth grill, an intelligently lighted brushed copper and black control panel, and finished with the iconic Marshall signature scrawled across the front grill. The Stanmore III should be able to easily blend into any modern household décor. Setup is easy as one, two, three. Plug in, flip on the meaty power switch, and sync with your phone or other stream source. Done! Room placement is very important for the Stanmore III. Thankfully, Marshall took the time to include some EQ settings to assist with room boundary compensation. And finally, sound quality, in my opinion, is hit or miss depending on the content, physical location, and the overall volume level. Room Position: I will start off by stating that room position and your listening position have a lot to do with getting the best out of any speaker. This is especially true with this speaker. I tried two rooms and four positions. The best position for my Stanmore III was in the middle of my multi-purpose room, 5.5 inches off the wall, and on the top shelf of my bookcase. See included photo. The top shelf of the bookcase is also ear level with my sitting position in the room. Next, I used the Mashall App to adjust the speaker’s Placement Compensation. This is an EQ adjustment and not auto-room correction feature like you would find on a modern AVR. Placement Compensation corrects for two situations: 1) Is the speaker close to an edge, and 2) Is the speaker close to a wall? I set the speaker Placement Compensation to “Yes” for the first setting and “Yes, a wall” for the second. I then set the tone controls to Bass-1 and Treble-3. Volume was set to 4. For me, this produced the best sound from the Stanmore III for this room. Sound: My sound source was my iPhone and my Apple Music subscription. I both streamed and used the RCA cable connection on the back for musical playback. I spent three days listening to content. Below are the highlights. Music like electronica, metal, hard rock, anything recorded live, or anything with a lot of artificial sounds sounded muddy, muddled, and hallow on this speaker. Classical, Jazz, easy listening, and anything with vocals and acoustical instruments, content without a lot of processing, seemed to work out well. For example, Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” sounds good at low volume. But who plays Metallica at low volumes? Turn up the volume, and the bass, and the wheels simply fly off this speaker. The speaker box rings like a bell. Meaning the box vibrates so much from the speaker output it overwhelms the music. Plus, the midrange takes a back seat to the bass reproduction. In my opinion, I think the woofer is being asked to do too much in this system. At least for something heavy and hard hitting like Metallica. In stark contrast, “Closer to Fine”, by the Indigo Girls, sounds good on the Stanmore III. The acoustic guitars came through with authority and a level of clarity that really shows the Stanmore III’s midrange capabilities. At least when the bass isn’t overpowering the woofer. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ voices are clear, pitch perfect, and the system effortlessly responds to the dynamics of the singer’s voices as they weave in and out and around each other. It is almost like the Stanmore III was designed specifically for this type of music. A high energy song, such as the B-52’s “Love Shack”, comes off as a complex mess that sounds terrible at anything above half volume. And even then, the true dynamics of the song feel subdued and hollow at lower levels. If there was ever a B-52 song that could get you to kick off your shoes and dance around the room then it is this song. Just not on the Stanmore. Idena Menzel’s album, “Christmas: A Season of Love” sounds good on the Stanmore III. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, and the Jacques Loussiers Trio’s jazz arrangement of Bach’s “Fugue in G Minor” sound great once the Stanmore III is dialed in properly. Even the lonely piano notes at the beginning of George Winston’s “Colors/Dance” show an amazing decay that I did not expect to hear on a small system like this. But, a highly synthesized, big sound, such as Boston’s classic album “Third Stage” easily overwhelms this speaker and sounds terrible. Everything else: Control Panel: The manual controls on the top of the Stanmore III are beautiful and provide a luxurious experience. The power switch is meaty and satisfying to flip back and forth. The volume, bass, and treble control nobs are black plastic with copper textured caps which turn with little resistance. Each nob has 11, 0 – 10, red lighted notches that light as you dial up or dial down. The notches will also dim after a preset amount of time and then light up fully when you make a new adjustment. There is a single rocker switch for Back, Play/Pause, and Next. The switch looks good and is free floating. There is also a button that allows the Stanmore III to switch between Bluetooth, Aux, and RCA inputs. These two switches have the same build quality and presentation as the other nobs on the control panel. I am impressed with the level of sophistication Marshall put into the control panel experience. Aux inputs: I connected my iPhone to the Aux ports using an RCA to Mini-stereo jack cable. The unit played without any issues. The input needs to be chosen from the control panel on the speaker. The Marshall app does not allow a soft switch between inputs via their app. Tone controls: Treble and Bass tone controls can be set from the “Equalizer” page. Volume can also be set from the app but you have to enter another screen to manual adjust the volume. You can also use the manual volume controls of your source app or source device for Bluetooth playback. Sleep mode: The speaker will go into sleep mode if left alone long enough. However, the speaker will also put the Bluetooth transmitter to sleep. The speaker’s physical control panel requires interaction before Bluetooth connectivity will be re-established. Bass: This little guy will throw out the bass. Put on your favorite bass heavy piece, crank the bass nob to 11, and rock out! Put it up against a wall or in a corner to take advantage of boundary enforcement and you’ve got yourself a party. However, the speaker will ring like a bell with its own resonance which will degrade your listening experience. Treble: Just like the base, the Stanmore III is capable of amazing treble. Whitney Houstin