From headphones to Bluetooth speakers, all of Marshall's products are inspired by a guitar amp aesthetic, but its new Tufton speaker looks like a genuine miniature amp.
At $399 it's priced like pro audio gear as well, and is able to deliver very loud volumes with strong bass depth.
Bass and treble knobs allow for some additional tailoring of the mix, though it would've been nice to see some onboard playback and track navigation controls.
Generally speaking, this stylish rock star of a speaker delivers, but it feel a bit overpriced.
Design
The Tufton looks like a bigger, tougher version of the Marshall Stockwell II, though the enclosure here features a grain leather patina that looks more amp-like.
Available in black, the 13.8-by-9.0-by-6.4-inch (HWD) speaker weighs in at a formidable 10.8 pounds.
While it has a sturdy, tough build, its IPX2 rating means the speaker can only withstand a light spray of water, so you definitely shouldn't get it wet.
While the Tufton shares the same metallic mesh grille as the Stockwell II, there's considerably more firepower here—dual 15-watt amps power the full-range drivers, and a 10-watt amp powers the tweeter.
The back panel has a small perforated grille covering the 40-watt back-firing woofer.
The drivers are apparently in a Blumlein stereo array, meaning they're close together but angled in different directions, but with a frame this narrow, we didn't notice much in the way of stereo separation.
Up top, the control panel houses three knobs.
One acts as the power/volume control, and two are for adjusting bass and treble.
There's also a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button, which also acts as the source button for switching between paired devices and the aux input.
To the right of the knobs, there's a red LED indicator for battery life.
There are no playback or track navigation buttons.
The side panels have gold-colored pins like you find on an electric guitar, and these exist to snap on included carrying strap.
The strap is black vegan leather up top, and red velvet on the underside—it looks very much like a guitar strap, and it's a nice touch that also happens to be fairly essential given the speaker's size and weight.
The back panel houses a bass port for air to escape through, and a covered panel that protects the power connection when not in use.
This panel also houses the 3.5mm aux input, but there is no cable included, which is a frustrating omission at this price.
The Tufton ships with two power cables—one for the US and one for international plugs.
Marshall estimates the Tufton's battery life to be roughly 20 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels.
Audio performance doesn't seem to vary between cable-powered and battery-powered modes.
Like most Bluetooth speakers this large, the Tufton doesn't include a speakerphone function.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Tufton delivers powerful low-frequency response that can be made even more intense with the bass knob.
At top volumes on an iPhone 8 and on the speaker itself, the volume can get exceptionally loud, but the DSP (digital signal processing) kicks in, especially when the bass knob is pumped.
This means the speaker doesn't distort, but the dynamics are dramatically affected.
The better bass depth, therefore, occurs at more moderate volume levels, which are still quite loud.
With both bass and treble knobs set to the middle, there's a solid balance between lows and highs.
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Tufton's general sound signature.
The drums on this track are given an extra helping of bass depth, moving them closer to thunderous territory, but not quite past it.
It's Callahan's vocals that seem to get the bulk of the bass boosting, taking his rich voice and adding in more low-frequency presence than necessary—the mix can sound overly muddled, leaning too much into low-frequency territory.
But this is what the knobs are for.
Dialing the bass back slightly (say, four out of ten instead of five), and adding in a little treble (six or seven out of ten), gives you a better balance.
You get lots of richness and brightness, though the middle seems thinned away.
But this is with minimal fiddling—more experimentation with the EQ can bring out a variety of sound signatures.
By default, however, you hear lots of rich bass and bright highs, but not as much in the mids.
With both knobs back in the middle, on Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence to retain its punchy edge, but that edge is far outdone by the boosting of the loop's sustain, adding in some serious bass thump.
The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are more implied than delivered.
In other words—if you boost the bass all the way, what you hear getting the boosting is the drum loop, not the sub-bass synths.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, have perhaps too much bass response with the knob set to the middle—I found a better balance dialing it back some.
The treble knob can stay in the middle (or you can always put them both at zero, as well, which offers a flatter-sounding response).
No matter how you adjust things, though, there's always some added bass push here.
The clarity through the highs is solid, though, and particularly on this track, lends some extra sting to the higher register brass, strings, and some more definition to the vocals.
Conclusions
The Marshall Tufton is a big speaker with a lot to offer—namely intense volume levels and boosted bass.
And that a speaker this size is actually portable is impressive.
Still, when compared to other speakers in the price range, and even in the Marshall lineup, it's easy to see some users wanting more features or sub-bass for the money.
In the $400 space, we're fans of the JBL Boombox, the Marshall Stanmore II Voice, and the Klipsch The Three—all offer unique advantages, including more bass response or Amazon Alexa voice control.
For the price, the Tufton delivers on the audio front, but ultimately it feels light on the aspects of portable design we typically expect.
Cons
Expensive.
No onboard playback controls or speakerphone.
Sound signature can be heavy on bass, even when adjusting EQ controls.
The Bottom Line
The portable Marshall Tufton speaker delivers strong Bluetooth audio performance from a tough, stylish build.
