Verdict
An outside verbalizer with a plenteous , rattling sound and stylish tone ; if you could deal with its size and heft the Marshall Middleton is an enjoyable portable speaker , though it ’s pricey for what it offers .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
With the Middleton , Marshall ’s line - up of outdoor speakers appears complete with this loudspeaker system – as the name implies – slotting somewhere in the centre of the range .
There ’s now a choice of the Willen , Emberton II , Kliburn II , Stockwell II , Middleton , and if you wanted to go bigger , though not as portable , theTufton Bluetooth verbaliser . That ’s a bevy of alternative from diminished to large to take your tunes from out the house to the great outdoors .
The ‘ in-between ’ minor is often the one that needs to vie for attention . It ’s sure enough one of the biggest in Marshall ’s portable speaker range , but does it have the chop to be the best ? Here are my thoughts .
Design
Visually , the Marshall Middleton takes the appearing of the Emberton II ’s boastful brother . I described the Emberton as the sizing of a bar of butter , while the Middleton is very much a brick .
If the Emberton serial could be taken to the park , beach , or even tuck into luggage to be take oversea , the Middleton ’s size of it have it less various . The position you ’d likely take it are closer to home unless it ’s going in the backseat of a railcar for a road head trip .
With dimensions of 109 x 230 x 95 mm ( HWD ) and a weight of 1.8 kilogram , the Middleton is a big speaker to control in one hand , vainglorious than the comparableJBL boot 5 . In its favor is that it comes with a carry strap that can be fastened via a neat clasp and that does process to make it find less backbreaking when stock it about .
It ’s once again a typical looking at endeavour , the black and brass goal of the sample I have is an option along with a cream finish .
As is common with most of Marshall ’s wireless speakers and headphone , there ’s the gold finished multi - directional , multi - function knob for power the verbalizer on and off , adjusting book and wiggling left over or right to hop-skip tracks . If you ’re not used to it , it can be fiddly at first but becomes relatively easy to operate on by giving it a nudge .
It carry anIP67 ratingthat provides complete shelter against the ingress of dust along with protective covering against liquids , including submersion into weewee up to 1 m deep .
The expose 3.5 mm andUSB - Cports on the rear give me a little pause for thought as to whether you ’d desire to totally dunk this speaker into a consistence of water . There ’s no tablet put up in the speaker ’s accessory to cover it up .
On the top surface there ’s a Bluetooth push , a battery / volume degree indicator , and bass and treble command to adjust the audio execution . The Middleton is a solid - feeling utterer , inflexible and tough in a way that gives the impression of being unbreakable .
Like the Emberton II , Marshall says the mental synthesis of the speaker comprises of 55 % post - consumer reprocess charge card from used electronics , self-propelling sparkle concealment , and pee bottle . They also state that the verbalizer is 100 % costless from PVC plastics .
Features
Marshall states that shelling life is about 20 + hours , less than the Emberton II and around the same as the Stockwell II . The app only registers 10 % drops , so it ’s tricky to estimate just how exact the battery sprightliness is lose
Streaming from Spotify and Amazon Music at 50 % volume registered somewhere in the neighborhood of a 15 - 20 % drop over a 90 - minute full stop . 20 + hours does n’t seem potential unless at lowly volumes .
The Middleton does have a trick up its arm as it can roleplay as a power bank to buck a mobile gadget through its USB - C port . Fast - charging is useable with a 20 - minute top up providing two more hours of playback .
Bluetooth support equates to v5.1 but surprisingly only the SBC codec is available for streaming audio , which is the low quality available . You shouldn’tnecessarilyfear for the audio performance , however , as the quality of the Speaker themselves will have the greatest effect .
The constancy of the wireless connection is fantabulous , with no dissolution or stutter when I placed the speaker at one end of my garden and walked aside to the other end , which was more than twenty metres from the speaker .
The Middleton is also capable of hit an imposingly loud book without distortion or shirk on clarity and particular . This is probably down to its built - in Dynamic Loudness function that claims to adjust the utterer ’s yield at every volume level .
Then there is Marshall ’s True Stereophonic feature , which it distinguish as “ multi - guiding stereoscopic picture sound ” . What that means is that you get a consistent performance from whichever counselling you ’re confront the speaker unit – the perforation on its side are a clue as to how that sound is emit from the Middleton .
I notice it works well , the sound from the front and back is consistent , and there ’s not a huge downshift listening from the sides , although facing its front or back offer the best strait .
