I tried Marshall’s first soundbar, who competes the Sonos Arc Ultra with a reinforced design and huge Dolby Atmos Sound
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- The Marshall Heston 120 Soundbar is launched on 3 June 2025
- And it will reduce an almighty $ 1000 / £ 899
- Dolby Atmos, DTS: X and HDMI Passhrough
Marshall, known for its AMP-Making Heritage and Rock ‘N’ Roll-inspired speakers, takes his first steps in a completely new product category: Soundbars.
The very first soundbar of the audio brand, the Marshall Heston 120, will come to your living rooms from 3 June 2025 and will be available for an eye-watery $ 999 / £ 899 (approximately AU $ 1599). Marshall’s Dolby Atmos-Compatible Soundbar is more than 100 cm long suitable for the Best 55-inch TVs And up – and promises a “colossal audio experience” with both “compelling and spacious sound”.
However, it does not use separate sub- or back speakers to deliver this, with Marshall opting for an all-in-one design instead. As a result, it feels that this is a natural competitor of the excellent sounding Sonos Arc Ultrathat title ‘Best all-in-one soundbar’ in our guide for the Best Soundbars Available today.
Hands On with the Heston 120
I was lucky to be one of the first to hear the Marshall Heston 120 on Marshall’s Headquarters in Stockholm. First of all, I was hit by the luxury, retro design – something I have always loved to products such as the Marshall Monitor III ANC and the Marshall Emberton III.
The faux leather exterior hand combined with sleek golden details ensures that it stands out in a market full of thick black plastic bars.
There is also a lot of attention to detail with design. Marshall, for example, has installed three tactile dials for arranging volume, EQ and source. These use Haptic feedback for a satisfactory user experience and are made from serrated metal-nog a kink to Marshall’s AMP-related roots. There are also buttons for different sound modes such as music, film, night or voice.
But what you probably want to discover most is how Heston 120 sounded? Well, I only got a short demo in a room that almost mimics a living room. But from what I heard, this thing is pretty impressive.
Marshall showed off the possibilities of the Heston 120 in three sizes: stereo music; Dolby Atmos Music; and Dolby Atmos films. Ed Camphor, audio technology and coordination leader at Marshall Group, told me that “our focus was very much on getting a good level of Polish in every size”, and that certainly seemed to be the case.
When listening to stereo music, for example, I was immediately beaten with spicy, impactful bass – the kind that struggles so many sound bars to replicate, especially without the help of a special sub.
Dolby Atmos music also impressed me – when tuning bury a friend By Billie Eilish, vocal pans were accurately followed with messing, deep bass and spooky shouts that pierced.
Finally we have part of it Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace on Disney Plus. The directionalism of rising spaceships in one scene was delivered with precision, and the soundbar re -created large sound effects such as Stips that caught up and neatly crash, in a lifelike way. Unfortunately, the dialogue of Jar Jar Binks was crystal clear, all the way through the scene.
Of course these are just my first impressions of a demo, so if you want my full and unfiltered thoughts, you have to wait for my full review. That comes soon …
In the Nitty Gruizy …
Thus, in terms of technical specifications, the Marshall Heston 120 uses 11 active drivers, including height channels to catch the verticality of that is needed for ‘real’ Dolby Atmos and side channels for really extensive audio. In total you get a maximum power of 150 W in a 5.1.2 configuration. Of course there is Dolby Atmos compatibility for both films and music, but the Heston 120 also supports DTS: X -content, which is an advantage that it has compared to the relative to Sonos ARC Ultra (Sonos continues to avoid DTS support).
There are also so many ways to play through the Heston 120. There are HDMI EARC and HDMI passing gates (another plus it has the arch ultra, which only has one HDMI port), RCA Stereo and Mono Slots, as well as both Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6 compatibility.
You can play music Apple AirPlay 2 and Marshall have also integrated a series of streaming services, including Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Airable. These can also be bound by pre -set buttons for easy access. There is even Auracast.
Another nice little nugget from info is that Marshall will renew his accompanying app in combination with the launch of the Heston 120 Soundbar. This unlocks detailed EQ options, remote control of volume, source and sound modes, as well as chamber calibration options to get the best sound for your living space.
The app is in fact worked out in such a way that the Heston 120 does not come with a separate remote control – everything you need is your phone and you are ready to go.
Marshall is perhaps launching the Heston 120 as an independent soundbar, but it has confirmed that you later split the Heston sub 200-a separate Subwoofer-Kunt to really feel that low-end outburst.
Moreover, a smaller soundbar, the Heston 60, will be available for those who work with a little less space. Both will be released later in 2025 and we will certainly keep you informed with more details when they come.
The Marshall Heston 120 Soundbar is now available for pre-order and will be available from 3 June 2025 via Marshall’s own website. It will be available later with selected retailers from September 16, 2025.
Maybe you like it too
- Do you want to get a grip on the Marshall Heston 120 competition? Then view our list of the Best Dolby Atmos Soundbars
- Do you want a flashy new soundbar but work on a tight budget? Don’t be afraid – we covered you with our guide for the Best cheap soundbars
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