Marshall’s first foray into the world of spatial audio soundbars, the Heston 120, has been broadly well-received - and this success has emboldened the company to democratise its new-found soundbar expertise a little. The result is this Heston 60 - smaller, more affordable and a little less lavishly specified than its big brother, it’s priced to compete with some very well-regarded alternatives from some of the most credible brands around.
The Heston 60 is designed to deal with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X spatial audio content, and it uses physical drivers facing in a variety of directions, rather than rely on digital sound processing, to create the effect. This puts it, in theory at least, gives it a better chance of doing a convincing job than the likes of the price-comparable Sonos Beam Gen 2.
A total of seven drivers, plus four supporting passive mode radiators, are arranged to deliver 5.1 channels of sound. Five 32mm full-range drivers behind waveguides are laid out in an impression of a full-size surround-sound speaker system - three fire more-or-less forwards in a ‘left/centre/right’ arrangement, and there’s another driver at each end of the bar facing sideways in an effort to create a sensation of surround sound. A couple of 76mm face upwards from the top of the ‘bar and they’re reinforced by four balanced mode radiators arranged in a couple of force-cancelling ‘push/push’ units. Power is via seven blocks of Class D amplification able to twist out a total of 75 watts. Marshall suggests this is a set-up that’s good for a frequency response of 45Hz - 20kHz.
There are wired and wireless connectivity options, so getting audio information on board is straightforward. The most obvious and most useful of the physical connections is the HDMI 2.1 eARC socket, with a USB-C slot plus 3.5mm analogue input as handy alternatives - there’s also a pre-out for a subwoofer if you decide to use something other than Marshall’s own Heston Sub 200 (which can connect wirelessly to the Heston 60). Wireless stuff, meanwhile, is covered off by dual-band wi-fi (which brings access to the likes of Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, the ‘Connect’ versions of Spotify and TIDAL, and internet radio) and Bluetooth 5.3 (with SBC, AAC and LC-3 codec compatibility).
sound quality
Load up some Dolby Atmos content - a movie or some music, the Heston 60 isn’t picky - and there’s an awful lot to like about the way this Marshall soundbar goes about things.
For starters, it sounds significantly larger than it actually is. The soundstage is a critical part of the spatial audio experience, of course - and this soundbar creates a stage that is way wider and deeper than seems likely from such a modestly proportioned cabinet. Sound easily escapes its physical confines and, while the ‘height’ element of the presentation is rather curtailed in comparison to the width the Marshall can generate, the soundstage is gratifyingly spacious as a result.
The Heston 60 controls the action on the stage carefully, too. Effects are steered with positivity, and even though there’s a very pleasing sensation of space all the action sounds unified and of a whole. The definition of individual elements of a soundtrack relative to other elements is strong, and the overall sensation is one of a singular performance rather than of a selection of disparate occurrences that don’t meaningfully relate to each other.
Tonality throughout the frequency range is consistent and naturalistic, and from the midrange upwards there’s plenty of detail retained, revealed and contextualised. The Marshall is very adept with voices, which project well and remain discernible even if a soundtrack is kicking off in every direction. The ability to centre and project dialogue is extremely important where movie soundtracks are concerned, and the Heston 60 is an articulate and direct listen in this respect.
The top end attacks treble sounds with real determination and vigour - almost too much, in the wrong circumstances. For a speaker with no dedicated tweeters, the Heston 60 is remarkably adept at creating cutting sibilants - and in the wrong circumstances, or at authentically big volumes, the highest frequencies can get fractionally hard. And be in no doubt, the Marshall is capable of authentically big volumes.
At the bottom of the frequency range the Heston 60 digs impressively deep and hits with real determination - there’s solidity and substance to bass sounds that serves as ample foundation for everything that’s going on above them. There’s no shortage of control, on display, either - the Marshall snaps into low-end information with alacrity, which means rhythms and sudden seismic events alike are expressed confidently.
Bass sounds are nicely shaped and decently textured, although they don’t carry as much fine detail as the rest of the frequency range - and there’s a kind of dip or gap, a disconnect between the low frequencies and the midrange that can’t be entirely ignored. It’s not a huge void, but it’s there nevertheless - and it serves to make bass sounds seem slightly remote from the rest of the frequency information.
Dynamic headroom is considerable, and the Marshall can put ample distance between the quietest and the loudest, most intense moments in a soundtrack. Some rivals have more power to call on, which means that they might seem to have a greater chance of demonstrating dynamic potency - but the Heston 60 is just the latest product to prove that it ain’t how many watts you’ve got but what you do with them that counts.
