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Gadget Review: The Emberton III creates the perfect rock-n-roll soundstage

The new portable Bluetooth speaker from the house of Marshall is a stylish device that offers a great balance of sound across musical genres

The portable Bluetooth speaker market is a space that is as crowded as a commuter train in Tokyo or Mumbai.

So how do you set yourself apart in this crowded market? You do it by using your legacy, long years of experience in understanding sound reproduction and the expertise gained from it — like Marshall has done for its new Emberton III small, portable Bluetooth speaker.

Marshall’s legendary status in music devices is well known to all who know and love music. It is after all the guitar amplifier of choice historically of some of the stalwarts of global pop music. If the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Slash and Yngwie Malmsteen swear by your expertise, then you know a thing or two about making music sound great.

Not too long ago, Marshall used this expertise to dip a toe into the popular consumer speaker stream of the market, found the going to be great and then dove right in, introducing wireless speakers of several sizes and capacities — from the large Woburn and Tufton to progressively smaller ones such as the Stanmore, Acton, Middleton and, now, the latest iteration of the Emberton — all sporting the classic, retro-inspired design stamp of Marshall’s legendary guitar amps.

As the latest, and one of the smallest, sound devices from the house of Marshall, the Emberton III carries on the brand’s rich traditions both inside and out. This portable Bluetooth speaker is a stylish little powerhouse that embodies the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll while promising a high-quality audio experience. With Marshall’s name synonymous with iconic guitar amplifiers and a legacy that resonates with music lovers everywhere, the Emberton III takes that legendary sound and packs it into a compact, portable format that’s just begging to be taken on your next adventure.

First off, let’s talk about aesthetics. The Emberton III is an absolute looker, with its classic Marshall design elements — think leather-like textured casing, brass accents and the signature Marshall logo. It’s the kind of speaker that you’d be proud to display on your coffee table, yet it’s rugged enough to take along to a picnic or a beach day. With a robust build and an IP67 water- and dust-proofing rating, it can withstand way more than splashes and the dust and sand of your desert camping drive, making it a reliable companion to take the party to outdoor venues.

Now, let’s get to the meat of the matter: the sound. The Emberton III boasts impressive audio clarity with a balanced sound profile. Whether you’re blasting classic rock, jazz, or even the latest pop hits, this little speaker delivers punchy bass, crisp highs, and a warm mid-range that fills the room with a rich soundstage.

We played our customary assortment of genres to put this speaker through its paces and came away very impressed with the results. The sound is surprisingly robust for its size and you can crank up the volume without experiencing distortion, which is a testament to its engineering. In fact, it’s perfect for both intimate gatherings and larger parties, ensuring that everyone can enjoy the music.

To get into the nitty-gritties of the sound, Marshall says that the Emberton III features “True Stereophonic, a unique form of multi-directional sound”, describing the feature as a stereo sound you’ve never heard before, enabling you to experience superior spatial and binaural sound that flows around you, filling any space.

The biggest test of this spatial, flowing and encompassing sound is of course classical music, and we played some of the most popular symphonies and sonatas to find out how immersive the soundstage was. Less sonically complicated pieces, such as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata came out beautifully, with each piano stroke crystal clear, distinct and musical with a room-filling immersion and accurate placement of all instruments. More complicated symphonies, such as Mozart’s 25th, saw a less distinct soundstage and the spatial resolution slightly less distinct. When it comes to a true stereo sound effect, single speakers invariably lag behind double-speaker set-ups, and this Marshall fell that tad bit short. For comparison, the Anker Motion X600 still remains the best when it comes to stereo resolution from a single speaker that we have heard, but the Emberton III comes very, very close.

Next we tried Bollywood, with its heavy dependence on voice and mid frequencies and again came away impressed. At no point did the high-pitched voices of the female singers seem jarring, and the equally airy strings-heavy accompanying music was also well staged and contained. Again, for comparison’s sake, we believe that the Bose Soundlink Mini II is the best we’ve heard for voice and Bollywood-ish music, but the Emberton III is nearly there, only faltering to keep it focused at high volumes.

But you don’t buy a Marshall to listen to classical and Bollywood only; you mainly buy this brand for rock, pop and metal — and this is where it truly shines. No matter what we played — from the music testers’ go-to favourite Hotel California or Guns N’Roses’ November Rain or Aerosmith’s Janie’s Got a Gun or Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water, or even Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody — the Emberton III produced a room-filling sound that had a full-bodied bass surprising for such a small speaker and balanced mids and highs.

At no point in the guitar riffs did it seem the treble would overwhelm the bass, which was taut and punchy, though it lacked the depth of big speakers. Quite obviously, too, for it’s injustice to expect a 20Hz bass thump from a speaker only approx 6" X 3" X 2.5" in size. In the event, the bass does provide — its range is 65Hz to 20,000, according to Marshall — is more than adequate.

The surprise continues with the 32-hour battery life on a full charge. And we also found that our test mule gave around 6-7 hours more of playtime with a half-an-hour charge.

The Emberton III comes with a simple interface that makes it easy to use. Pairing it with your device is a breeze, and the controls are intuitive. It also features multi-host functionality, meaning you can connect it with two devices simultaneously, and a built-in microphone.

Marshall also says that the Emberton III is built to be Bluetooth LE Audio-ready and this “future-proof technology will open a new world of audio sharing possibilities with Auracast”, so greater possibilities may open up in the future.

When it comes to cons, there aren’t too many. We wished the Marshall app had customisable equaliser settings for the device along with the pre-set audio modes so that the sound could be more tailored to individual tastes. Apart from that, this small device is a great all-in-one speaker.

Marshall Emberton III portable Bluetooth speaker

Hits:

- Balanced sound

- Stylish design and robust build

- Battery life

Misses:

- Lack of detailed equalizer settings

- Not the very best in all departments

Price: Dh772

Rating: 4 stars

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