Marshall Releases its Smallest Portable Speaker to Date

[TheLostSwede]

Willen is the mighty portable speaker that is made to go everywhere with you. Built with one 2" full range driver and two passive radiators, this speaker brings you the heavy Marshall sound you can't live without. Don't be fooled by its size - Willen might be compact, but it has a rock-star attitude. High-fidelity Marshall tuning and solid instrument separation stands Willen head and shoulders above its competition. Power your music with Marshall signature sound every single time, even when the session isn't planned. Willen comes with a top-of-class IP67 rating so it doesn't care about a bit of water and dust; all it cares about is your music. Its solid build means your speaker is ready for the road and rain or dirt won't stop the session. This speaker brings together the iconic Marshall design with a ruggedness that dares you to push its limits.

Willen is ready to roll whenever you are with a hefty 15+ hours of portable playtime on a single charge. Whenever you need to top up its battery, 3 hours of charging will bring it back to full power. If you can't wait that long, plug it in for only 20 minutes and you'll get 3 hours of playtime—plenty for whatever the day might throw your way. Willen is the ultimate multi-purpose speaker with its flexible positioning. Stand it up, lay it down, fix it to an object or let it hang out with its rubber back-mounted strap. Attach Willen anywhere you can think of and share your music with anyone who wants to hear it. The shortest distance between you and your music is Willen - just pair and play without any complicated set-up. If you want to adjust your sound, you can choose between three equaliser presets in the Marshall Bluetooth app. Connect with Bluetooth 5.1 and control your music in the app or enjoy a more hands-on experience by using the front-mounted multi-directional control knob. You'll find everything you need right there on the unit, including the Bluetooth pairing button and LED battery indicator so you can keep track of the level. The pairing button also activates Stack Mode and lets you connect your speaker to others. With Willen, no heavy thinking is required, just heavy listening.




Connect more speakers with stack mode
Stack Mode raises the stakes with a sound larger than Willen. Amplify your sound with an immersive multispeaker session - just connect to other Willen speakers and the party can begin. Activate Stack Mode with the Bluetooth pairing button on your speaker, connect to other speakers and press play. Combine as many Willens as you like and create a sound as big as your imagination

Built-in microphone
Make sure your voice is heard with Willen's built-in microphone. Answer and reject calls using the control knob and enjoy some hands-free chat. Whether you're taking a quick work call or video chatting with friends around the world, Willen will make sure no one misses a word.

A sustainable approach to music
Willen is just as impressive when you go backstage. This speaker's rugged build is PVC-free and 60% of the plastic is post-consumer recycled from used electronics. Willen delivers on the promise of a more sustainable approach from Marshall while retaining the iconic design that embodies the brand's heritage.



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[FreedomEclipse]

Supremely overpriced. £90 puts it into JBL Flip 5 territory and i dare say that the Flip 5 will outshine this in each and every way apart from size. But then if you wanted something small and compact like this then there are hundreds of MUCH CHEAPER options available before you even consider the Marshall.

This should sit at £30-40. Its DOA unless the price gets revised.

 

[oobymach]

It's because phone speakers suck, more manufacturers jumping into the ring, and you're paying for the name not the quality. Also frequency response doesn't look great on paper (100hz and up), my sony XB3 is 20hz and up and 3 times as powerful (30 watts) for the same $$.

 

[Punkenjoy]

It's because phone speakers suck, more manufacturers jumping into the ring, and you're paying for the name not the quality. Also frequency response doesn't look great on paper (100hz and up), my sony XB3 is 20hz and up and 3 times as powerful (30 watts) for the same $$.

i doubt a 30w spearker can go down to 20hz unless their calculate their frequency response at +/- 30 db

A frequency response mean nothing without the threshold it use.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Supremely overpriced. £90 puts it into JBL Flip 5 territory and i dare say that the Flip 5 will outshine this in each and every way apart from size. But then if you wanted something small and compact like this then there are hundreds of MUCH CHEAPER options available before you even consider the Marshall.

This should sit at £30-40. Its DOA unless the price gets revised.

