Marshall Kilburn II Bluetooth Portable Speaker, Black & Brass

First of all, I did a LOT (weeks really) of research while looking for a really good sounding, totally portable, Bluetooth speaker that wouldn't break the bank. That is when I came across this amazing Marshall Kilburn II portable Bluetooth speaker. Actually, I was also considering the Marshall Acton III Bluetooth speaker, (and possibly a couple of Klipsch Bluetooth speakers) due to the great reviews of the Acton III everywhere, but since the Acton III is not fully portable, I went with the Kilburn II instead. I am definitely not disappointed at all with my decision.I have been a guitar player for over 45 years now, and I have owned a LOT of great Marshall products during this time. Marshall makes very high quality guitar amplifiers, so I figured why not check out their portable Bluetooth speakers. However, the original British Marshall amplifier company, founded by Jim Marshall back in the 60s, has now been sold to Zound Industries in Sweden. This Marshall Kilburn II Bluetooth speaker is actually designed and manufactured by Zound Industries, and the "Marshall" name is licensed for their portable Bluetooth speaker lineup.This Marshall Kilburn II is a great sounding "little" Bluetooth speaker. However, take the "little" description with a grain of salt, as this Kilburn II has some heft and big sound to it. This Kilburn II is 9 inches wide, 5-1/2 inches deep, and 6-1/2 inches tall (including the control knob height). The Kilburn II also weighs 5-1/2 pounds, so it is probably not something that can be carried around in a backpack for very long. However, if big, clear sound is what people want, then this Kilburn II fits the bill perfectly. The main reason that I don't like most portable Bluetooth speakers is that they sound like an AM transistor radio from the 70s. This Kilburn II does not sound like that at all. It plays loud and clear.This Kilburn II has one front firing 4 inch woofer, and two separate front and rear firing 3/4 inch tweeters, so it produces real 360 degree room or outdoor filling stereo sound. It is not flat mono sound like most other portable Bluetooth speakers. There is one 20 watt class 'D' amplifier that drives the woofer, and two separate 8 watt class 'D' amplifiers that drive the two tweeters. While that may not seem like a lot of power, trust me, this Kilburn II plays loud and clear. It also produces really tight (not boomy) bass down to 50hz, and treble up to 20khz (the case is also rear ported). The mids are also very clear and pronounced, especially vocals. The output rating of this Kilburn II is 100db/1 watt at 1 meter, so yes it can get fairly loud. Also, it does help to have a good EQ App on the device that is connected to this Kilburn II in order to help taylor the sound to the listener's liking. Also, while the bass produced by this Kilburn II is clear, deep, and tight, it is more suited to rock and pop music than the booming bass of rap or techno music (just my honest opinion).This Kilburn II has three control knobs (power/volume, bass, and treble), and one multifunctional push button for Bluetooth pairing (hold down 3 seconds), Bluetooth/AUX switching (push once quickly), and factory reset (hold down 7+ seconds). There is a LED bar charge status indicator on the far right of the three knobs. There is also a 3.5mm AUX-IN port on the rear of this Kilburn II for direct connecting music playback devices. This is still a great feature to have, as a hard-wired connection is always better than a compressed Bluetooth connection for Hi-Def sound quality and battery life, especially when listening to higher bitrate WAV, AAC, FLAC, etc. music files. However, this Kilburn II does support Bluetooth 5.0, and a Qualcomm aptX higher bitrate connection for connected devices that also support it (mainly android based devices). Most other portable Bluetooth speakers only support the standard 1mbps standard Bluetooth bitrate, so having Qualcomm aptX is a real plus if listening to higher bitrate quality music over Bluetooth. This Kilburn II can also remember two Bluetooth devices connected simultaneously for added convenience. The Bluetooth connection also has very good range, and it is very stable, using my Samsung Galaxy S22 phone. The phone connects immediately to this Kilburn II, and I have actually had the distance stably out to about 50 feet or more, as long as there are not any other 2.4ghz range devices in between to interfere with the connection.This Kilburn II has an included old-school two prong (removable) wall outlet power cable (yay!), and it is capable of fast-charging fully in 2-1/2 hours (or 4 hours of use in 20 minutes of charging). I much prefer this charging method over the slow, inconvenient USB connection charging method of most electronic devices these days. The charging cable port is covered by a weatherproof rubber flap for protection, and the Kilburn II case is mildly waterproof (IPX2) and dust rated, but it is not submersible rated. This Kilburn II is rated at 20 hours playback time at medium volume. However, in reality, at the volume that most people will listen to the Kilburn II at most of the time, the playback time will probably be more like 10 to 15 hours, as is with the case of all portable Bluetooth speakers. The good news is that the Kilburn II fast-charges, and it can be also used while charging. This Kilburn II will automatically go into standby mode to save battery life, after 10 minutes of non-use. Just push the Bluetooth pairing button quickly to wake it up.The old-school adjustment knobs are really nice, and they function smoothly. However, these knobs are the only way to adjust this Kilburn II, as there is no Marshall App that works with the Kilburn II. This is fine with me however, as not all of us want or need a battery power robbing, personal data mining App that must be used with every device that we own these days. I have no problem just turning the adjustment knobs when necessary. However, the volume can be controlled by the connected music listening device (just turn the volume on this Kilburn II all the way up), and the music can be played and tailored through any third-party music playing/streaming and/or EQ App. Personally, I have used the Android Poweramp Music App/EQ, as well as SiriusXM, Amazon Music, Pandora,etc. with the Kilburn II, and they all work very well. I don't use the ever-popular Spotify, as the streaming quality and bitrates on Spotify are just not that great, so I don't have any experience with that music streaming service to comment on for use with this Kilburn II.Overall, I am very impressed with this "little" Marshall Kilburn II Bluetooth speaker. It sounds great, and it plays loud when necessary. Just remember that this speaker is not an ear-shattering JBL or Peavy PA system and everything will be more than fine for normal everyday usage. The removable carrying handle is also very convenient if this Kilburn II needs to be carried long distances (remember, it may be small, but it weighs 5-1/2 pounds). The quality vinyl wrapping and recessed corner bumpers on the case should make the external structure last a long time. The mild weather-proofing will also help with durability. Hopefully, the internal electronic components hold up just as long, but only time will tell. I am a huge Marshall fan, and hopefully this Kilburn II keeps up with the quality reputation of Marshall's other great products. Pick up one of these great little Kilburn II portable Bluetooth speakers today. The retail price of these devices may seem a bit high, but they are always on sale somewhere at a steep discount. Have fun and enjoy!

