Latest news with #MarshallHeston120
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I was pumped to review Marshall's first Dolby Atmos soundbar, but I ended up disappointed
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. I can't tell you how excited I was to get the Marshall Heston 120 in for review. My very first guitar amp was a Marshall, and I've had an affinity for the British brand ever since. I no longer play guitar, but I am a home cinema addict, so Marshall's first Dolby Atmos soundbar caught my attention from the off. The brand has astutely leaned into its classic aesthetic flourishes with its headphones and wireless speakers, which look great, but applying them to a soundbar has resulted in a unique design that stands out superbly against the sea of aesthetically similar, all-too-subtle bars. The thick woven cover, brass accents and tactile knobs do a great job of tugging at the nostalgia glands, and the soundbar acts as a great conversation piece while not being so outlandish as to drag too much attention away from your TV. The listening experience didn't start badly, either. As you would very much hope of any soundbar, let alone one costing £900 / $1000 / AU$1799, the Heston 120 is a huge improvement on the sound of pretty much any TV. Weighty, smooth and fairly tonally balanced, it will be a huge upgrade if you're going straight from the lightweight, shrill speakers that are built into your TV. But as we watched Alex Garland's brilliant Civil War in Dolby Atmos, I felt curiously unenthused. Where was the punch to the gunfire, the guttural depth to the explosions and the ramping up of tension through the soundtrack? They were all missing. And as we switched between our favourite tried and tested Dolby Atmos scenes, these traits remained consistent. The Marshall just isn't very good at defining the leading edges of notes, so effects sound a little soft. And while there is a reasonable amount of bass, it doesn't reach deep enough to provoke a particularly emotional response. More of a problem, though, is the lack of dynamic expression – the difference between the quiet and loud bits. Turn the volume up on the Heston 120 and it's really quite loud, but its volume levels remain quite flat – so a steadily swelling score doesn't swell as it should, and an exploding Humvee doesn't audibly leap from the rest of the soundtrack as intended. There are other, smaller issues with the Heston 120 (some treble brightness and sibilance, for example, and a lack of projection to the Dolby Atmos presentation), but it's the way this lack of punch, bass depth and dynamics combines to rob a movie of much of its excitement that is most disappointing to me. Home cinema is all about excitement, so arguably the worst thing that any home cinema product can do is sound dull – and that, unfortunately, is the trap into which the Heston 120 has fallen. I really wanted to love Marshall's first Dolby Atmos soundbar, but alas, I have to continue recommending the far less novel, but much more accomplished, Sonos Arc Ultra instead. MORE: These are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars you can buy right now Check out our Marshall Heston 120 vs Sonos Arc Ultra comparison
Tom's Guide
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
I test soundbars for a living, and these are 5 movie scenes I use every time
I'm lucky enough to have tested plenty of the best soundbars — from the immaculate to the... less immaculate. When I'm doing my long hours of testing (and they can get very long — if you like movies, getting sucked in to another rewatch of Star Wars is extremely easy) I like to make sure that I have a strong reference library of scenes that showcase a soundbars strengths, while highlighting its weaknesses. That could be a particularly strong Dolby Atmos mix to see how the bar handles the latest in spatial audio, or a solid surround mix so that I can get a handle on how well it can cope with more traditional setups. Perhaps there's lots of dynamism, with quiet parts accented by sudden noise. Maybe it's super bassy, to see how the bar handles low-end. Either way, I've got plenty of scenes that I use to see how the likes of the Sonos Arc Ultra and the Marshall Heston 120 are able to handle your favorite movies. Here are five of my favorites. The Marshall Heston 120 is the latest soundbar that I tested with these very movie scenes, and it did a great job with all of them. It's also very good for music streaming, something that other soundbars struggle with. Every soundbar reviewer and their mom uses this scene to test out soundbars — and if you give it a whirl, you'll soon understand why. It's loaded