Marshall’s compact Heston 60 soundbar could be the perfect combination of power and connectivity

While Marshall’s first Heston 120 soundbar went up against the Sonos Arc Ultra, the company was quite clear that there would be a more compact version coming. And, ahead of IFA 2025, that soundbar has now appeared in the form of the $700.£500 Heston 60 which comes in both black and cream options.

Once again it’s a Dolby Atmos and DTS-X-capable unit but while the awesome Heston 120 has 11 drivers, the smaller Heston 60 has two woofers and five full-range drivers and is clearly aimed at the Sonos Beam area of the market. They’re powered by 7 Class D amplifiers (two 25W and five 5W) giving a total power output of 56W.

As with the original Heston, you aren’t short on wired and wireless connectivity options. Fundamentally, you’ll connect up your TV via an HDMI 2.1 port (eARC). But there’s also Bluetooth 5.3 (Bluetooth LE Audio, too) and Wi-Fi support as well as a 3.5mm aux jack, an RCA input for a device like a record player as well as USB-C. It also supports Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect. Inputs can be switched automatically, manually on the device or on the app.

Different sound modes can also be selected (Movie, Music, Nightand Voice). The controls aren’t as tactle as with the Heston 120 (which you can see below) and don’t have Marshall’s signature knobs. But there is a full physical control panel, so you don’t lose that aspect with the smaller size.

As also trailed earlier in the year, there is also a $600/£430 Heston Sub 200 to join the two soundbars. It boasts two 5.25in subwoofers powered by 120W Class D amplifiers. Again it’s available in black and cream. “For our smaller soundbar [Heston 60] this is a great addition and creates a flexible and versatile setup withoutcompromising on performance – a real ‘power couple’,” said Anders Olsson, Marshall’s Senior Product Manager.

Both new products will be available from 23 September.

Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

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Computing, mobile, audio, smart home