sounds outstanding on this speaker with the treble turned up. Recycled materials: The packing material is almost 95% recyclable. I included photos of the packing material. The little desiccant packets are not. Otherwise, bravo Marshall! The Stanmore III is also 70% recycled material. This is huge from an environmentally friendly position. Portability: This speaker is as portable as there are available wall outlets. There is no internal battery. Final thoughts: The Marshall Stanmore III is second to none in the looks and styling department. Marshall chose to spend its money on styling instead of gimmicks. And I think they made the right choice. The system is powerful. It will play music loud and with authoritative bass. Even at low volumes, the bass output of the Stanmore III can be satisfying. Is it good bass? In my opinion, it depends on the content and the volume level. At lower volumes I think it is good enough. For sound quality, I think Classical, Jazz, and acoustic Singer/Song Writer type content sounded best to me. I also feel that this speaker shines at volume levels of 50% and less. Over 50% and this speaker has a very hard time controlling box resonance and speaker balance even with tone controls and Placement Compensation EQ presets. Overall, I had a mixed experience with the Marshall Stanmore III. I can see this speaker working out well in a collage dorm room, a kitchen, or a small den providing background ambiance. But, if you are a head banger, then you will find plenty of bass here to rock to all night long. For me personally, I did not find the musicality of the Stanmore III to my liking.

I expected it to sound good in the first place, but it sounded even better. Deep bass that’s not muddy and clean crisp highs. Plus options for analog audio inputs too. The controls and options in the app are pretty basic. Volume, bass and treble. No graphic EQ. Please see detailed product specifications in the ad. Setting up and pairing on my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Apple iPad 9th Gen, was easy with no problems. I had reviewed some Marshall Mode II earbuds in the past and only needed to add the Stanmore III to the app. With classic Marshall styling, the controls and auxiliary inputs are on the top and trimmed with brass on brass. The power connection is on the back and the power supply is internal as opposed to a power brick or wall wart. There’s also a bass port on the back. Four rubber feet on the bottom. The knobs use digital encoders as opposed to analog potentiometers for adjusting volume, bass and treble. LEDs around them show current settings. See photos. I tested using lossless FLAC music files via Bluetooth. I played CDs into the RCA inputs from my Sont CDP ES CD changer. I also ran my Roland FA-08 and VR-730 pro keyboards into it. The sounds in those two instruments are CD quality. I was Not disappointed with what I heard coming out of that box! That is unless I over drove either analog inputs with those two keyboards, which caused some pretty hard clipping. That shouldn’t be a problem at line level with the RCA inputs from a CD player or tape deck. One thing I did notice is that the analog inputs are not as loud at the same volume level as the Bluetooth. At least on my phone with the same volume settings. I noticed that the bluetooth also sounded better. A little “warmer and richer” and the stereo separation seemed wider too. Not that there’s much to begin with given its size. I’m going to chalk it up to the DAC in the Marshall and the circuitry associated with it, and the Marshall app. Note: I used a genuine Samsung headphone dongle I bought from BB on my S22. Do analog inputs in the Stanmore 3 go through a preamp and then power amp? Or do they go through an ADC first and any EQ is in the digital domain? I don’t know. The music I listened to was the same as what I have used to test all other audio products I reviewed. Steely Dan (and Donald Fagen solo CDs), Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd and similar for the high production standards they are known for. I played a lot of other music though it from ABBA to Zeppelin. I streamed various music services from my phone. No problems there either. However, there are various settings for quality and EQ on streaming apps. I left all app settings at a Flat response and used the bass and treble controls on the speaker. For those that may not know, do note that when coming out of any typical hifi stereo equipment at line level via RCA jacks, it will have a flat EQ response. When coming out of a 3.5mm headphone jack and even bluetooth, that may not be the case. Say you're connecting a smartphone and you have set the EQ to boost the highs and lows, then connect via 3.5mm input and boost the bass on the speaker some more. That could cause it to distort or clip. Some if you boost the treble. This can apply to bluetooth connections too. I think that it's probably best to set any app EQ to a flat setting when using this speaker and using its bass and treble controls. Any app EQ settings should be kept to a minimum. The Play / Pause - track Fwd / Rev switch only works when using bluetooth as expected. The speaker sets to half volume when turned on. EQ at whatever you left it at last use. Using the placement feature of the app can help manage the bass response. Build quality feels very solid. No rattles, sizzle or hiss. The controls feel very smooth and the switches solid. With one exception. The Play / Pause - track Fwd / Rev switch feels a little squishy when moved from side to side. Pushing it down feels solid. Just an observation, certainly not even close to a deal breaker. I don’t think you can simultaneously run two Stanmore III speakers in a right and left configuration. Is that something Marshall can add in the future? It would be nice if they can and do. Pros: Very solid build. Marshall style. LEDs around knobs look very cool and auto dim. RCA and 3.5mm Analog inputs. Cons: A handle would have been nice The LED indicators around the knobs are hard to see in bright light and impossible outdoors in sunlight. See photos. Some reviewers mentioned that this device doesn’t play all audio codecs. Conclusion: I think the Stanmore III is a solid performer. It was for me and the music I played through it. It also did a very good job when I ran my keyboards through it. To the point that I could even use it as a near field monitor at a gig. Recommended!