to the brim with small sound details that cheaper soundbars completely miss, like the clicks and clanks as the Hornets slot into place on the runway, or the ropes and hissing steam as they overlay the soundtrack. Good Dolby Atmos soundbars make the scene sound like it's all around you. Jets fly past at Mach goodness-only-knows-what, while deckhands spring around the runway. The bass of the jet engines needs to be able to make the floor shake, while the jets themselves need to make your windows rattle. Then there's the soundtrack. There's plenty of bassy rumble from each chime of the bell in the more laid-back, synth-laden intro track, giving way to "Danger Zone" as the deck hits its most active. Is it the best movie in the world? No. Do I love it? Yes. Is the Tom's Guide reviews team entirely sick of it? Also yes. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. I grew up with the prequel trilogy, so you can imagine why Episode III is still one of my favorite Star Wars movies. The opening scene is one of the primary reasons why, thanks to its mixture of fun, silly dialogue, breathtaking action, and sublime CGI that holds up 20 years later. The latest Dolby Atmos mixes that you can find on Disney+ are buckets of fun. Obi-Wan and Anakin dart about the soundstage, testing the limits of the wideness of a soundbar's side channels. As their Jedi starfighters spin, so too does the world of the film around us, and we need to hear it as much as feel it. The buzzdroids that land on Obi-Wan's starfighter should sound like they're everywhere, and the droid that falls off the fighter should disappear behind you. There are plenty of explosions to check the impact of a soundbar, as the ships around the action crash into each other in amongst the action. The dialog needs to be able to cut through everything, too, while the orchestral score plays in the background. There's a lot for a soundbar to get very wrong here, making it the perfect scene to put one through its paces. The sound mix of Dune is a terrifying one — equal parts beautiful and brutal. Nothing highlights that brutality like the assembling of the Emperor's fighting force, as they prepare to go to war against the Atriedes. It begins on a great plane, the uncomfortably deep chanting testing the low-end limits of a soundbar. The spoken dialogue needs to cut through the bassy rumble, while the rain needs to feel like it's surrounding you as it falls. Then, the fight. The soundtrack should be the first thing of note — is it too loud, does it drown everything out? The sounds of fighting should be delicate as they are sharp and exacting, putting the detail to the test. The fuzzy ozone shields buzz and whirr. Duncan's breathing laboured as the fight goes on. The whole thing should make you feel uncomfortable and anxious. A good soundbar delivers the goods, while a bad one makes it feel like it's happening in another room. For those about to say "how about something pre-2000?", I have it covered. The opening moments of Blade Runner are about some of the most evocative scenes throughout cinema, and they make for a great way to test out a soundbar. There's a lot going on in the scene despite the age of this flick, with loads of little details for a soundbar to highlight and pick out. The soundtrack as the police car flies over the futuristic Los Angeles skyline needs to be crisp and clear. The sounds of city hubbub as plumes of smoke jet into the air. When we move to the interview room, the subtle sound of the heartbeat needs to build under the sounds of the voices, as the environmental noises of the office fade in and out with the characters sanity. Beeps and boops abound — and then, the sudden shot should ring out. It's old, yes — but there's plenty here to evaluate a soundbar. Japan's bizarre sci-fi classic might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to impressive surround mixes, but you'd be surprised. The opening chase scene of the movie is terrifyingly effective at placing the bikes on the road, and in the space around you as they speed down the highway. The soundtrack shouldn't be too loud, while the roaring bike engines rumble and shake the sofa. The clashes of pipes and heads, the breaking of windows. The muffled sound of the chase when we meet a couple in a restaurant, only for the outside world to come bursting in as a bike crashes through the storefront and crushes a customer. The broken arm that gets run over on the highway — all of these should be well layered underneath the soundtrack and the rest of the ensemble. There's no Atmos mix here, but the surround mix is very good, and tests how well a soundbar can isolate different sounds.
