The Zound Industries/Marshall Amplifiers collaboration has made a teeny addition to its line of Bluetooth speakers. The Emberton is water-resistant, offers over 20 hours of playback per charge and promises to throw out 360-degree sound "that only Marshall can deliver."
Marshall is of course best known for its guitar amps, but branched out into on-ear and in-ear headphones a while back, and then more consumer audio gear, including Bluetooth speakers. The latest to join the party was the compact Uxbridge Voice back in March, but now there's an even smaller family member in the shape of the Emberton.
Typically, small speakers can be a bit lacking but there are exceptions – such as the excellent JBL Flip series. At 2.68 x 6.3 x 2.99-in (68 x 160 x 76-mm), the Emberton is roughly in the same size class and is reckoned to pack quite a punch thanks to two Class D amplifiers powering two 10-W full-range drivers and something Marshall is calling True Stereophonic sound. The portable speaker throws out multi-directional sound that's undergone some digital wizardry to separate the spatial content of stereo recordings for a sound that's "louder and larger than its size."
We naturally can't comment on the performance without hearing it for ourselves, but we've been impressed with the headphones and speakers we have tried (in fact, a pair of first gen Major headphones still find a place in the gig bag to this day).
Aesthetically, this speaker is every bit a Marshall – from the black, white, gray and gold color palette to the amp-like grille out front. It rocks a silicone exterior and that grille is all metal, and the Emberton comes with an IPX7 rating, meaning you can dunk it under a meter of water for 30 minutes if you want to and it will still work when it comes up for air.
Wireless connection to a source device is over Bluetooth 5.0, though supported codecs are not mentioned, playback is controlled using a multi-directional gold knob up top, the battery is good for over 20 hours per charge and it tips the scales at 700 g (24.6 oz).
The Marshall Emberton is on sale from today for US$149.
Product page: Emberton