Marshall recently updated its Bluetooth speaker lineup, with the Stanmore II Bluetooth falling in the middle of three new options in terms of size, price, and power. The Stanmore II’s aesthetics will not disappoint fans of the iconic Marshall look. Sonically, the speaker is excellent, but when compared to its more expensive sibling, the Woburn II Bluetooth, it falls short. The Woburn II Bluetooth, which includes an extra woofer, isn’t cheap, but it delivers, whereas the Stanmore II Bluetooth, while not cheap, feels a little overpriced for what you get. It’s a good speaker, but if you can save some money and get the Woburn II, you won’t be disappointed.
The Marshall Stanmore II Voice has an antique appearance. It’s a far cry from other unassuming smart speakers like Google Home or Amazon Echo. It’s a beast in terms of size. It has a footprint similar to the Google Home Max, measuring 13.78 x 7.68 x 7.28 inches (350 x 195 x 185 mm). This isn’t a speaker you’d want to hide away on a shelf, despite how attractive it is. It weighs 10.3 pounds (4.75 kg), so we wouldn’t call it portable; additionally, the lack of a rechargeable battery puts that notion to rest.
While it may appear to be ready to plug in a guitar, the Marshall Stanmore II Voice’s internals are far more sophisticated. This is a Bluetooth (5.0 and aptX) speaker with Wi-Fi and the dulcet tones of Google Assistant built into the wood and vinyl exterior. To complete the Marshall look, there’s some brass plating, nice LED lighting, and twiddly knobs made of rubber and metal, as opposed to the brass ones used on the original Stanmore.
When turned up, the Marshall Stanmore II Voice has a bold, brazen sound that fills the room, but not at the expense of audio quality. When a song allows it, the bass can be thunderous, hitting with a thud, but there is still enough room in the mids and trebles for a song to breathe.
For obvious reasons, the majority of the tracks we tried on the speaker were guitar-based. The cowboy jangle of Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive was far from dead. Johnny B Goode by Chuck Berry was, well, better than good. The song’s iconic guitar riff sounded immediate and surprisingly fresh when played on a Gibson guitar and (whisper it) through a Fender amp, then when the band kicked in, the amp served the bigger sound well.