The Marshall Acton IV won me over with its charming retro design and incredible sound — and it’s earned a permanent spot on my coffee table

Marshall’s done it once again. The Marshall Acton IV is the latest addition to the fourth iteration of Homeline, the brand’s lineup of home speakers. Now featuring RCA ports for connecting turntables as well as Auracast for pairing it with other Homeline speakers, the Acton IV is one of the best smart speakers around. Energetic but controlled bass combined with refined mids and clean treble results in a truly enjoyable listening experience.

The Acton IV sports Marshall’s retro and classy aesthetics and is a sight to behold. Amp-like controls, a user-friendly companion app, and room-filling sound make it a winner. But there’s still no voice assistant support and no Wi-Fi streaming — both of which are offered by the likes of Sonos and Denon.

Should you still buy it? Read my full Marshall Acton IV review to find out.

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Marshall Acton IV review: Specs

Marshall Acton IV review: Price & availability

Launched in July 2026, the Marshall Acton IV succeeds the four-year-old Acton III. It joins the Marshall Stanmore IV ($399) to form the fourth iteration of the British brand’s Homeline series — its lineup of mains-powered home speakers. The Acton IV has a retail price of $299 / £259, the same as the Acton III at launch.

The Acton IV’s sub-$300 price puts it firmly in the mid-range category — and it’s a great Sonos alternative. It’s a lot cheaper than both the Sonos Era 300 ($449) and the Denon Home 350 ($749) but you also sacrifice voice assistant and Wi-Fi support by saving on the Acton IV. The Acton IV is a little pricier compared to the Audio Pro Addon C5 MKII ($219) and the Klipsch The One Plus ($274) but in my opinion, Marshall’s offering is worth the extra dough for its looks alone.

Marshall Acton IV review: Design

It’s hard to argue against the Marshall Acton IV’s styling. Similar to other Marshall speakers, the Acton IV sports a retro, stylish design that’s sure to draw eyeballs to it — in the best way possible. The speaker is available in Black or Cream primary colors, each with brass and gray accents.The gray mesh grille that covers the front, along with the brass Marshall logo, adds a vintage feel to the Acton IV.

Similar to many of Marshall’s other speakers, the Acton IV doesn’t sport any garish RGB lighting so it looks classy. The only lighting you get is the red LED indicators located on the top plate, which indicate the different active settings.

The Acton IV is designed to stay put in one place. It’s a mains-powered home speaker, after all. It measures roughly 10 x 5.9 x 5.6 inches and weighs 5.84lbs, so it isn’t exactly portable. It isn’t too heavy, though, as I’ve carried it to and from the office in my backpack. Compared to the Sonos Era 300 which sports a more rounded shape, the Acton IV is a rectangle, and it’s nearly the same size as the Audio Pro Addon C5 MKII, but smaller than the Klipsch The One Plus. It didn’t take up much space on my bookshelf or my coffee table.

Weatherproofing

The Acton IV is a home speaker designed for indoors, and as such, it doesn’t have an official IP waterproof rating. Also, because it needs to be plugged into mains, I wouldn’t recommend using it in the shower or even in your garden when it’s raining. If you want a weatherproof speaker, you may want to consider one of the best waterproof Bluetooth speakers, like the IP68-rated JBL Xtreme 5 ($399) or the Tribit StormBox Mini+ ($39) if you’re on a tight budget. If you want a rugged speaker in Marshall’s style, the Marshall Middleton II ($329) is IP67-rated while the Marshall Kilburn III ($379) is IP54-rated.

Controls

Keeping in line with Marshall’s design philosophy, the Acton IV features amp-like physical controls located on the top plate. They’re all fairly straightforward to understand. You get a Source button to swap between AUX, RCA and Bluetooth inputs; three dials to adjust the volume, bass and treble; and a joystick to go to the next or previous song as well as play/pause playback.

I appreciate having onboard bass and treble controls, both of which can be adjusted on a scale of one to 10. These negate the need for the companion app (more on that shortly), as you don’t need to fire it up every time you want to adjust the equalizer. All the buttons and knobs give great tactile feedback when pressed or turned.

There’s a customizable M button, too, which is also found on the Marshall Bromley 750 party speaker ($1,299) and the Marshall Milton ANC headphones ($229). Via the app, you can customize it to change the EQ or activate Spotify Tap to instantly start playing music without toggling it on your phone.

