The spring announcement of the British brand Marshall has fielded, without diminishing its usual attention to vintage design, two new portable speakers, including the very compact and unprecedented Willen, to which is added the 2nd iteration of the Emberton.
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The spring period evidently “sounds” good for the British of Marshall Amplification. In 2021 the debut in the branch of Bluetooth headsets arrived and, in the past few hours, several announcements have arrived on the subject of more or less compact speakers.
In particular, the English brand known for its famous stage amplifiers, but also for its bass cabinets and electric guitars, first raised the curtain on the ultra-compact Willen speakers. The latter have a width of 10 cm, an equal height, and a thickness of just 4 cm, with a weight that stops at 310 grams, which is why the autonomy, although considerable, is implemented after 3 hours of charging via Type-C, does not exceed 15 hours overall, although fast charging allows you to add an extra 3 hours after 20 minutes of topping up.
The Willen speakers, available at a price of 99 euros during the spring in the cream color alternative to the black one with brass-colored finishes, are suitable for itinerant use, outdoors, being waterproof according to the IP67 standard, and due to the strap on the retro, perhaps to attach them to the loops of jeans. Inside they house a 2-inch, full-range dynamic driver with a frequency response from 100-20,000 Hz which, thanks to the 10W peak amplifier, reaches a highlight of 82 decibels in volume. Basically, this model uses Bluetooth 5.1 to connect, up to 10 meters, with the source, but it lacks the 3.5 mm jack: on the other hand, since it is equipped with a microphone, it allows you to manage hands-free calls.
The second generation of the Emberton speakers will be substantiated, however, during the summer, at the price of 169 euros, in real bricks of 68 x 160 x 76 mm weighing 700 grams, due to the implementation of a battery that it ensures more than 30 hours of battery life (vs the 20 of the first model), and two dynamic 2-inch full-range drivers for a frequency response from 60-20.000 KHz. Always cadenced in cream or black-brass colors, from the Willens the new Emberton also borrow IP67 waterproofing and Bluetooth 5.1, but do without the microphone.
In favor of the Marshall Willen and Marshall Emberton II comes, in the Marshall Bluetooth companion app for Android and iOS (which previously did not support the company’s portable speakers), which can also be used to update the firmware, the Stack mode, which allows you to obtain a more powerful and filling sound by combining (after triple pressing the BT button of the primary device, and double pressing it on the secondary devices you want to add or remove) plus Emberton II or Willen, taking inspiration from the famous Marshall Stack, or the batteries of the amplifier boxes for the stages, which in the 1960s included the assembly of 4 12 ”loudspeakers.