Marshall's Latest Sound Systems Are Making Me Reconsider Splurging On Bose

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Marshall debuts nan Heston 60 compact soundbar and Sub 200 outer subwoofer.
• The Heston 60 features spatial audio formats, wireless audio streaming, and an array of Bluetooth audio codecs.
• Both products are connected preorder, pinch readiness connected Sept. 23.

In June, Marshall released its first location audio product, nan Heston 120 soundbar, promising consumers that much products successful nan Heston lineup were connected nan way. Now, Marshall's lineup includes nan $700 compact Heston 60 soundbar and nan $600 Sub 200 outer subwoofer. 

Also: Marshall's first soundbar rocks arsenic a mainstream replacement - here's my take

Marshall's Heston 120 was an exceptional location audio debut, easy competing pinch our favourite standalone soundbar from Sonos, nan Arc Ultra. Marshall's compact Heston 60 and flagship outer subwoofer purpose to solidify nan brand's position successful nan modular location audio market, offering consumers much products to fresh their space.

Heston 60 

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The Heston 60 is simply a compact soundbar compared to nan larger, flagship Heston 120. It has 7 Class D amplifiers, 2 three-inch onboard woofers, and 5 one-and-one-quarter-inch full-range drivers. Like nan Heston 120, nan Heston 60 features Dolby Atmos and DTS:X spatial audio formats. It supports Bluetooth pinch Auracast, and Wi-Fi 6 for Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, and Tidal Connect wireless streaming.

Also: JBL's newest speaker ushers successful a caller value category, appealing to broader user needs

The Heston 60 doesn't support arsenic galore wired audio playback options arsenic nan Heston 120, but still includes HDMI eARC, Aux in, Sub out, and USB-C. However, Marshall continues to perpetrate to appealing to euphony lovers, offering an array of compatible audio codecs, including ALAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA9, and more. 

The Heston 60 holds nan aforesaid unique Marshall creation elements arsenic nan Heston 120, including knurled knobs for tactile controls to lucifer nan company's iconic amps, polyurethane leather finishes, and a woven salt-and-pepper fret. 

Also: Google whitethorn yet motorboat a caller Home speaker aft 5 years - here's nan clue

Unlike nan Heston 120, nan Heston 60 comes pinch wall gromets for mounting, and nan soundbar's "Marshall" logo is magnetic and removable to favour nan user's preferred orientation. According to Marshall, nan Heston 60 has waveguides, a speaker building meant to power sound guidance and trim distortion, to sphere nan soundbar's audio capacity sloppy of its position. 

Sub 200

Marshall/ZDNET

The Sub 200 is Marshall's first outer subwoofer, offering customers further bass to complement their soundbar. Instead of Wi-Fi, it uses Bluetooth 5.3 LE wireless connectivity. Inside nan casing are two, five-and-one-quarter-inch woofers and 2 Class D amplifiers. The subwoofer's civilization presets, audio modes, and room calibration controls are housed successful nan Marshall app, wherever users tin besides entree their Marshall soundbar's settings and controls. 

Also: I did not expect this Marshall speaker to rival pricier Bose and Sonos models for illustration this

The Sub 200 abides by Marshall's creation characteristics, defined by beingness knob controls and grungy, rocker-inspired aesthetics. According to Marshall, nan Heston 120 and Sub 200 are self-repairable, pinch replaceable parts including nan Heston 60's fret, end-caps, drivers, and circuit boards, and nan Sub 200's fret, feet, drivers, and circuit boards. However, Marshall has not yet disclosed really overmuch spare parts will cost.

The Marshall Heston 60 and Sub 200 are disposable for preorder connected Marshall's website. They will beryllium disposable successful afloat connected Sept. 23 and astatine prime retailers connected Sept. 30. Both products are disposable successful Black and Cream.