The first-gen Marshall Stanmore is one of the oldest tech products I still use regularly. I bought the Bluetooth speaker over seven years ago, and although I have a dozen speakers in my home, the Stanmore continues to be one of my favorites thanks to the sound quality and design.
Marshall rolled out the Stanmore II back in 2018, retaining a similar design and switching to Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity along with the AptX codec. The Stanmore II houses a 50W woofer along with two 15W tweeters, and delivers incredible room-filling sound. The design isn't all that bad either, with the distinct styling an homage to Marshall's iconic guitar amps.
If you want a Bluetooth speaker that with bold styling and thunderous sound, the Stanmore II is an easy recommendation. It usually goes for $379, but right now, you can get your hands on the Stanmore II for $249, making it a great bargain.
Marshall offers an analog power button along with volume, bass, and treble dials, and it's great to be able to manually tweak the settings via the knobs. You can also connect via a 3.5mm in and RCA, and I use a Chromecast Audio that's connected via the aux jack to stream music on the Stanmore.
This isn't a portable device; you will need to plug in the Stanmore II to the mains at all times. That said, if you need a powerful Bluetooth speaker with a bold style and incredible sound, the Stanmore II is the way to go — particularly for just $249.
