Anyone searching for a new Bluetooth speaker for home listening likely yearns for the biggest, baddest one available. The Marshall Woburn III falls squarely in that category. Plus, beyond its wireless capabilities, it can connect to a record player and TV for extended versatility.

Bluetooth Connectivity?

BT 5.2

Input Type

RCA, HDMI, Bluetooth, 3.5mm AUX

Power

100.5dB at 1m

Voice Assistant

N/A

Woburn III is guaranteed to fill any space with immersive, home-shaking Marshall signature sound.

Pros & Cons

• Full, loud sound
• Lots of connectivity
• Great design
• Physical knobs and buttons

• No Wi-Fi
• No battery/ stationary use only

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Price and Availability

The Woburn III is available for purchase now and retails for $579.99 in black and cream colors. The price of the newer brown color is $599.99.

A Timeless Design Applied to a Bluetooth Speaker

Once you see Marshall’s line of Bluetooth speakers, it’s hard to look away. The company took its popular guitar amps and tweaked them to be consumer speakers. The Woburn III, because of its size, is probably the most iconic version. You need to inspect the top to see if there’s a quarter-inch input, which will indicate whether it’s actually an instrument amp or not.

The physical controls don’t just play into the aesthetic, they’re also a major differentiator among Bluetooth speakers. Usually, you get rubber buttons or touch controls. Here, substantial knobs make it easy to reach for the volume and feel like you’re cranking it up.

To that end, these are some of the best controls I’ve used on a consumer-level Bluetooth speaker. When you raise the volume on your phone, the volume indicator rises on top of the speaker. Similarly, when you turn the knob on the Woburn III, your phone’s volume changes.

Around the back of the speaker are inputs for RCA and HDMI. On top is a 3.5mm input. Having this many connection options is a bit of a rarity, but a welcome treat for people who want to use this speaker for multiple things, not just streaming music from their phone.

The Sound Is Big, But Controlled

Beneath the surface, the Woburn III is a powerhouse of sound. It features a five-driver array hidden behind the front grille. There’s a 90W (class D) woofer, two 15W mids, and two 15W tweeters. The speaker can get loud, as you might expect. Its ported design means that even songs you weren’t expecting to rumble have a nice, breathy, low-end sound. The speaker can punch hard.

I had a hard time finding the appropriate times to fully crank the volume and test its limits. It was either too loud for my family when they were home or for my neighbors at other times. This is the kind of speaker that would work great for small business owners with more space they need to fill. Apartment dwellers will need to be cautious.

In terms of sound quality, I was fully impressed each time I used the Woburn III. By default, with the bass and treble set to 50%, the sound is warm and full. The bass bumps, but is still balanced. For those who like to take control of the EQ, you can change the bass and treble from the knobs on the speaker. Using the mobile app, available for iPhone and Android, you gain even more control over more frequency bands. I liked the default sound enough, across all kinds of genres, that I didn’t mess with those settings too much.

I did appreciate that, from within the app, you can tweak the sound profile, accommodating for where it’s being used. For example, if the Woburn III is being used next to the edge of a table or close to a wall, it can automatically adjust its acoustic characteristics.

I connected a U-Turn record player using the RCA ports in the back of the speaker, and it worked great. In fact, using the Woburn III as a turntable speaker might be the ideal use case. Beyond its excellent sound, its classic, vintage design probably matches the aesthetic you’re going for. But the speaker is also modern enough to push a button and stream music from your phone.

Compared to Stanmore III

If you’re sold on a Marshall home speaker, but are undecided between the smaller Stanmore III and Woburn III, let me help. I’ve used both. The Stanmore III is sufficiently loud for a bedroom, modest living room, or office setting. It has a great bass sound and excellent clarity. It has RCA connections for use with a record player, and it has adjustable bass and treble knobs for physical control. It should be the default choice for most people.

However, if you want the loudest possible speaker without losing a timeless design, then the Woburn III might be for you. It also has an HDMI connection if you plan on connecting the speaker to a TV. The Stanmore III lacks this port.

Should You Buy the Marshall Woburn III?

The Marshall Woburn III is an excellent wireless (or wired) speaker. From its crisp, clear audio to its designer aesthetic, it’s hard to find fault with it. There are some considerations, however. There’s no battery, so you can’t move the speaker around while in use. There’s also no Wi-Fi, so if a video interrupts your music stream, everyone gets to hear it. Similarly, I question how many people will need or want the HDMI connection.

The elephant in the room is the $580 price—or $600, depending on color choice. It’s an expensive speaker. Because of its power and versatility, however, it’s not out of line with other large speakers. It’ll be a better value if you use it in multiple ways, connecting it to multiple devices.

So, if you’re looking for a single speaker that can be used for a host of uses, the Woburn III might be that one to do-it-all. If you’re fine with a smaller option that lacks HDMI, then I would give the Stanmore III a look. It’s no slouch in the big, breathy bass department either.

Bluetooth Connectivity?

BT 5.2

Input Type

RCA, HDMI, Bluetooth, 3.5mm AUX

Power

100.5dB at 1m

Voice Assistant

N/A

Woburn III is guaranteed to fill any space with immersive, home-shaking Marshall signature sound.