TL;DR 5-star audio quality, 4-star over all product because of the lack of Wi-Fi audio connectivity. Every concert goer from the past 50 years surely recognizes the Marshall amps that have shared the stage with some of the best artists ever. I won’t lie, my own concert memories attracted me to this brand. But I was also skeptical because too often legendary brands license out their name which ends up on sub-par products. This is not the case here. The Marshall home speaker is made by the same parent company of the pro equipment you see in arenas and musical events. This is a genuine Marshall product, not a Marshall-licensed product. In the Stanmore III you get a classically designed compact stand-alone stereo speaker that pumps out big, beautiful sound – a tough task for any Bluetooth product given Bluetooth’s narrower bandwidth compared to Wi-Fi or “old fashioned” speaker wires. I’ll get into sound quality later, but upfront I want to emphasize that the Stanmore III here has two tweeters and a woofer, i.e., it’s stereo, unlike most Bluetooth speakers, which are only stereo if you pair two together. So immediately, the Stanmore III provides value with this feature alone, saving both money and space. Also fairly uncommon with wireless speakers, the Stanmore III looks like a solid piece of furniture that belongs in a well-furnished room but would also look “cool” in dorm too. More often than not wireless speakers in this price range are bland black plastic or over-the-top colorful. The Stanmore III’s case though is surrounded by a leather-look fabric. Whatever it is it’s vegan if you need that assurance. It looks snazzy to keep with the retro theme. The front is speaker cloth with a definite 60s vibe to it. The center has the Marshall script logo in gold, which I’m not wild about. This logo placement and size doesn’t suit the overall elegance of the speaker. If it were smaller, maybe offset at one of the corners it wouldn’t even be a discussion point. Unfortunately, also, the logo is glued on which is a head-scratcher to me because every speaker I’ve ever owned had logos that just pulled out if a “clean” look was desired. It should be the case here too. The top controls are a stunning conversation maker. The design offers lots of unique touches like a metal power lever that you’d find on pro amps. It adds tremendously to the user experience. (Keep the power flipped on as there is no way to remotely turn it on in the off position. My assumption is it automatically goes to sleep when not in use like devices do these days). It only gets better though as the control dials on the unit feature active red backlighting to indicate levels for their respective control: volume, bass, & treble. There is also a switch to skip, repeat, and pause the track playing, as well as another lighted indicator confirming the current input source selected: Bluetooth, the top 3.5” AUX input jack or backside RCA jack. There is, of course, a power cord input on the back too. This model is strictly plug-in for power, no batteries allowed. (Marshall does make portable models with batteries if that is what you are looking for). Side note, the Stanmore III is not water resistant so don’t place it in the bathroom. While these analog dials and switches are aesthetically front and center, the Stanmore III was designed for the digital age. iOS and Android apps are available to control the speaker remotely – except for power, that must be done at the speaker. The app is optional but recommended. It’s as simple as the radio itself with only options to adjust volume, bass, and treble. It would have been a nice touch if Marshall included a full range equalizer and some pre-sets too. Part of the app also has info about other Marshall products which I found off putting and it only made a simple app seem cluttered rather than interesting me in other products. And truly, the Stanmore III speaks for itself and does more to sell the Marshall brand than a hard sell in an app. Marshall would be smart to remove this in a future update. Plugging in an analog source (via the RCA or AUX jacks) will naturally give the best possible sound, but the reality is this is a Bluetooth speaker and that is how most will use it. The Stanmore III has Bluetooth v5.2 with aptX, which, for practical purposes is the latest Bluetooth version. But unlike the older Stanmore II with Voice, Marshall has stripped out Wi-Fi in the Stanmore III. The Stanmore III would be a 5-start product with the inclusion of Wi-Fi audio capabilities like Chromecast Audio, Spotify Connect, and Apple AirPlay 2. Would be. Not including Wi-Fi audio is a significant backtrack and “big miss” for this speaker, worthy of a one-star deduction, because it offers lossless fidelity and a wider connection range than Bluetooth. Several music subscription services like Tidal and Amazon offer lossless streaming and the type of consumer who would be interested in this speaker might even