Rating: 3/5
Review:
Rather disappointing sound
This is an attractive and well-made speaker, but I don’t
think its sound quality justifies the price tag, I'm afraid.
House of Marley make good quality audio products and there
is no doubt that this is very well made.
It's compact rather than "mini" at roughly 25cm x 13cm x 13cm
and it has a real heft to it so it's portable but very solid. It looks great with the bamboo facing and
canvas finish and works very well: battery life is good, Bluetooth is simple to
connect and solid up to at least 8m, AUX input is fine, the controls work
easily and as you'd expect and it goes good and loud without audible distortion. In many ways this is a very nice bit of kit,
but for me it is let down by the sound quality.
I have played a big range of music through this speaker from
16th-century choral music to London Grammar with most things in
between. It's not that the sound is
actively bad, but at well over a hundred quid I'd expect something pretty good,
and this is just…well…OK. It's fairly
well balanced, but I don't find the treble articulation all that clear and the
bass is decent but lacks real depth on things like a theorbo, a viola da gamba
or London Grammar's Hey Now, so it all sounds just a bit lacklustre. Crucially, too, there is audible hiss,
especially when playing it quietly; it's the sort of hiss which rides on top of
things like a violin, a soprano or a hi-hat and I do find it intrusive. Also, an over-aggressive noise reduction
system cuts the sound in quiet passages in things like a string quartet unless
the input volume is turned way up and the speaker volume right down. All of
this is far less of a problem at higher volumes so it may not bother some
listeners, but it often spoils the sound for me.
I'm sorry to be critical; I admire the Marley Foundation and
support its aims, but just as a speaker at this price I think you can do a lot
better. For sheer sound quality I'd
recommend the ADX Pulse V4 (which is almost half the price); a similar style
can be found in the Archeer A320 (which has a really powerful bass) and the
August WS300 has excellent sound and also Wi-Fi connectivity – and all are
significantly cheaper than this one.
So, a well made speaker, but only a very qualified
recommendation, I'm afraid.
Amazon page HERE
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