The Marshall Kilburn II delivers impressive sound quality with rich bass, clear mids, and crisp highs. Its vintage design gives it a stylish look, and the durable build makes it suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The battery life is strong, lasting several hours on a single charge, and the Bluetooth connectivity is stable with good range. Overall, it's a solid choice for anyone seeking powerful audio in a portable speaker with a classic aesthetic.

I spent some time finding an aesthetically pleasing portable speaker, that not only looked great but sounded great too. This does not disappoint! Marshall has smaller and larger portable models but I wanted something not too expensive. This seller had it available, and shipped very fast! I’m not a fan of the chunky plastic models available by other brands, just not my style. I actually have two of them!! I have one in our Den and one in our Guest Room. The sound at less than half volume fills the space clearly and comfortably. It’s just the right size for a bookshelf. When the weather gets warmer, I’ll see how these fair outside next to our pool or on our patio!

Awesome sound quality, easy to connect and wide range Bluetooth connectivity. Battery life is decent, I don’t have to charge it after every use and I love the bass and treble adjustment functionality overall it’s just awesome 9/10

Great sound and battery life, the bass is surprisingly good for the size

Good sound for the size and price. Strong bass response, though mids are a little muted and not as crisp as its bigger brother, the Stanmore III.Good size to fit in a weekend bag, long battery life and classic looking Marshall style.

Sounds great and stays charged a long time. Use in my garage and it rocks ! Love the guitar chunk sound when you turn on. Looks very cool too.

Audio cuts out intermittently. I tested this product for 3 days and it almost immediately showed me such a disease. Most likely due to the vibration of the membrane, bluetooth is turned off, this is an unforgivable mistake on the part of the manufacturer.I returned this product for this reason.If you have also encountered this problem, but your warranty has expired, then you can still solve this problem. take the column to the master. Let him take care of her. let him replace the ceramic capacitor with some other one, the film capacitor should work. The problem is that the speaker, due to bass vibrations and poor circuitry (ceramic capacitors to be more precise), switches to aux, because of this, your speaker stops playing sound for a few seconds. I am personally very disappointed by such a simply stupid and gross engineering mistake. I hope my review will be useful to you. I do not recommend this particular model.I am a big connoisseur of marshel products, but this speaker is just a mockery of the consumer. Yes, the sound and design of it is certainly good, but what's the point if it doesn't work properly.