Flip the brass power switch and the Marshall Acton III springs to life like an old friend ready for a late night jam. This is the smallest of the Marshall home speakers and weighs in at over 6 pounds and 10 x 7 x 6 inches. The black version with woven front grille and modest script branding looks like the guitar amps of yesteryear. At $199.99 (was $299.99), it’s definitely a fair price for what you get.
The top mounted brass knobs are immediately noticeable, one for volume, one for bass and one for treble – all grooved for easy grip and lit by soft red LEDs that glow just enough in the dark. When you press the central button to skip or pause you’ll notice the previous/next functions from the previous generation – a minor but welcome improvement for those of us who fumble in the dark. No touchscreen or voice instructions here, Marshall keeps it old school with a 3.5mm aux input on top for wired sources and Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless streams up to 30 feet away.
- RE-ENGINEERED WIDER STEREO SOUNDSTAGE: This generation of the home line-up has an even wider soundstage than before, delivering immersive Marshall...
- PAIR, PLAY AND TURN IT UP: These speakers are straight to business, so you can just pair and play without the hassle of a complex set-up.
- NEXT-GENERATION BLUETOOTH: Generation III is ready for the future of Bluetooth technology and has been built to deliver next-generation Bluetooth...
Inside, a 30W woofer is paired with two 15W tweeters firing outwards, delivering 60W of sound through waveguides developed from the Acton II. That configuration spreads the sound across the room, 45Hz to 20kHz, digging deeper into the bass than before without muddying the mids. Dynamic Loudness kicks in at lower volumes to keep things balanced and Placement Compensation lets you adjust for near wall or corner placement using the app. What was the result? A V-shaped profile that boosts the lows and highs just enough to get you moving while keeping the quiet bits under control.
When you fire up the Marshall Bluetooth app, you’ll see simple controls for further shaping the sound. Adjust EQ sliders to create custom curves, set sleep timers or download over the air updates that include new Bluetooth features as they come. Night Mode reduces unexpected spikes – perfect for movie nights – and the app’s positioning options fine tune the output based on your room. It’s not audiophile software but it covers the basics without clutter and the speaker connects quickly to phones or laptops.
