Marshall Woburn III

A home speaker with some serious heft

The largest of Marshall’s new Home series speakers, the Woburn III is relatively heavy at around 16lb and very clearly styled after the company’s legendary family of guitar amplifiers. Its finish is of high quality and though you wouldn’t guess, is PVC–free and also 70% recycled plastic, with beautifully machined brass on the top panel. It leans more towards a conventional notion of a speaker so there’s no Wi–Fi or smart features like voice commands, though it does have Bluetooth 5.2 both for streaming from devices and for managing settings. The companion iOS app allows firmware updates as well as control of a five-band software EQ wthat's user-configurable and also comes with some presets.

In addition to Bluetooth with its 30–foot range you'll find a 3.5mm aux input on the top panel and RCA phono plugs on the back, as well as an HDMI ARC input for use with a smart TV or as part of a home cinema system. Switchng between inputs is as simple as using the panel button, and you also get a track play/skip control here as well as guitar amp–style volume, bass and treble dials. Internally, the woofer has a dedicated 90W amplifier, the two mid drivers have a 15W amps and the two tweeters do as well for a total of five amplifiers.

This use of multiple drivers and amps and some clever acoustic design makes the Woburn III an amazing-sounding speaker. Bass is rich yet controlled and far weightier than you might expect from a relatively compact model such as this. Mids are crisp and direct, while the top end sparkles without ever sounding thin. It's also capable of some quite astonishing volume, maintaining focus well into the upper reaches of how loud you are ever likely to play it.

Features: Five separate amplifiers, Bluetooth, aux and HDMI, playback and EQ controls, Dynamic Loudness — adjusts the tonal balance depending on the volume

Price: $579.99

Powerful and detailed sound in a great–looking package.

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