One of the things I liked most about the Marshall Heston 120 was its design, as it largely stayed true to the Marshall design language that has been beloved for decades. Fortunately, the Marshall Heston 60 retains many of the same design elements as its larger, more expensive sibling, although there are some changes as well.
The Heston 60 measures 28.7 inches wide, 4.9 inches deep, and 2.7 inches tall and weighs approximately 6.08 pounds. This makes it thin enough to sit neatly in front of most TVs without blocking the bottom of the screen, and light enough to mount on the wall without drama. It’s only slightly larger than the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), so it fits well in the same spaces those soundbars are designed for. Not only that, but for TVs around 55 inches wide, it should actually fit between their legs, helping to reduce the amount of space in front of the TV that you have to devote to the soundbar.
The materials are also of very high quality, helping to create a product designed to be placed permanently in your living room. The bar is wrapped in a textured polyurethane ‘leatherette’ that directly references the brand’s classic amplifiers, with a woven ‘salt and pepper’ fabric grille and brass-effect controls finishing the look. It comes in black and cream. It’s frankly one of the best-looking soundbars you can buy – distinctive in a category dominated by no-nonsense fabric and mesh boxes. Compared to the deeply minimalist Beam, the Heston 60 is a design statement rather than something intended to blend into the background.
The build quality matches the style. Panel gaps are tight, the grille fabric is sturdy, and the entire soundbar has a solid feel that belies its modest weight. It feels premium in a way that justifies at least part of the price.
There are also smart design choices related to flexibility. The soundbar is designed to be placed on a surface in front of your TV or mounted to a wall, and when you mount it to the wall, you mount it from the bottom instead of the back. Marshall says the speaker configuration means there will be no change in the audio, as the soundbar will automatically detect what orientation it is in. Additionally, the Marshall logo magnetically attaches to the soundbar so it can be placed on the front in any position. Plus, the order labels are magnetic, so they can be flipped right side out.
The controls themselves are located on the top of the soundbar: power, volume, input and sound mode. The buttons are nice, tactile, and easy to press, but I couldn’t help but miss the excellent feel buttons that Marshall included on the Heston 120. Unlike some other soundbars, however, there’s no remote control for the Heston 60. Some may not like this decision, but it’s becoming more common as more TVs support HDMI CEC. Frankly, even if there was a remote, I probably wouldn’t use it. I use an Apple TV and its remote to control everything, including volume, via HDMI CEC. The other controls that can’t be changed via HDMI CEC can be accessed in the Marshall app, but these are controls you probably won’t use much manually anyway. If you want a separate remote, you will be disappointed.
The selection of physical inputs is not bad. There’s the HDMI eARC input, as well as an auxiliary input and an RCA output for a subwoofer – so you can connect the soundbar to a third-party sub if you wish. There’s also a USB-C port, but I’m guessing that’s for maintenance rather than consumer use – it doesn’t make much sense as anything else.
Compared to the larger Heston 120, the 60 significantly reduces the chassis width and profile to accommodate smaller screens and narrower TV mounts. That’s the whole point of the product, and physically, it succeeds: it’s a Heston that adapts to a normal living room.
The Marshall Heston Sub 200 is also well designed, and given its shape, it feels even more like a classic Marshall amplifier. It’s really just a small black cube, but it’s covered in a nice leather covering on the top and back as well as a mesh grill on the front and sides. It has the Marshall logo on the front with an overall volume control on the back alongside a wired input, in case you want to use one.
Setting up the soundbar and subwoofer is very simple. You’ll plug the soundbar into a power outlet and connect it to the HDMI ARC output on your TV. From there, the soundbar should be automatically recognized and usable with your TV, but you’ll probably also want to add it to the Marshall app, where you can control EQ, set up room correction, and more. The process is more or less the same for the subwoofer. Both logged into the app immediately – and even having to install firmware updates on both, I was up and running in about five minutes.
