Quick Summary
Marshall has announced updates for its Acton and Stanmore home speakers.
The new speakers benefit from improved sound quality with new tweeters and bass port, while sporting classic Marshall design.
Marshall has announced updates to its Acton and Stanmore speakers bringing improvements to the sound quality and the design to make a better all-round home speaker.
While Marshall's Bluetooth speakers are popular, like the Kilburn III I recently reviewed, the company has a range of home speakers too. These don't include a battery, so that space is given over to boosting the audio performance.
We were impressed with the Acton III and Stanmore III when we reviewed them, but the updated Acton IV and Stanmore IV have a little more sound to offer.
Key to these updates is the boost in sound quality, with wider tweeters and waveguides, while there's a new bass port too. That not only widens the soundstage, but delivers cleaner bass while doing so.
At the same time, Dynamic Loudness ensures that the balance of the music remains regardless of the volume.
As these are home speakers, they are equipped with a cable and plug which attaches on the bottom of the cabinet, so the speaker can be pushed right up against the wall without having to deal with a cable sticking out of the back. This adds convenience when placing these speakers.
The Acton IV is the smaller of the pair, but the main difference (apart from size) between these speakers is that the Stanmore has a 5-inch woofer, expanding the frequency range slightly and offering increased volume.
But both offer a 60W Class D woofer combined with two 25W Class D tweeter amplifiers. And each sport a pair of 0.75-inch tweeters, while the Acton IV has a 4-inch woofer.
Both exhibit distinctive Marshall design with a faux leather wrapped body and a brass top plate housing the controls. That also houses the M button that can be customised to switch EQs, or to activate Spotify Tap. Customisation for the M button can be found in the companion Marshall app on your smartphone.
There are RCA connections for those wanting to hook up a turntable, as well as AUX, while they support Bluetooth including Auracast to sync across multiple speakers.
The Marshall Acton IV will retail at £259.99 in the UK and the Stanmore IV will be £349.99. Both will be available in black and cream colours.