Marshall is on level with JBL as far as reputation goes. Marshall makes a lot of music (amps, etc.) related stuff, including speakers. Looking that their whole line of portable speakers, they are all overpriced. Does that mean they are any better quality than JBL? No. It just means people will buy name before quality.

 

[Lew Zealand]

It's because phone speakers suck, more manufacturers jumping into the ring, and you're paying for the name not the quality. Also frequency response doesn't look great on paper (100hz and up), my sony XB3 is 20hz and up and 3 times as powerful (30 watts) for the same $$.

The XB3 is not rated down to 20Hz. Like many small speakers with drivers less than 2" across, there is a dearth of data about the actual frequency range it can audibly reproduce.

 

[X71200]

Stay away from any of these Marshall swag crap. Their headphones, these and so on.

Only buy Marshall if it's a good cab for guitar or something, and at a sensible price (which is a tough call with this brand).

 

[oobymach]

The XB3 is not rated down to 20Hz. Like many small speakers with drivers less than 2" across, there is a dearth of data about the actual frequency range it can audibly reproduce.

• Frequency Transmission Range​

  20 Hz–20,000 Hz (44.1 kHz sampling)

https://www.sony.ca/en/electronics/support/speakers-wireless-speakers/srs-xb3/specifications

Yes it actually is as you can see, the bass isn't super impressive because it's coming from 3 small drivers but there is far more bass than eg. a tv speaker can produce. Obviously a dedicated subwoofer can produce more but for a portable speaker the size of a sandwich I'm not complaining.

 

[Lew Zealand]

https://www.sony.ca/en/electronics/support/speakers-wireless-speakers/srs-xb3/specifications

Yes it actually is as you can see, the bass isn't super impressive because it's coming from 3 small drivers but there is far more bass than eg. a tv speaker can produce. Obviously a dedicated subwoofer can produce more but for a portable speaker the size of a sandwich I'm not complaining.

That is the Bluetooth spec. What frequencies the Bluetooth transmitter can transfer to the speaker.

No claim is made for what frequencies the speaker itself can actually produce.

Reviews say the speaker has a lot of bass, but that is the Bose definition of bass, where you have a small speaker which can actually produce some bass as opposed to the Zero Bass junk we had to deal with in previous decades. But it probably gets down to 80Hz at best without decent table/wall/corner placement boost. I have another well-reviewed brand of similar speaker and the sound is good.

For what it is.

 

[oobymach]

That is the Bluetooth spec. What frequencies the Bluetooth transmitter can transfer to the speaker.

No claim is made for what frequencies the speaker itself can actually produce.

Reviews say the speaker has a lot of bass, but that is the Bose definition of bass, where you have a small speaker which can actually produce some bass as opposed to the Zero Bass junk we had to deal with in previous decades. But it probably gets down to 80Hz at best without decent table/wall/corner placement boost. I have another well-reviewed brand of similar speaker and the sound is good.

For what it is.

You're right that's the bluetooth spec. I quoted like an idiot because frequency response isn't listed anywhere. I'm not 100% sure of the frequency response but I think it's somewhere around 50hz and up. Super deep bass like ICP songs is audible but not exactly booming.

 

[Punkenjoy]

You're right that's the bluetooth spec. I quoted like an idiot because frequency response isn't listed anywhere. I'm not 100% sure of the frequency response but I think it's somewhere around 50hz and up. Super deep bass like ICP songs is audible but not exactly booming.

if it's not boomy, then it's probably not 50 hertz. Those 48mm speaker (1.8 inch) are way too small to get that low at any decent level. They would just have to move way too much to move enough air. Small spearker can do low frequency, but their either need a lot of them of good speaker volume(size) to acheive this.

Frequency response on speaker is nothing is they don't give the degre of accuracy in +/- db.