Man of Many
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Man of Many
Marshall Steamrolls Into TV Audio With Its First-Ever Soundbar
By Jacob Osborn - News Published: 8 June 2025 |Last Updated: 6 June 2025 Share Copy Link Readtime: 3 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. Undisputable masters of the amplifier, Marshall is dipping its toes in the TV audio category. And by 'dipping its toes,' we mean kicking the door open with both feet. So goes the new Heston 120, the brand's inaugural foray into the respective domain of modern soundbars. It draws upon six decades of experience and catches its stride at first attempt, combining superior engineering with inspired details to deliver the best of sound and style. Bring in wireless capability and you're getting a seamless sonic experience across TV and music alike. It's no secret that home entertainment systems have become micro-theatres unto themselves, making now a logical time for Marshall to expand upon its repertoire. The brand is already at the forefront of high-quality audio, and it jumps well ahead of the learning curve with its first soundbar. That is to say, the Heston 120 comes fully equipped with superlative specs, including 11 multi-facing drivers and built-in support for Dolby Atmos and DTS-X. Immersive sonics are all but guaranteed, complete with a rich and powerful low end. Marshall Heston 120 Soundbar | Image: Marshall Whether you're streaming shows, movies, or music, the Heston 120 offers wireless connectivity to TVs with HDMI eARC. For other external devices, the soundbar wirelessly integrates via HDMI pass-through, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. It also features an RCA input to connect with analogue turntables and receivers. Various sound modes dial up the versatility factor and allow you to seek the ideal sonic template based on the medium. You can adjust the sound modes along with other controls on the unit itself or through an adjoining app, which works from anywhere in the home and even offers room calibration. The Heston 120 is pure Marshall in terms of design and aesthetic. This is a brand that forges ahead without losing a sense of heritage, hence the furled metal knobs ripped straight out of its iconic amplifiers. Additional details like the wrapped leather trims, brushed metal panel, and analogue-style control panel make for similarly inspired design choices. Under the skin, meanwhile, everything is 'tailored and engineered to have very specific roles to give you an optimal audio experience,' to quote Ed Camphor, Audio Technology and Tuning Lead at Marshall Group. More than a premium soundbar, the Heston 120 is also the first entry in a brand new product range. Later this year, Marshall will introduce a smaller Heston 60 Soundbar and a Heston Sub 200 subwoofer. The audio brand continues to adapt to emerging standards and trends as if it hasn't aged a day since breaking onto the scene all those decades ago. And for that, we're thankful.
Tom's Guide
03-06-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Marshall Heston 120 Soundbar review: Rock n' roll styling meets movie magic
Price: $999/£899Colors: BlackSize: H x 2.9" D x 5.7" W x 43.3" Weight: 15.5 poundsConnectivity: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, Ethernet, HDMI, AirPlay 2, RCA,USB-CBluetooth range: up to 30 feet (9 m)Custom EQ: YesVoice assistant: NoSurround: 5.1.2Multi-speaker connectivity: Yes The Marshall Heston 120 has a tough job on its hands. It not only has to prove that Marshall has the chops to live under your TV in the form of a multi-channel soundbar, but that it can do it better than any of the other options you can buy for a similar price. It seems that Marshall pulled its suspenders on, slapped its ripped jeans, and grabbed some pretty impressive sound gear from its gig bag to make its new soundbar a success. The Heston 120 is a very impressive soundbar to rival the likes of the Sonos Arc Ultra with a pair of built-in subwoofer drivers, excellent repairability, and that unique style that just screams 'crank it to 11.' To find out if it's going to land a place on our list of the best soundbars, I've lived with the soundbar for the last few weeks — and now I've come to my verdict: The Heston 120 is an excellent alternative to the competition, albeit with a couple of caveats for some users. Here's the whole Heston 120 story. What is it? Rock 'n roll soundbar from the kings of the genreWhat does it cost? $999/£899Who is it for? People looking for a new soundbar that looks the part, with top-notch inputs and great musical soundWhat do we like? Its sense of style, sound quality for movies and music, and its significant bassy rumble from its pair of sub driversWhat don't we like? It's expensive, and some might not appreciate its 'in your face' style At $999 / £899, the Heston 120 has been positioned against the likes of the Sonos Arc Ultra ($999 / £999), Samsung's latest flagship soundbars, and other premium surround options from JBL like the JBL BAR 1300X. In order to justify that price the Heston is built like a tank, features a unique, rock 'n roll-inspired design, and packs in some audio goodies for music lovers just as much as movie buffs. But that doesn't stop it from being in a precarious position, given that it doesn't quite offer the same surround options as the Sonos or the included subwoofer of Samsung's