The Middleton bear out the Marshall Bluetooth app , but features are sparse . There ’s the Stack Mode where multiple Middleton speakers can be connected , EQ tuning for treble and basso ( from -5 to +5 ) , bombardment life history indicator and playback controls but that ’s it . It ’s simple to use but aside from the Stack Mode the remainder can be done via onboard controls .
Sound Quality
Like the Emberton II , the Middleton is a rich - sounding speaker with big bass and surprisingly bright treble performance , taking on what sounds to be a V - determine tuning with regards to the frequency chain .
There are obvious benefits from the leap in size to the larger speaker . The scale and sizing of the soundstage is enlarged on the Middleton and that provides more room for instruments that on the Emberton II would be on the fringes of the soundstage .
There ’s improved separation of vocals and grim frequencies so they are n’t always competing for attention , and that also permit more space for vocals to exist and be projected from the speaker . Playing Siouxsie and the Banshees ’ Face to Face and Snoop Dogg / Pharell ’s Beautiful , there ’s more room for vocals to be expressed .
Those song are describe with clearness and smoothness , though levels of midrange detail and definition are n’t the sharpest or clearest with a Spotify stream . The Middleton does n’t sound as ‘ hi - fi ’ as theBang Olufsen Beosound A1 2ndGen – but its energetic , and at times dynamic , sound carries welcome appeal .
With bass voice - heavy tracks like Room 5 ’s Make Luv and Jodeci ’s Feenin ’ there ’s full depth and weight to the depleted frequencies , but even with less bassy track ( Michael Jackson ’s Leave Me Alone ) I hear a more or less thicker sound signature . I found that take the bass down by -3 still allowed for strong , punchy bass output signal but with a short more clarity to the midrange .
Bass falls away somewhat in out-of-door environment , but that applies to about all portable verbaliser in an heart-to-heart distance without walls to reflect and reward the phone . Bass output is still hard and weighty , and there ’s always the option of increasing bass voice through the EQ preferences .
With an Ultra HD flow of Faye Webster ’s Better Distractions fromAmazon Musicand the percussion is punchy and weighty , cymbal wreck have decently sharp tone , and the high frequency are reproduced brightly . With Lily Allen ’s The Fear there ’s that warm , punchy bass present again , the track ’s active reach is conveyed solidly , and the speaker captures the birdcall ’s bouncy , propelling sense of energy .
It ’s a more self-assertive , warm introduction than the lucidity of the Stockwell II affords to the same tracks , and it has a bigger impact at either end of the frequency grasp . For some , the Middleton ’s fun approach to audio may be the determiner .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
Weighty bass voice , shiny three-fold , clear and smooth vocal ; the Middleton ’s sound is one for casual , mainstream hearer .
As playfulness as the Middleton sounds , there are speakers such as theB&O Beosound A1 2ndGen , Sonos Roam , andJBL Charge 5that sound better and are less expensive .
Final Thoughts
The Marshall Middleton is , in effect , a bigger rendering of theEmbertonII . Similar looks , a rich , more lively strait , if you discover the Emberton too small for parties and outside gatherings , the Middleton accomplish that character .
Price is a factor , and at £ 269/$299 it ’s a considerable jump above the rest of Marshall ’s portable speaker ambit with only theKilburn IIandTuftonincurring more disbursement .
And it ’s also up against an influx of portable verbalizer that declare oneself both Bluetooth and Wi - Fi connectivity in the ( smaller)Sonos RoamandJBL Charge 5Wi - Fi . Both these are either cheaper , or around the same cost , and as fun as the Middleton sounds , there are loudspeaker such asB&O Beosound A1 2ndGenthat deliver good audio quality and cost less .
So the Marshall Middleton is n’t short of competition , and its sizing counts against it if you ’re after atruly portable speaker . Portable speakers with Bluetooth and Wi - Fi gestate more versatility , while the Middleton is a more straightforward portable speaker .
Nevertheless , the Marshall Middleton is a likeable verbalizer with a fun , rattling sound , and one that sounds better if you give it serious timber audio . But as a halfway child , I ’m not certain it ’s quite as sure of its place within the family unit .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every wireless speaker we survey thoroughly over an extended period of time . We use industriousness standard test to liken feature properly . We ’ll always recite you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to reexamine a merchandise .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance .
FAQs
The Middleton only supports SBC Bluetooth , which is the same as the Emberton II speaker . The Stockwell II endure Bluetooth codecs up to aptX.
