Marshall announces Heddon Wi-Fi hub for multi-room audio

Marshall has just announced its new Wi-Fi hub, Heddon. This enables multi-room audio with Bluetooth speakers and vintage legacy gear. Sporting a sleek, traditionally Marshall aesthetic, the hub measures just 120.5 x 120.5 x 42mm and weighs 440g. It ships in Black and has a mains voltage of 100-240V.

What makes this product extremely exciting is that it uses Auracast to broadcast music to compatible Bluetooth speakers. So, you don’t need to go through a tedious pairing process to stream audio. Marshall has announced that this works with its Acton III, Stanmore III, and Woburn III speakers. However, provided that the hub isn’t using a proprietary Bluetooth connection, it should work with any wireless speaker, headphones, earbuds, or hearing aids that support Auracast. The hub can be set up, controlled, and updated by downloading the Marshall Bluetooth App.

Heddon works with older Marshall speakers, too, including the Acton II and Stanmore II. However, it can only connect one at a time via an RCA-to-AUX or RCA-to-RCA cable. This is because the hub only has one stereo RCA port for connecting external speakers. The other RCA ports are line-in, allowing you to connect older legacy gear, such as turntables and CD players. However, these may require an amplifier to work optimally.

Marshall’s new hub uses Wi-Fi to stream natively from Spotify and Tidal. Provided that you have a device that can connect to the hub via Google Cast or Apple AirPlay, you can also use other services, such as Apple Music and Qobuz.

The Marshall Heddon is available now from the company’s website for $299.99. However, Marshall is offering several enticing bundles to sweeten the deal. For example, the Heddon receives a 50% discount when purchased with the Acton III, Stanmore III, or Woburn III speakers. Similarly, Marshall is offering the hub for free when purchased with two or more of these speakers.