bars. In order to compete, the Marshall relies on its looks and musical tuning. Make no mistake, it is worth every one of the one thousand dollars it costs, but it joins a very crowded space. Marshall's home audio division has become known for a certain style: amp-like speakers and headphones, covered with premium fabric and brass accents. Expect control knobs galore, and a punk-rock attitude. The Heston 120 stretches that design out to fit a large TV stand, retaining all the key elements of the marque's house style — rugged endplates that look ready to hit the road on tour, a fabric mesh that would look at home on stage with Slash, and the all-important brass logo to top things off. The bronze colored control knobs on top wrap up the design, and I think it looks great. It's not going to fit into every single living room style because of its unique style, but it nails its audio credentials to the mast like little else. Going back to the size of the soundbar. You're going to need a big TV, and a large TV stand to boot. It's shorter than the Samsung soundbar options or the Sonos Arc Ultra by a fraction of an inch, but it makes up for it in depth. Make sure you do some measurements before buying to make sure that it fits — things were tight on my unit between my Samsung S90D, and even with an older TV on a larger stand. You can wall mount the soundbar with brackets sold separately if you have your TV hanging, although make sure you use beefy enough screws if you do. The soundbar is one of the heaviest I've tested, coming in at 15.5 lbs — 2 pounds more than the Arc Ultra. Build quality is excellent, with premium fabric making up the grille and excellent material choices all around. Even better is the potential for repair. Break something, and I'm told you'll be able to find parts like the end plates, grilles, and even internal components like drivers available to buy on the Marshall website, should you want to replace them yourself. You can even send the broken parts to Marshall to be recycled as well, which is a nice bonus. First off, while the Heston 120 is a WiFi-connected soundbar, it's not really a smart soundbar. There's no voice control support, so you'll be left changing the volume with your TV remote, on-device volume knob, or the new Marshall app. Beyond a lack of voice support, the only other connectivity option you're missing is an optical port — and given that it's 2025 and optical ports are ancient history to all but the most dedicated fans of data transmitted over laser, it's no great loss. Because, other than that? The Heston's inputs and outputs are better than just about everything else you can buy today. There are so many ports on the back of the Heston 120. There's a pair of HDMI ports, one for eARC and the other for passthrough, an Ethernet port for a more stable internet connection, a USB-C port that can be used to charge devices, and then an analog RCA connector so that you can connect legacy hardware like a turntable. There's no built-in phono pre-amp so you'll need one of the best turntables with one built in, but it's a lovely addition to really round out the inputs. Unlike the aforementioned Samsung or Sonos soundbars, there's also a generic mono-RCA output. While Marshall is working on a wireless subwoofer for the soundbar that will work like Sonos' Sub 4, there's a physical output for a separate subwoofer. That means you can choose your own sub to go with the soundbar. Wireless connectivity comes in the form of WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, with all the lovely extras you'd expect. The Bluetooth connection enables Auracast, as well as the potential for more devices to connect to the soundbar. Marshall has been tight-lipped about what kind of devices to expect and how they're going to work when I asked about the potential for separate surround speakers, but I suspect we might see something in the future. Control-wise, you've got the aforementioned knobs across the top. There are three — volume, EQ, and source. They're all smooth and satisfying, and the latter two click down to switch between bass and treble, play and pause music, and select the source. Finally, there's the Marshall app. It's a completely new experience this time around, retaining the visual flair of the old Marshall Bluetooth app, but sprinkling in new WiFi features for internet connectivity. Once logged in, you can play music from various streaming services so that you don't have to dip into the Spotify or Tidal Connect menus separately, although both are supported. Every aspect of the soundbar can be controlled from the app, including EQ, sound mode, volume, source, and more. It's well laid out and simple to use — good app. Technically, you don't even need to connect the Heston 120 to the internet or the app if you just want to play sound from your TV. Plug it in, connect the HDMI eARC port to the correct slot on your TV, and… watch your stuff. Easy! You can, of course, go more in-depth if you want to use every setting and feature that the soundbar has to offer. Once you're all plugged in, you'll need to open up the app. From there, you'll connect to the soundbar and get the internet connection all set up. There are then sound options to dial in, and you'll want to start with the Room calibration. From there, you'll hear a series of different guitar plucking noises, and the app will load a sound profile. I