A speaker’s frequency response, measured in Hertz (Hz) tells you how accurately it converts the frequencies of an input signal. It’s common to see specs such as 60 Hz to 18 kHz. This means that it can transduce frequencies in that range with a certain degree of accuracy. By the numbers, frequencies outside of that range such as 30 Hz or 19 kHz will not be output from the speaker. However, the frequency range tells a very limited portion of the truth. It’s important to know the degree of accuracy, expressed as a +/- decibel variation. 20 Hz to 20 kHz (+/- 20 dB) means that there could be 20 dB differences between the input and output signals at certain frequencies. 20 Hz to 20 kHz (+/- 3 dB) means that there would only be a maximum of 3 dB differences between the input and output signals at certain frequencies. The latter is obviously more accurate.

does that speaker can do 80 hertz at -20 db? Probably, but that is not that good. A trick that small speaker does is to bump the harmonic frequency of bass so that bass sound bigger and fuller while not actually going low. That have some benefits, less power required, real low bass might require bass trap to prevent muddy sound.

Also, bass is way harder to reproduce outside.

 

[oobymach]

if it's not boomy, then it's probably not 50 hertz. Those 48mm speaker (1.8 inch) are way too small to get that low at any decent level. They would just have to move way too much to move enough air. Small spearker can do low frequency, but their either need a lot of them of good speaker volume(size) to acheive this.
Frequency response on speaker is nothing is they don't give the degre of accuracy in +/- db.
does that speaker can do 80 hertz at -20 db? Probably, but that is not that good. A trick that small speaker does is to bump the harmonic frequency of bass so that bass sound bigger and fuller while not actually going low. That have some benefits, less power required, real low bass might require bass trap to prevent muddy sound.

Also, bass is way harder to reproduce outside.

Some is booming though not as deep frequency, 60-80hz is nice and boomy, 50hz is less audible but still there. 20hz is inaudible. Also agree on the outside part especially with these tiny speakers, if there's nothing for it to reflect off you don't hear it as deep.

 

[johnspack]

If you want bass, and sub-bass, get something like the skullcandy crusher wireless... haptic feedback, you feel the bass as well as hear it.
Over all sound quality, meh, but if you like booming bass, and sometimes I do, they are great and dirt cheap....

 

[Operandi]

this speaker brings you the heavy Marshall sound you can't live without.

This speaker brings together the iconic Marshall design with a ruggedness that dares you to push its limits.

I can't decide if whoever wrote this deserves to be promoted or fired but man, they sure do deserve something, lol.

At the very least a switch to decaf.

if it's not boomy, then it's probably not 50 hertz. Those 48mm speaker (1.8 inch) are way too small to get that low at any decent level. They would just have to move way too much to move enough air. Small spearker can do low frequency, but their either need a lot of them of good speaker volume(size) to acheive this.

Frequency response on speaker is nothing is they don't give the degre of accuracy in +/- db.

does that speaker can do 80 hertz at -20 db? Probably, but that is not that good. A trick that small speaker does is to bump the harmonic frequency of bass so that bass sound bigger and fuller while not actually going low. That have some benefits, less power required, real low bass might require bass trap to prevent muddy sound.

Also, bass is way harder to reproduce outside.

All small speakers like this use tricks to get a perceived effect of bass. No driver this small is doing anything meaningful sub 90-100Hz, thats just pure physics. They can claim there is bass in those regions but its not really reproducing them in same way a traditional speaker is and it doesn't sound the same. It doesn't really matter for the intended purpose and it can still sound good (for what it is) but know that its not comparable to a regular two way with 5"+ driver is doing.

Good decently sized 5.25 - 6.5" two ways can get into the 50s, some exceptional ones can get a bit below 50 but thats pretty rare and requires a driver thats pretty special. To get anywhere 40Hz and below you need larger 8"+ drivers in big cabinets or use fancy transmission line enclosures. Below 30Hz is exceedingly hard even for subwoofers to do properly and require large 12" drivers in large enclosures or a lot of DSP boost and lots of power.

For reference my TriTrix MTs use a pretty standard paper 5.25" woofer in a 0.3Cuf ported enclosure that is tuned to about 40Hz which gives the speaker a modeled F3 of 58Hz. Thats not particularly low and I know even mid-level HT in box systems or high-end PC speakers can play lower but even for music where bass is big part of the sound like Daft Punk or Jamie xx its not even close. Even if my TriTrix are missing the bottom octaves (and they often are) the quality of the bass that is there is 2x better.