From headphones to Bluetooth speakers, all of Marshall's products are inspired by a guitar amp aesthetic, but its new Tufton speaker looks like a genuine miniature amp.
At $399 it's priced like pro audio gear as well, and is able to deliver very loud volumes with strong bass depth.
Bass and treble knobs allow for some additional tailoring of the mix, though it would've been nice to see some onboard playback and track navigation controls.
Generally speaking, this stylish rock star of a speaker delivers, but it feel a bit overpriced.
Design
The Tufton looks like a bigger, tougher version of the Marshall Stockwell II, though the enclosure here features a grain leather patina that looks more amp-like.
Available in black, the 13.8-by-9.0-by-6.4-inch (HWD) speaker weighs in at a formidable 10.8 pounds.
While it has a sturdy, tough build, its IPX2 rating means the speaker can only withstand a light spray of water, so you definitely shouldn't get it wet.
While the Tufton shares the same metallic mesh grille as the Stockwell II, there's considerably more firepower here—dual 15-watt amps power the full-range drivers, and a 10-watt amp powers the tweeter.
The back panel has a small perforated grille covering the 40-watt back-firing woofer.
The drivers are apparently in a Blumlein stereo array, meaning they're close together but angled in different directions, but with a frame this narrow, we didn't notice much in the way of stereo separation.
Up top, the control panel houses three knobs.
One acts as the power/volume control, and two are for adjusting bass and treble.
There's also a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button, which also acts as the source button for switching between paired devices and the aux input.
To the right of the knobs, there's a red LED indicator for battery life.
There are no playback or track navigation buttons.
The side panels have gold-colored pins like you find on an electric guitar, and these exist to snap on included carrying strap.
The strap is black vegan leather up top, and red velvet on the underside—it looks very much like a guitar strap, and it's a nice touch that also happens to be fairly essential given the speaker's size and weight.
The back panel houses a bass port for air to escape through, and a covered panel that protects the power connection when not in use.
This panel also houses the 3.5mm aux input, but there is no cable included, which is a frustrating omission at this price.
The Tufton ships with two power cables—one for the US and one for international plugs.
Marshall estimates the Tufton's battery life to be roughly 20 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels.
Audio performance doesn't seem to vary between cable-powered and battery-powered modes.
Like most Bluetooth speakers this large, the Tufton doesn't include a speakerphone function.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Tufton delivers powerful low-frequency response that can be made even more intense with the bass knob.
At top volumes on an iPhone 8 and on the speaker itself, the volume can get exceptionally loud, but the DSP (digital signal processing) kicks in, especially when the bass knob is pumped.
This means the speaker doesn't distort, but the dynamics are dramatically affected.
The better bass depth, therefore, occurs at more moderate volume levels, which are still quite loud.
With both bass and treble knobs set to the middle, there's a solid balance between lows and highs.
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Tufton's general sound signature.
The drums on this track are given an extra helping of bass depth, moving them closer to thunderous territory, but not quite past it.
It's Callahan's vocals that seem to get the bulk of the bass boosting, taking his rich voice and adding in more low-frequency presence than necessary—the mix can sound overly muddled, leaning too much into low-frequency territory.
But this is what the knobs are for.
Dialing the bass back slightly (say, four out of ten instead of five), and adding in a little treble (six or seven out of ten), gives you a better balance.
You get lots of richness and brightness, though the middle seems thinned away.
But this is with minimal fiddling—more experimentation with the EQ can bring out a variety of sound signatures.
By default, however, you hear lots of rich bass and bright highs, but not as much in the mids.
With both knobs back in the middle, on Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence to retain its punchy edge, but that edge is far outdone by the boosting of the loop's sustain, adding in some serious bass thump.
The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are more implied than delivered.
In other words—if you boost the bass all the way, what you hear getting the boosting is the drum loop, not the sub-bass synths.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, have perhaps too much bass response with the knob set to the middle—I found a better balance dialing it back some.
The treble knob can stay in the middle (or you can always put them both at zero, as well, which offers a flatter-sounding response).
No matter how you adjust things, though, there's always some added bass push here.
The clarity through the highs is solid, though, and particularly on this track, lends some extra sting to the higher register brass, strings, and some more definition to the vocals.
Conclusions
The Marshall Tufton is a big speaker with a lot to offer—namely intense volume levels and boosted bass.
And that a speaker this size is actually portable is impressive.
Still, when compared to other speakers in the price range, and even in the Marshall lineup, it's easy to see some users wanting more features or sub-bass for the money.
In the $400 space, we're fans of the JBL Boombox, the Marshall Stanmore II Voice, and the Klipsch The Three—all offer unique advantages, including more bass response or Amazon Alexa voice control.
For the price, the Tufton delivers on the audio front, but ultimately it feels light on the aspects of portable design we typically expect.
Cons
Expensive.
No onboard playback controls or speakerphone.
Sound signature can be heavy on bass, even when adjusting EQ controls.
The Bottom Line
The portable Marshall Tufton speaker delivers strong Bluetooth audio performance from a tough, stylish build.