While all of the above applies to spatial audio music just as surely as it does spatial audio movie soundtracks, the Heston 60 is a slightly more qualified success when it comes to stereo music. It’s not the first soundbar to insist on using all of its very many, variously orientated drivers to deliver two-channel information - and it’s not the first to end up sounding rather vague and ill-defined as a result. Trying to force the sensation of spatial audio from content not originally mixed this way would appear to be even trickier than one might imagine.
living with
The world is not short of spatial audio soundbars, but spatial audio soundbars of just 68 x 730 x 124mm (HxWxD) are in rather shorter supply. Marshall is to be congratulated for increasing the choice of high-end soundbars that don’t look oversized beneath a TV of less than 55in.
And not only is the Heston 60 (relatively) small, it’s beautifully formed. It looks good, especially in the cream finish shown at the top of this review (it's a traditional Marshall finish, and makes a nice change from the far more common black), and the little gold accents add a nice warmth to its visual impression too. The salt-and-pepper grille is just as agreeable here as it is in every other Marshall product that uses it, and the standard of build and finish is impeccable. The Marshall preoccupation with sustainability is apparent, too - the fret, end-caps, drivers and PCBAs are all repairable and/or replaceable.
The Heston 60 is designed to work in two positions - on a flat surface beneath a TV or wall-mounted. Marshall supplies the necessary wall-mounting grommets and, because the ‘bar can be positioned in one of two orientations, both its brand logo badge and the metal that surrounds the physical controls are magnetic in order for them to be easily repositioned. It’s a thoughtful and quite gratifying touch.
Those controls consist of small, tactile buttons dealing with input selection, volume up/down, play/pause, plus the option to cycle through a quartet of EQ presets (music, movie, night, and voice). There’s also a button marked ‘prog’, which can give access to a saved Spotify playlist or internet radio station.
Most of the time, though, you’ll use the Marshall app that’s free for iOS and Android to control your Heston 60. It’s a clean, stable and fairly expansive number and, as well as the headline controls offered in the physical interface, it also includes a five-band EQ with the ability to save some bespoke settings. Here’s where you let your soundbar know if it’s on a wall or a flat surface, make a wireless or wired connection to your matching Heston Sub 200 subwoofer, trawl through internet radio (courtesy of Airable), adjust audio delays and so on.
conclusion
Big spatial audio sound from a compact, discreet and (relatively) affordable soundbar is not to be sniffed at - and with the Heston 60, Marshall has delivered quite a lot of what it promised. No, it’s not absolutely flawless - but it’s as convincing a spatial audio soundbar as this sort of money can currently buy. And it’s quite a bit better-looking than the majority of its rivals, too…
listening notes
3 Feet High and Rising De La Soul TIDAL Connect
Proof that Dolby Atmos music isn’t exclusively suited to shiny new recordings is here in the shape of this stone-cold 1989 classic - and the Marshall delivers all the space and sonic flexibility the excellent spatial audio mix has to offer.
Dune II 4K Blu-ray
A hugely testing combination of drones, blares, indistinct dialogue, a wide-open soundfield and massive dynamic shifts in volume and intensity, Dune II is one of the more forceful spatial audio soundtracks around. The Heston 60 takes it all in its stride.
Highest 2 Lowest Apple TV+
An odd, and oddly unsatisfying film, sure - but on a technical level, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack is one of the best you’ll find on any streaming service. The width and depth the Marshall soundbar can generate is way beyond its physical size.
If you’re after a decent facsimile of spatial audio sound from a speaker that isn’t going to dominate in physical terms, that looks and feels a cut or two above the norm at its price, that can wirelessly connect to an optional subwoofer, and that is just as adept with spatial audio music as is it is with movies, you’ll give the Marshall Heston 60 very serious consideration indeed. And if you like the idea of a soundbar that isn’t black, it becomes even more compelling.
The physical dimensions of the Marshall Heston 60 are almost as big a draw as the sound it makes. It’s ideal for use with what passes as a ‘smaller’ TV these days - many worthwhile soundbars are so large they look a bit daft accompanying a TV any smaller than 65in - but if you’ve a screen of 55in or even 48in, the Heston 60 is ideal. Especially if you have something like the 55in Sony Bravia 7 which, according to John Archer, may sound better than average but is still a million miles from what the Marshall can do.
