Readers took a cool column from Marshall and told everything about it.
The first test was sent by Alexander, who reads us under the nickname D-Frost. The author’s spelling has been preserved — enjoy reading!
Kilburn in the hands of a musician
Greetings to all readers of iPhones.ru!
My name is Alexander (D-Frost) and this article will talk about how I tested the Marshall Kilburn portable speaker for a week.
For many years I have been into electronic music and performing in nightclubs, so I tested the speaker, not limited to listening to radio and music from social networks.
Let’s start, of course, with the appearance of the device.
The first impression after I took it out of the box was a very high-quality vinyl finish, it immediately became clear that the thing was serious. The package includes the device, an audio cable, and a power cord. The column is wrapped very tightly with vinyl, and there are no complaints about its manufacture, except for the seam junction. Perhaps it would be better to make it less noticeable.
Marshall branded plastic lettering adorns the front. In communication with friends, it turned out that even those who are not particularly fond of music have heard about the company 🙂
The loudspeakers are covered with thick fabric with gold edging around the edges, it looks expensive.
Behind the phase inverter and a connector for connecting the power supply. It is impossible not to pay attention to how neatly and ergonomically all collapsible elements are placed, a rarity in our time, when all the equipment is simply glued with glue without the possibility of further painless opening for the device.
All controls are placed on the top. There is a very cool vintage power switch, then the Source / wake buttons — respectively, select the sound source and wake up and Pair (for connecting the device).
Next are the rotary volume controls — bass and treble. Then the indicators signaling the state of the battery, the type of connection and in the connector for connecting sound devices via wire, special thanks to the company for its presence. The ergonomics are excellent, the controls are smooth and there is no backlash, I think all these controls are very durable.
The last part of the column is a leather handle. Since this is the only standalone marshal speaker, the handle was made to highlight this feature. Fastenings are made reliably, if necessary, the handle can be unfastened.
As for the dimensions of the device. Calling the column fully portable is difficult. It is unlikely that it will be possible to take her on vacation in general luggage, because. it will take half the bag, its dimensions are 242 x 140 x 140 mm. The weight of the device is about 3 kg. It is difficult for a girl to carry a column in her hand for a long time. But taking Kilburn to the country house or a picnic in the car is no problem.
For size comparison, I photographed it with a JBL portable speaker that I bought to listen to the radio on vacation, the difference in size is obvious.
The next step was to test the Bluetooth connection. And from this side, the device showed itself above all praise, it is determined by a smartphone in a matter of seconds, it connects just as quickly. Sound adjustment is possible from a smartphone and speakers at the same time. It does not emit any annoying sounds when connected. The music is not interrupted, the sound quality is excellent, the signal keeps well and at a sufficiently large distance.
As for autonomy, the manufacturer claims continuous operation for about 20 hours. These figures correspond to reality, especially given the rather large dimensions of the speaker and its weight, which made it possible to place a large battery inside the case and make such a decent autonomy. You can take the device with you on the road, for the whole day and not think about the remaining charge.
The only difficulty is determining the remaining battery charge, except for 1 light located at the top, the device will not be able to signal in any way, so it is better to charge it completely before the trip.
Now let’s move on to the main test — this is the quality of the reproduced sound. I’ll make a reservation right away that there will be no in-depth tests, although I do music, studio engineers should still do such testing. I’ll try to test it from the user side.
I made the first connection with a Sony Xperia Z smartphone, through a standard IN input, via the cable included with the speaker.
Listened to pop, rock and EDM (Progressive and Trap). There were no questions about the first two reproduced styles, because. there is no predominance of low frequencies in them, and everything plays perfectly. For this reason, I will not single out specific performers, there is no real difference in sound.
If you wish, you can adjust the equalizer a little, but even without this, I didn’t have any complaints with any track. The emphasis during playback is made on medium and high frequencies, on popular pop, rock and live music with a predominance of vocals.
But with EDM, questions arose, in tracks with a dense bass, the column “chokes” a little and manual Bass control does not help much. Electronic music does not «pump» as it should, and I did not have enough volume, and the volume reserve too. To hold a full-fledged house party, with electronic music, will not work. And it makes sense, in the future, to bring 3-frequency controls (low, medium, high) to the top panel.
The second step was to connect through the club sound card Native-Instruments Audio 6 Dj. I use this card when performing in clubs, and at home it replaces the regular Macbook Pro audio output. In this test, an unpleasant feature was found out, in this mode Kilburn refused to reproduce the sound normally. Instead of bass, the sound was distorted.
You can’t blame Marshall, because. the column is not designed to work with such devices, and apparently the sound card gives out too strong a signal, which overloads the sound.
Then there was a connection to a Numark TTX turntable, and vinyl playback. These tests ended just great. Record playback was 5 plus. I heard a very rich and fat sound. This was the nicest feature of the Marshall Kilburn.
Finally, I offer a comparison with the competing SoundLink Mini speaker from Bose.
In this test, Marshall Kllburn can be considered a 100% winner. The difference in sound quality is audible without straining your ears. The sound of Kilburn is rich, dense. Bose sounds faded and there is a lack of frequencies. Of course, the dimensions of the devices and the weight category are very different, but I simply could not compare them, because. many will have a choice between these models.
If you love the design and don’t mind the size, then the Marshall Kilburn is the obvious choice.
conclusions
The main advantages of Marshall Kilburn are a high-quality assembly, a decent appearance, good sound on most of the reproduced material, a capacious battery, a wired connection to a sound source, a well-known brand, a stable Bluetooth connection.
The disadvantages include the lack of low frequencies when playing electronic music and the lack of a three-frequency equalizer. But these are my purely professional wishes.
This is how the review turned out, thanks to everyone who took the time to read it, I hope it helped many to decide on the choice of device.
Editorial
We remind you that the author of the best article will receive a gift from Marshall. Details read here.