have their own lossless FLAC or ALAC music library. Of course, you can buy a Chrome Audio dongle to plug into the aforementioned AUX input and gain Wi-Fi audio capability. But that’s a workaround and extra cost and looks clunky ruining the aesthetics of the speaker. It’s not a choice users should have to make. And if you use Apple Airplay 2, there really is no affordable “band aid” here. It’s understandable why battery-powered portable speakers usually don’t have Wi-Fi since Wi-Fi consumes more power than Bluetooth. But when a AC -only speaker like Stanmore III doesn’t have it have I have to wonder what the engineers were thinking. Hopefully whenever Stanmore IV comes around it will fix this omission. But read on. Lack of Wi-Fi does diminish the “total package,” but make no mistake, this speaker knows how to rock (or rap or toot, whatever your favorite genre is). Another side note. Apple device users – while the Stanmore III doesn’t have Wi-Fi you can use Siri on your phone or iPad to skip and repeat or to request a specific song or playlist on your device just as you would if the music was playing on your device rather than an external speaker. Pairing with your device takes seconds. I used an iPhone, but I imagine the Android experience is a similar experience. I started the process with only my phone’s Bluetooth. Quickly a pop-up asked if I wanted to download the Marshall app, which I thought was smart given the hassle of finding the correct compatible app can be sometimes. Once the app was installed I was set to push play – no forced registration like some products insist on when using their app. Thank you Marshall. My musical taste is as confused as minestrone soup – from classic rock to classical music and almost everything in between. I also don’t have super-human dog hearing. Below is just how my pedestrian ears reacted to the Stanmore III’s performance. I will give myself this much credit: I can tell the difference between lifeless and biased speakers and ones that compel me to keep listening. So first up I thought it was apropos to play some Jimi Hendrix as he was a pioneer using Marshall amps on tour. I cranked up the volume, bass and treble all to 8 and let it rip with Foxey Lady and Purple Haze. What I got was that Hendrix sweet, sweet bass thumping out of the relatively small Stanmore III. I felt it across the room like it was 10x larger. Not quite like Hendrix was in the room but impressive for a pair of 15w tweeters and a 50w woofer. More remarkable to me was the bass, while front and center, didn’t down out the rest of the range or vocals like some bass-centric speakers do. It was a powerful but even and clear sound filling the roughly 640sq ft room it was in. With just a 320Mbps AAC source. At near peak volume. Never a hint of struggle or distortion. I continued sampling other bass prominent songs like Beck’s Odelay, Arcade Fire’s Rebellion, and a electronic dance remix of Dolly Parton’s Jolene by Destructo. I was not disappointed. All the instruments and vocals were tight and identifiable and filled the room. Next I took it down a notch and played some mellow vocal-centric stuff like Dire Straits Brothers in Arms, John Cale’s rendition of Hallelujah, and Munford & Son’s Ditmas. With this music style, which isn’t meant to be cranked, I had to turn the volume down to 6 from 8 because distortion was rearing its evil head with some of the vocal ranges. But even at a lower volume the sound punches above its weight class and delivers well-defined tunes. Typically, clarity at low volumes, not high, is what separates a good speaker from a great one. And the Stanmore III certainly has that quality. For my last test I went completely off course for a “rock and roll” speaker and played part of one of the more complex classical music symphonies – Bruckner’s #5 in B Flat Major (1. Adagio-Allegro). If you are not familiar with this piece, it’s an intense crescendo that in minutes goes from barely audible to crashing waves of horns and strings. My goal here was to see if, at a middle volume, the low level parts would be audible while the more spirited sections did not play too loud. Even keel from start to finish is all I wanted. And that’s pretty much what I got. The early ramp up was harder to hear that I would have preferred but the louder end was perfect just as it was for the vocal music. Those are my impressions of the Stanmore III. To sum it up, it’s a fantastic sounding stereo speaker and well worth the cost. It’s an especially good choice if you love the authentic bass sound of the 60s and 70s. This is Marshall’s signature. But from a technological perspective, the lack of Wi-Fi is a serious blow to the speaker’s potential at a category killer. Because of this omission every buyer should first consider what their connectivity priorities are against what speaker sounds best to their ears. It’s not an easy choice having to choose between better sound or better technology.

