Marshall multi-room: are you ready to rock?! Across several rooms of your house via Wi-Fi?! We can't hear you!

Using Spotify Connect! Google AirPlay! Google Chromecast! Woah yeah!

Duncan Bell
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published
in News

Marshall makes some of the world's best amplifiers for rock gigs, and it's also carved out a decent niche in the hotly-fought headphone and Bluetooth speaker markets. Woooooah yeah!

Now it's taking the obvious next step and moving up to Wi-Fi, multi-room streaming, courtesy of three new speakers: Acton Multi-room, Stanmore Multi-room and Woburn Multi-room. AAAAALRIGHT NOW!

Marshall's consumer audio products have a slightly bad reputation, as some people who are fans of the brand's concert gear feel that they're made to lower quality standards, by third parties.

Well, of course they are. Duh.

The fact is, within the cost constraints imposed by the consumer market, some excellent headphones and Bluetooth speakers have come out under the Marshall banner. That's particularly true if you're into rock, rap and anything with a bit of oomph. The very distinctive, retro-rocker styling means they stand out a mile visually, too. 

From what I've heard of the mid-size Stanmore so far, this follows in the usual Marshall vein, with a sound tuned for maximum attack (with a nicely done, faux-analogue kind of atmos), and volume that quite literally goes up to 11. Guitar-amp-style bass and treble knobs allow for further sonic tinkering.

The multi-room works really well because it's the exact same system used on these Urbanears speakers – because, despite the very different, hipster styling, they're actually produced by the same team.

That means not only can you use AirPlay, Google Chromecast or Spotify Connect with these things, you can also use the Marshall app – or press a button on the speaker – to instantly link together multiple speakers.

There's also a 3.5mm line in and – on the Stanmore and Woburn – even a proper, phono one. You can plug in a (line level) turntable or other input and then multi-room that around your home. There's also a potentially very handy knob to switch between 7 presets; either Spotify playlists or web radio stations can be assigned.

Clearly, if you're not into the look of Marshall's speakers, the tech cleverness and very decent (and loud) audio will count for nought, but for those about to ROCK (in multiple rooms of you abode, via Wi-Fi), we salute you.

Marshall Multi-room speakers are on sale now. Pricing: Acton £319, Stanmore £399, Woburn ('coming soon') £539

Duncan Bell
Duncan Bell

Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His current brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his. In his long and varied lifestyle-tech career he is one of the few people to have been a fitness editor despite being unfit and a cars editor for not one but two websites, despite being unable to drive. He also has about 400 vacuum cleaners, and is possibly the UK's leading expert on cordless vacuum cleaners, despite being decidedly messy. A cricket fan for over 30 years, he also recently become T3's cricket editor, writing about how to stream obscure T20 tournaments, and turning out some typically no-nonsense opinions on the world's top teams and players.

Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years. 

A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."

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