As we already said, Marshall has a pretty set style when it comes to design, so its speakers don’t really look very different from one another. But first, that’s not a bad thing. The grilles have an industrial, classic look that will never go out of style, and the classic Marshall logo is almost always in the middle of the grille. So, this is the Acton III’s picture, and it looks good in it. Even though this speaker isn’t very small, it’s still small enough to fit on a bookshelf or sit on a surface without taking up too much space. That would be too big if it got any bigger. It comes in black, cream, and brown, but we like the most classic black style the best, just like with all Marshall speakers. While the Acton II and III were good, the Acton III is better because it has better controls.
There are some of the best physical controls we can remember using on a speaker on top of the speaker. You can change the volume, treble, and bass levels with classic dials, and you can pause and skip tracks with a smart control knob. A brass switch that sticks out is the star of the show. It turns the Acton III on and off. It’s pretty much the best switch we’ve touched in years—sturdy and well-made, mechanical and incredibly satisfying. It might not change how you use the speaker, but little things like that are huge for user satisfaction.
[content-egg-block template=offers_logo hide=price]Specifications
- Brand Marshall
- Model Name Acton III
- Speaker Type Bluetooth Speaker
- Connectivity Technology Bluetooth
- Special Feature Bass Boost
Where to Get Marshall Acton III?
Of course, a Marshall speaker sounds best when it’s turned on and playing music loudly enough to fill the room. Marshall says that the only reason it made a third Acton speaker is so that its soundstage could be fixed completely. The new tweeters are better angled to send sound upwards and outwards, and the Dynamic Loudness system changes the volume of your music on the fly to keep the balance, which should make it easier to listen. Although we didn’t hear Dynamic Loudness in a way that changed the game, we can say that the Acton III is a truly beautiful piece of audio gear.
Some people might want it because of its loud volume, especially those who like Marshall’s history of wild live acts and crashing late-night sound. It’s not out of balance, though, and no one range has passed it. This gives the bass a chunky sound that works well on tracks with a lot of layers, but it stays in the right proportions so it doesn’t get too loud.
The Acton III is small enough that you might think it has a battery, but it is definitely a wall-powered speaker, so that should be something you think about if you want to buy it. Therefore, there is no need to talk about battery life. The Acton III doesn’t really offer anything new, other than the sound improvements we already talked about. It’s only a Bluetooth speaker, and the latest version of Bluetooth (5.2) makes connections really stable. In our tests, they stayed strong over long distances. For people who want an analogue backup, there is also a 3.5mm input. The wire plugs right into the top of the speaker.