Right away let’s get to how fantastic this speaker looks. Modeled after the Marshall guitar amplifiers you’ve undoubtedly seen stacked at concerts (although made by Zound Industries and not Marshall directly), this just looks nice fitting into any space in your home. Covered in faux leather with fabric front and the iconic Marshall script logo, it just looks pleasing. Then when you see the gold accented control panel on top, it just pops. The build quality is tops. Buttons have a satisfying click, the knobs for controlling volume, bass, and treble move smoothly, with bright red LEDS that light up to indicate your level before dimming after a minute. The power toggle switch is intensely satisfying to flick on. It may sound minor but turning it on and off just feels great to do. You’ve got three ways of getting audio to the speaker: Bluetooth, aux cable (3.5mm input), and RCA. After powering on you can select a source. Bluetooth is the main selling point and I’d imagine for most the main way of sending music. My Pixel 6 Pro and Windows 11 PC both detected and connected to the speaker without any issue. You do not have to use the app, but I highly recommend it, at least occasionally to see if there’s any firmware updates. Mine did have one out of the box. Additionally, you can control the bass and treble controls from your phone with the app. The app also includes settings called Placement Compensation. It’s a series of two questions about how close the speaker is to the edge of a table/shelf and to a wall or corner, with the idea being that it corrects for reflective surfaces bouncing back sound. I couldn’t tell the difference, but I appreciate that it’s there. These are the only features of the app, so it’s really not something you need to open often. The other inputs are physical inputs: aux / 3.5mm input and an RCA input. The aux input is located on the top of the unit and the RCA on the back. The placement does imply that aux will only be temporarily used, while RCA would be something more permanent, such as a record player. It’s worth noting that there is no ground, so if you are planning on using this with a record player it will need to have a phono preamp either built in or as part of the chain before connecting to this speaker. I’m not audiophile, but I thought this sounded great. I tried listening to a variety of genres to get the best of it and I think it’s pretty good. It does start to get a little muddled at higher volumes and with the bass turned up higher. Neither a pro nor con but while decently sized, you can only do so much with a speaker of this size. I do wish that this speaker did a bit more. At the current pricepoint, with it being designed as a home speaker (ie, no battery built in for portability), it’s a bit of a shame it doesn’t include any sort of Google Cast / Apple AirPlay options. To me this feels like a big miss and stops it from greatness. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot to love here. I think this is a fantastic small home speaker for an office or small to midsize room. You’ve got a lot of movement range with Bluetooth but you’re still wirelessly tethered, so to speak. For me, this is the perfect secondary room speaker. I have it connected in my office to a record player, but it will not replace my main audio system in my main living area. Is this the right speaker for you? I’d consider what your needs are, what your space is like, how you listen to your music, and if it suits your aesthetic preferences.

The Marshall Stanmore III is an absolute game-changer for anyone seeking premium sound without breaking the bank. This speaker delivers incredible value for its price, making it a standout choice in its category. The bass performance is phenomenal, rich, and powerful, adding depth to every genre of music. Whether you’re enjoying rock classics or ambient tunes, the sound quality is nothing short of mesmerizing, with clear highs and perfectly balanced mids. It’s the kind of audio experience that truly immerses you. Beyond its impressive sound, the design is a masterpiece. Marshall has blended vintage aesthetics with modern sophistication, making the Stanmore III not just a speaker but a statement piece in any room. Its classic retro look, complete with the iconic Marshall logo, makes it as pleasing to the eyes as it is to the ears. If you’re looking for a speaker that offers uncompromising quality, stunning design, and unbeatable value, the Marshall Stanmore III is an investment you won’t regret. It’s a must-have for music enthusiasts and style lovers alike!

The vintage style and deep, rich sound powerful audio with bright, detailed highs. I didnt hesitate to buy this after I test it in Best Buy. Very user friendly. Easy to pair the devices with bluetooth. Upgradable firmware. It’s a perfect audio for tv and even game consoles. You cant go wrong with Stanmore III. Buy it in best buy! Hassle free!