had absolutely no connection issues during the setup process — it all just kind of worked. To further dial in the sound, you can use the bass/treble knob on the top of the soundbar, or within the app. You can also choose the different sound modes, including Movie, Music, Night and Voice. Music is automatically selected when you play music through the bar, and Movie when it's connected to your TV. Movie mode seems to boost bass, while Music seems to put more emphasis on mid-range frequencies. The latter two sound modes are necessary for Dolby certification, and I don't like them on anything you find them on. Night mode reduces the bass so that you don't wake anyone up when watching late at night, and voice mode raises dialog volume. They work, and for some users, they might be more useful than they were for me. If the Sonos Arc Ultra is the ultimate soundbar for watching movies, the Marshall Heston 120 is one of the best for listening to music. While most soundbars are a TV speaker first and music speaker second, the Heston 120 wants to be excellent at both. As a result, there really isn't a similarly priced soundbar that comes close musically. There's some great sonic control on display from the Heston 120. The audio is very well spaced out on account of the size of the bar, and instrument separation is very good. I gave Vola's I Don't Know How We Got Here a spin, and discovered an impactful, dynamic, and engaging listen waiting for me. Vocals were a particular strength, and there was surprising bass reproduction thanks to the pair of sub drivers inside the bar. Bass was more impressive in the Heston 120 than the Sonos Arc Ultra on its own, so there's less need to add in a sub should you want the floors to rumble during playback. There's support for Dolby Atmos music as well through Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, and it sounds really good. There's all the extra space that you'd want from a spatial mix, with the likes of The Weeknd's Blinding Lights easily filling my living room. Elements showed good separation, and the spatial effect was up there with the likes of the Sonos Arc Ultra and a pair of Sonos Era 300s. There's still some of the thinning out I tend to find with any spatial audio arrangement, but that's a quirk of the format rather than the soundbar. It's movies you'll want Dolby Atmos for, and the Heston 120 is more than happy to provide. There is one caveat to movie sound though — the surround channels. The Heston 120 features a 5.1.2 setup, or 5 surround drivers, a subwoofer, and then two upfirers for Atmos. That's not as strong as the Sonos Arc Ultra's 9.1.4 surround, and it does show when you're watching your movies. The surround bubble is ever so slightly looser on the Heston, and the atmospheric effects from above are slightly more subdued. With that out of the way, the Heston 120 is still excellent for movies. The Atmos effect meant that the opening scene of Star Wars: Episode III sounded and felt massive, as Obi-Wan and Anakin darted through space, droids hot on their heels. Starships cruise from every direction, loud and lumbering. The sub driver gives greater low end than you'll find in the Sonos Arc Ultra as well, despite the slight downgrade in spatial effects. Standard surround mixes are excellent. The Nostromo cruises to your side in the opening to Alien, loud and intimidating. The Star Destroyer at the opening of A New Hope dominates the space, filling the room with the sound of its engines. This is a soundbar that's supposed to be good at both movies and music, and to excel at the latter, it seems some compromises have had to be made in the former — but this is still a great, cinematic experience. A word, finally, about the bass. The pair of sub drivers make for a bassier time than the solus Sonos Arc Ultra, although for larger rooms, you'll still want a separate subwoofer. Marshall will be offering its own wireless sub later this year, but thanks to the standard sub-out on the back of the soundbar, you can use your own. I hooked it up to the KEF KC62 and a Q Acoustics Sub80, and found setup easy, and an increase in the bass beyond that of even the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 combo. Why is this great? Because not only does it add more audio flexibility, it could save you money, with many budget-friendly bass makers to add more rumble to your movies. If you want the absolute best surround sound movie experience in a soundbar, then you're still best off with the 9.1.4-channel Sonos Arc Ultra. But the Heston 120 does throw a wrench into Sonos' well-oiled machine. The movie performance and surround sound of the Heston 120 are still excellent, and the bar provides plenty of Dolby Atmos fun when you want to watch the latest blockbusters. It also manages something that so many other soundbars don't seem to nail down; it remembers that a soundbar is the perfect audio center for a living room. Thanks to its excellent music playback and connectivity, the Heston 120 is actually, in my eyes at least, a better all-round product than the Sonos Arc Ultra. It's not for everyone with its styling, but its feature set means it stands out in a very busy space. For Marshall's first soundbar, it's an absolute triumph, and potentially a better buy for more users than the Sonos option and its continuously disappointing app. After all, it's nice when something just works.
