Soundbar Tester's Preferred Pick of 2025 Bucks Industry Giants Sonos, Bose, and Sony
The Marshall Heston 120 soundbar is making waves in the audio industry with its distinctive design inspired by classic Marshall guitar amps and its strong focus on both music playback and home cinema performance.
Music Playback Features
The soundbar delivers a warm, bass-rich sound that does not require an additional subwoofer, making it robust for music listening. It supports a wide range of music streaming options, including Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, and Airable internet radio, enabling versatile wireless music playback from various devices and services.
The soundbar produces smooth stereo music with excellent channel separation, a rare quality for an all-in-one soundbar setup, lending clarity and spatial precision to stereo tracks. With 11 active drivers, including tweeters, full-range drivers, subwoofers, and up-firing mid-woofers, the Heston 120 delivers detailed and dynamic sound reproduction.
Design and Build
The Heston 120 features an iconic vintage Marshall design with golden metallic control knobs, a woven grey fabric grille, PU leather sides, and a prominent front-facing Marshall logo, giving it a stylish and classy appearance reflective of Marshall’s amplifier heritage. The soundbar is constructed in a solid, heavyweight chassis (7 kg), which contributes to its premium feel and durability.
The soundbar measures 110 cm wide and has a slim but deep profile, designed to sit nicely under most TVs without obstructing the screen. Controls are prominently placed on top in amp-style dials and knobs, distinguishing it from many other soundbars that hide controls, enhancing the tactile and aesthetic experience.
Additional Advantages
Besides music, the Heston 120 supports 5.1.2 speaker configuration with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, ensuring immersive surround sound for movies as well as music. It features HDMI eARC, HDMI 2.1 input (with 4K/120Hz passthrough), RCA for turntable connection, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB-C, and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, ensuring compatibility with modern AV equipment and various audio sources.
Dialogue clarity and vocal intelligibility are highly rated, beneficial for both cinematic and vocal music content. The soundbar is designed with user-replaceable components, supporting easy repair, reflecting a sustainability focus from Marshall.
In conclusion, the Marshall Heston 120 stands out for combining classic amp-inspired aesthetics with high-quality, rich, bass-forward music playback and broad streaming capability, all housed in a premium build that appeals to users seeking both style and sonic performance.
For up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews, be sure to follow Tom's Guide on Google News, which has tested and praised the Marshall Heston 120 as one of the best soundbars in 2025. While the Sonos Arc Ultra may be better at Dolby Atmos, the Marshall Heston 120 brings everything together so well that it's the better all-round product.
The Marshall Heston 120 soundbar not only offers a warm, bass-rich sound for music playback but also supports various streaming options like Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, Airable internet radio, and more, making it a versatile gadget in the realm of technology.
With its vintage design reminiscent of classic Marshall guitar amps and its robust focus on both music playback and home cinema performance, the Heston 120 can be considered a unique fusion of technology and musical heritage.