Bottom line is I wouldn't pay too much attention to the frequency response of any speaker. Most music happens after 50Hz, and there is a huge difference between and F3 of say 55Hz and 70Hz. Anything sub 60Hz is good in my opinion and after that how good everything else is about the speaker matters way more.

 

[Punkenjoy]

I can't decide if whoever wrote this deserves to be promoted or fired but man, they sure do deserve something, lol.

At the very least a switch to decaf.


All small speakers like this use tricks to get a perceived effect of bass. No driver this small is doing anything meaningful sub 90-100Hz, thats just pure physics. They can claim there is bass in those regions but its not really reproducing them in same way a traditional speaker is and it doesn't sound the same. It doesn't really matter for the intended purpose and it can still sound good (for what it is) but know that its not comparable to a regular two way with 5"+ driver is doing.

Good decently sized 5.25 - 6.5" two ways can get into the 50s, some exceptional ones can get a bit below 50 but thats pretty rare and requires a driver thats pretty special. To get anywhere 40Hz and below you need larger 8"+ drivers in big cabinets or use fancy transmission line enclosures. Below 30Hz is exceedingly hard even for subwoofers to do properly and require large 12" drivers in large enclosures or a lot of DSP boost and lots of power.

For reference my TriTrix MTs use a pretty standard paper 5.25" woofer in a 0.3Cuf ported enclosure that is tuned to about 40Hz which gives the speaker a modeled F3 of 58Hz. Thats not particularly low and I know even mid-level HT in box systems or high-end PC speakers can play lower but even for music where bass is big part of the sound like Daft Punk or Jamie xx its not even close. Even if my TriTrix are missing the bottom octaves (and they often are) the quality of the bass that is there is 2x better.

Bottom line is I wouldn't pay too much attention to the frequency response of any speaker. Most music happens after 50Hz, and there is a huge difference between and F3 of say 55Hz and 70Hz. Anything sub 60Hz is good in my opinion and after that how good everything else is about the speaker matters way more.

I totally agree. I play bass as hobby and played in bands while i was younger. I did a lot of research on Bass amp and speaker that there was always the debate on speaker size.

The most popular speaker size among bass player is the 10". The main reason is it respond better to the frequency we hear better. When you do a sound check in a new room, it's quite frequent that the first thing you cut is the bass as it quickly become a mess. That is why many place have something called a bass trap. It's designed to prevent the bass to bounce around and become just a big mess.

Also, a 5.25" woofer can go quite low, but unless you have a huge array of it, you won't be able to run such a small speaker when a drum is playing. (i mean reproduce any bass at that kind of volume).

Also bass perception is not linear. You need a certain amount of volume to start hearing the the bass.

 

[Operandi]

I totally agree. I play bass as hobby and played in bands while i was younger. I did a lot of research on Bass amp and speaker that there was always the debate on speaker size.

The most popular speaker size among bass player is the 10". The main reason is it respond better to the frequency we hear better. When you do a sound check in a new room, it's quite frequent that the first thing you cut is the bass as it quickly become a mess. That is why many place have something called a bass trap. It's designed to prevent the bass to bounce around and become just a big mess.

Also, a 5.25" woofer can go quite low, but unless you have a huge array of it, you won't be able to run such a small speaker when a drum is playing. (i mean reproduce any bass at that kind of volume).

Also bass perception is not linear. You need a certain amount of volume to start hearing the the bass.

All true.

I have friends that played but I never really got too into it and didn't really pay any attention to their gear.

Live PA and home stuff is pretty different though and while the lowest octave on a bass can be pretty low (40Hz ish range?) thats not normally what you are hearing and its not like single note is just in one frequency. The TriTrix is a smallish 5.25" that would play lower a than guitar bass would but not nearly at the same output and sound nothing like what bass amp would. It would be about as good of a bass (guitar) speaker would as a dedicated bass would be for listening to your music through. Pretty awful to say the least.

 

[Punkenjoy]

on a 4 string bass, the E string is ringing at 40 Hz when tuned to E, on a 5 string bass, the B string is ringing at 32 Hz. But the money is in the 100-1000hz range