Marshall Tufton, Kilburn II, Stockwell II review & comparison

Looking for Bluetooth speakers that are a little different than average, but ones that have great sound quality? I recently had a chance to try out three new speakers from Marshall; the Marshall Tufton, Kilburn II, and the Stockwell II. I got to play around with each of them to see what they sound like, how easy they are to use and what sets them apart from each other.

Reviewing Marshall Tufton, Kilburn II, Stockwell II

Marshall Tufton is the largest and most powerful speaker in this range, followed by the Kilburn II, and then the Stockwell II is the smallest and most compact. In the spirit of ‘go big or go home’, I unboxed the Tufton first to get things started.

Marshall Tufton sound quality

I review a lot of speakers and most of the time I power them up and play them for a while and get to know them then make a pronouncement about like or dislike. The second I turned on the Marshall Tufton, it was as if Dave Ghohl kicked in my door with the rest of the Foo Fighters and unleashed a live show in my living room.

I actually stopped and turned to look at it, mouth agape. The sound is astonishing. True, detailed, clear vibrant and just so easy to listen to. Plus, the impressive sound, throbbing bass, and overall power of this speaker gave me a truly room filling sound.

I also immediately fell in love with the retro amp-style design. As a mid century modern fan I appreciate the retro look that still has all the modern technological conveniences.

Since we’re on the subject of sound quality, let’s get right to how the other two sound also.

Sound quality: Marshall Kilburn II

The middle child of the Marshall family, the Kilburn II has many of the same fuatures as the Tufton, as we’ll see. I did notice with this one, I needed to crank the volume level to about 6 to be able to hear it. (I’d first connected to the Tufton and it was plenty loud on 3 and when I switched seconds later without changing anything else, I couldn’t hear a peep from the Kilburn II.)

Volume oddities aside the sound quality is good, though not as knock-you-over as the Tufton. (In hindsight I probably should have started small and worked my way up.) The overall sound has a strong level of bass (and both bass and treble are adjustable on the speaker) but I did notice a tich more raspiness. Probably nothing you’d notice on your own without having the Tufton next to it. The Kilburn II isn’t quite as rich and full, but it is still very good.

Sound quality: Marshall Stockwell II

When it comes to the Stockwell II, this little speaker also sounds phenomenal; it has a surprising amount of power for its size. It sounds great with a good bass level and clear overall sound, with no raspiness, tinniness or reverberations.

Want to read more about these speakers? This blog was written for Best Buy Canada’s Plug-In blog. Please support the work I do for Best Buy, by reading the rest of it on their website.