Marshall Tufton Speaker Review

Like other offerings from the brand, the Marshall Tufton speaker has a stylish retro design. This speaker, in particular, is modeled after music industry gear with an amp-like body and guitar strap-inspired handle. It has a tall frame with a metal mesh grille covering the drivers, and it's finished in leather-textured plastic, which mimics the Tolex covering on many guitar amps. You can find it in either 'Black' or 'Black and Brass,' like our unit, which has brass controls and accents.

Although this speaker is larger and heavier than many portable Bluetooth options, its detachable strap makes it easy to carry with one hand. For context, it's about half the size of the Marshall Woburn III, a wired-only home speaker meant mainly for stationary use. It's also battery-powered, so you won't have to worry about finding an outlet to use it.

This speaker has a decent build quality. Its body, which is primarily made of plastic, sits on four rubber feet. While it's not rated for impact resistance, hard plastic corner guards help protect it against bumps. That said, the mesh metal grille in front has some give where the drivers are located, so avoid impacts to this area. The rear panel is securely attached with screws and features a bass port as well as a vent for the rear speaker. An IPX2 rating for water resistance means it can handle light rain, and a rubber flap covering the AC input adds additional protection against the elements. However, this speaker isn't meant to join you poolside, and it's not the best choice for a day at the beach. If you're looking for something dust-tight and submersible, check out the Marshall Middleton.

The Marshall Tufton doesn't have very many controls. You'll find three large, clearly labeled knobs on top of the speaker that control the volume, bass, and treble levels. They have indents along the sides to make them easy to turn, but they're still a bit stiff. Next to these, there's an embossed Bluetooth button and an LED to indicate power settings. You can press the Bluetooth button to wake the speaker from sleep mode, hold it for two seconds to enter pairing mode, or hold it for seven seconds to perform a factory reset. On the other side of the knobs, there's an LED bar to indicate the battery level. Unfortunately, there are no controls for audio playback on the speaker, so you'll have to use your connected device to manage this. You'll hear audio feedback when the speaker connects or disconnects from Bluetooth or when you plug it into a power source. There's no chime when you reach minimum or maximum volume.

• Marshall Tufton speaker
• Quick Start Guide
• Legal & Safety pamphlet
• AC charging cable (1.8 m / 5.9 ft)

The Marshall Tufton's frequency response accuracy is not bad. It uses a subwoofer, two full-range drivers (one of which is facing the back of the speaker), and a tweeter. With the bass and treble knobs both set to five (out of 10), it has an extreme V-shaped sound profile with elevated bass and treble ranges and recessed mids. The boost throughout the bass range results in a deep, boomy sound, while the heightened treble adds plenty of brightness but can also verge on harsh and piercing. Meanwhile, the recessed mid-range means that vocals and lead instruments can sound distant and lack clarity.

The speaker displays a V-shaped sound profile even when the bass and treble knobs are set to their minimum values. Unfortunately, there's no additional EQ available to tweak the sound further. At maximum volume, this response flattens out a bit, though. You may also notice a slight change in frequency response depending on which input you use.

There are three amps in total: one for the subwoofer, one for the mid-range drivers, and one for the tweeter. The manufacturer states that when the volume, bass, and treble knobs are all set to a high level, audio clipping can occur. We didn't experience this in our testing, but it's something to keep in mind.

The Marshall Tufton has a very good soundstage. It can play stereo content without downmixing to mono, so you'll notice some separation between the left and right channels. That said, the drivers are very close together, so the effect is relatively subtle. While it doesn't have a 360-degree design, the rear-facing speaker does a decent job of minimizing directivity; however, you'll still notice some changes in the way audio sounds as you move around the speaker.

This speaker's dynamics performance is alright. It gets loud enough to fill a large room or outdoor space with sound, but there's some compression present as you turn up the volume, which affects the clarity of its output. We also found that the bass and treble knobs affected the volume level; as you turn them up, the maximum volume increases slightly.

This speaker has a fantastic battery performance. Its battery life is advertised to last approximately 20 hours at medium volume, and in our standardized tests, it lasted 17.5 hours. We were able to fully charge it in just over two hours, and the manufacturer also says you can get four hours of playtime with a 20-minute charge, which is handy when you're in a hurry. There's also a power-saving feature: the speaker will enter sleep mode after 10 minutes of inactivity. You can wake it by pressing the Bluetooth button.

You can connect a device and play audio through the 3.5mm (1/8") AUX connection on the speaker's back. We found that this connection offers very low latency, so you won't notice any lag.

This speaker has outstanding Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair up to two devices, so it's easy to switch between audio sources, and its long range means you can move around freely without worrying about disconnecting. It also has low latency with both Android and iOS devices, so you can watch videos on a paired device without noticeable lip sync issues. However, various apps and devices compensate differently for latency, so your experience may vary.