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Marshall's Kilburn active Bluetooth speaker rated for 20 hours of battery life

Marshall's Kilburn active Bluetooth speaker rated for 20 hours of battery life
The Kilburn is the latest home audio speaker from Marshall, offering classic looks in a compact package
The Kilburn is the latest home audio speaker from Marshall, offering classic looks in a compact package
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The Kilburn is the latest home audio speaker from Marshall, offering classic looks in a compact package
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The Kilburn is the latest home audio speaker from Marshall, offering classic looks in a compact package

If you've so much as picked up an electric guitar in the past few decades then you're more than likely familiar with the Marshall Amps brand. You might not be quite so aware of the company's line of stereo speakers, developed in partnership with Marshall Headphones. The Kilburn is the latest product to bring the brand's timeless looks into the home audio arena, offering a compact, wire-free listening experience with a lengthy (claimed) battery life.

The new entry joins the company's Stanmore speaker – the followup to 2012's Hanwell model – and the Woburn and Acton that we checked out in Berlin last year. The Kilburn is similar to the Acton, but has more of a focus on portability. Playing at half volume, it's rated for 20 hours on a single charge.

Connecting to the new active speaker can also be a cable-free experience, with built in Bluetooth 4.0 alongside a standard 3.5 mm input. Inside, there's a 4-inch woofer alongside a pair of three quarter-inch tweeters and three amps (one 15W and two 5W).

Like its bigger brothers, the Kilburn offers classic Marshall looks, with analog knobs for fine tuning the sound. This being a portable device, it includes a leather strap that draws inspiration from the guitar strap. The speaker measures 242 x 140 mm (9.5 x 5.5 in) and weighs in at a hefty 3 kg (6.6 lbs).

The Kilburn will be available in a choice of black and cream, launching worldwide in June 2015. It's priced at US$300.

Source: Marshall

2 comments
2 comments
Daishi
I'm glad when I was growing up that my dad owned speakers that didn't suck. Today's little shelf speakers and bluetooth boxes don't really approach the 3 way floor speakers that used to be common in homes.
I picked up a popcan sized $200 bluetooth speaker last year with rave reviews and its great for listening to music in one room but it's not house filling sound by any means.
They aren't even in the ballpark of what a set of Cerwin-Vega XLS-28's will do for $350 or even something like the SL28's for $280. I admit those are fairly overkill (think outdoor keg party loud) but it seems like there is hardly anything in between anemic portable bluetooth speakers and entertainment center huge.
Mark-Davidson
Nothing beats the Thodio A-BOX original AMMO CAN BOOMBOX with 200 watts and 72 hour battery life, HD bluetooth. I got one for my son, he is eternally grateful.