Marshall Heston 60 Review

Introduction

Marshall’s audio heritage needs no introduction. In recent years, it has become a staple option for Bluetooth speakers and headphones, but it’s not the first brand that comes to mind when I think of home theatre. Perhaps that should change, because the Heston 60 is seriously impressive.

For starters, it’s one of the best-looking soundbars I have laid eyes on. It comes complete with signature nods to Marshall’s classic guitar amps, but it’s not all style and no substance. With no less than 7 drivers, Atmos support, and Wi-Fi streaming, this is a feature-packed soundbar.

It’s also thoughtfully designed, with a compact footprint that will fit most living rooms, and a dual-mode wall-mountable design with some clever magnetic touches.

The question is, what’s it like to live with? I hooked the Heston 60 up to my TV, and it has been handling my movie, TV, and music consumption for the past couple of weeks. Here’s how I got on.

Design

• Guitar-amp-inspired design
• Fabric upper, leather-effect sides
• Analogue, digital, and wireless connectivity

The Heston 60 is easily one of the nicest-looking soundbars I have tested. Like the rest of the Marshall speaker lineup, it takes styling cues from the brand’s vintage guitar amps, complete with a metal logo, fabric grille, and leather-effect sides.

Most soundbars try to blend in, without making too much of a statement, and the Heston 60 takes a bold leap in the opposite direction. It’ll have any rock-and-roll fan salivating, and if the black model isn’t eye-catching enough, the cream versiom turns the retro charm up to 11.

The only thing that’s missing from this guitar-amp-inspired chassis is a nice tactile knob. The Heston 60 opts for golden buttons instead, which I thought was a shame. That said, if you opt for the larger Heston 120, you do get a few to twiddle with. In any case, you probably aren’t going to use them much because using your TV remote or the Marshall app is much more convenient.

The Heston 60 can either be sat on your TV stand or mounted on the wall, and Marshall has been very clever with the design. Both the Marshall logo and the panel surrounding the controls are magnetic, and they can be popped off and flipped around so they remain legible, no matter where the soundbar is placed.

The inputs are all hidden behind a pop-off plastic panel on the rear, which helps keep cables neat. Connection to the TV is handled by an HDMI eARC port, there’s a 3.5mm AUX input, and an RCA output for connecting a wired sub. There’s also a USB-C port, which is just for charging other devices, and Bluetooth 5.3 and dual-band Wi-Fi for your wireless needs.

The buttons on the top panel allow you to switch source, select a sound preset, play and pause your music, and adjust the volume. There’s no remote included, but since it connects over eARC, you can use your standard TV remote to adjust the volume, and the Marshall app can do everything else.

This is a relatively compact soundbar that pairs nicely with TVs under 50-inches. It’s only 73cm long, so it might look a little off if you have a massive set, but for what it’s worth, I still felt it looked good in front of my 55-inch TV.

Features

• Marshall companion app
• AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect
• Dolby Atmos and DTS-X support

When it comes to listening to the TV, the Heston 60 simply connects via eARC, but it also gives you plenty of other options for music playback. Plus, it has a built-in microphone and can calibrate itself to sound its best in your particular living room.

Most of the settings need to be adjusted with the Marshall companion app, available for both Android and iOS. It’s a fairly simple app, but it’s very intuitive and contains everything you’re likely to need.

You can use the app to connect the soundbar to your Wi-Fi, and then you’ll be able to cast music to it via Google Cast, AirPlay, Spotify, or Tidal. Of course, the soundbar also has Bluetooth and an AUX port, so you can connect it to just about anything.

If you decide to invest in Marshall’s Heston 200 wireless subwoofer, you can also use the app to set up wireless pairing and adjust the phase control, crossover frequency, and output power. If you fancy using a different sub, that’s no problem, as there’s a wired RCA output for that. Of course, third-party subs will only work with a wire, and you won’t get the matching looks, but it’s nice that Marshall gives you the option.

I was a little disappointed to learn that there’s no support for rear channels, nor are there any wireless multiroom options. The Heston 60 covers the basics well, but the ecosystem is not as expandable as competitors like the Sonos Beam Gen 2 or Bluesound Pulse Cinema Mini.

When it comes to surround sound decoding, the Heston 60 supports both DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. Plus, it has tweeters on the top surface, so in theory, it’ll actually give the sound a sense of height, rather than approximating it with virtualization.

Sound Quality

• 5.1 configuration
• 5x full-range drivers, 2x woofers
• Optional wireless subwoofer

I have been testing the Marshall Heston 60 in two different configurations, first on its own, as an all-in-one unit, and secondly in combination with the Heston 200 wireless subwoofer.

Let’s start with how the soundbar sounds on its own. For starters, there’s a good amount of bass, so it’s perfectly feasible to use it without a sub. It’s a powerful little soundbar, and you can really crank it up without worrying about distortion.

For movies and TV, it sounds great. Vocals are clear, highs are detailed, and the built-in woofers provide enough rumble to give action scenes a sense of weight and impact.

My only complaint is that, despite supporting Dolby Atmos decoding, the surround-sound effect isn’t the most convincing. Both my usual Sonos PlayBase and the Bluesound Pulse Cinema Mini that I tested provide a much more immersive and “3D” soundscape.

The Heston 60 projects a sound that’s wider than its physical dimensions, but regardless of the source, it still sounds like it’s coming from the bar. Plus, with no option to add rear channels, there’s not really any way to improve that.

To be clear, it still sounds awesome, it’s just that competitors provide a more convincing surround effect. What competitors might struggle to match, though, is the musical performance.

The Heston 60 sounds lovely with all genres of music, and it can easily pull double duty as a hi-fi replacement, not just a TV sound booster. It’s a warmer sound, with lots of low-end thump, the vocals sound superb, and higher notes are detailed without ever sounding shouty or shrill.

For music listening, you probably don’t need a sub, unless you’re really into DnB or other genres that delve into deep sub-bass territory, as the low end is already impressive. However, for movies and TV, it makes a notable difference.

Explosions and the tense rumbles of movie scores have so much more impact with the Heston 200 in tow. If you’re an avid movie watcher, you’ll definitely notice the difference, and I’d imagine most will feel it’s worth the cost of entry.

The Heston 200 isn’t a cheap add-on. It currently retails for around £430, but I like that you have the flexibility to buy it at a later date. Plus, if you’re not so bothered about the styling and wireless connection, you could get similar results from a cheaper wired sub.

Should you buy it?

FAQs