Connectivity

I’ll start this off by saying that no, the Acton IV does not feature Wi-Fi connectivity or voice assistant support, like the Sonos Era 300 and the Denon Home 350 do. This isn’t rare in this price range, as the Klipsch The One Plus doesn’t feature Wi-Fi streaming either. You may want to consider either the Denon or the Sonos if you want superior wireless streaming with lossless hi-res playback.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about what the Acton IV does have. The Acton IV utilizes Bluetooth 5.3 to connect to your smartphone, laptop or other Bluetooth-enabled device. There’s support for SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC codecs, which gives it a leg-up over the Klipsch The One Plus and the Audio Pro Addon C5 MKII, both of which feature SBC and AAC support only. Compared to AAC and SBC, LC3 offers better efficiency and stability, while LDAC operates at a higher maximum bitrate, thereby minimizing detail loss. In lieu of Wi-Fi streaming, you can use LDAC for hi-res streaming instead.

Connecting via Bluetooth is extremely easy as, when you power on the Acton IV for the first time, it immediately puts itself into pairing mode. For connecting new devices, all you need to do is hold down the Source button.

Wired connectivity is in spades, too. Located next to the controls is a 3.5mm AUX port, and on the Acton IV’s underside, you’ll find RCA ports (which you won’t on the Acton III) for plugging in the best turntables, CD players, or even a TV. Thanks to the Source button, you can keep all your devices connected and swap between inputs as and when needed.

The Acton IV is Auracast-enabled, like its predecessor. But a new feature is that you can now connect the Acton IV to other Homeline speakers, like the Stanmore IV. I tested this as I had both speakers at hand, and it worked like a charm. I placed the Acton IV in my living room and the Stanmore IV in my bedroom, and I was able to play the same tunes through both. Setting this up took just under five minutes, too.

If you want to connect old Homeline speakers with it, like the Acton III and the Stanmore III, you’ll need to purchase the Marshall Heddon physical hub ($299) which uses Wi-Fi to transmit to other Marshall speakers via Auracast. If you buy two or more Homeline speakers together, Marshall happily throws in the Heddon for free.

Marshall Acton IV review: Sound quality

Though it be but little, it is fierce… or whatever it was that William Shakespeare said. The Marshall Acton IV is fitted with two 25W Class D amplifiers which power its dual 0.75-inch tweeters, as well as one 60W Class D amplifier to power its 4-inch woofer. The speaker covers a frequency response range of 37Hz to 38KHz. Marshall says that it has improved the tweeters and waveguides to create “a better, wider soundstage” — and that it does.

To test the Acton IV, I listened to my usual array of testing songs on Qobuz, the best music streaming service for hi-res audio. I kicked things off with Lana Del Rey’s ‘Taco Truck x VB’ with the bass and treble set to five each. The song’s first half landed with a warm, almost analog character that suits the Acton IV’s tuning. Lana’s vocals sat front and centre without sounding too clinical, and every breath felt textured and layered. When the song pivoted into the second section, the beat dropped with rounded, confident low-end impact, and the kick drum had plenty of oomph to it. The track’s dynamism was replicated beautifully and it sounded highly immersive.

To test the balance between treble and bass, I listened to ‘Elephant’ by 070 Shake. The treble remained smooth throughout, as the shimmering synth and ambient effects lit up the soundstage without becoming fatiguing. The bass sounded powerful but controlled, and even though the track doesn’t feature overwhelming sub-bass, the Acton IV gave each note satisfying weight. The song felt alive, and having listened to the entirety of Shake’s album ‘Petrichor’ on it, it felt like the speaker was built for her sound.

The Acton IV looks and feels like a rock and roll speaker, so I had to give ‘Fear of a Blank Planet’ by Porcupine Tree a couple of spins. The opening electric guitars entered with real substance, with the distorted riffs carrying a distinctive crunch. As the drums kicked in, the Acton IV made the dense recording with layered guitars, intricate drumming, and understated vocals sound extremely energetic.

Marshall has also made tweaks to what it calls Dynamic Loudness. It says that subtle adjustments have been made to the high and low frequencies and by doing so, music sounds free of distortion and remains consistent at all volume levels. Having tested the speaker by listening at the lowest and highest volume, I can confirm that this is almost true.

The aforementioned songs sounded just as detailed even at low volumes. I found volume between two and four ideal for listening to lo-fi tracks when concentrating on writing this review. But at the highest volume, the tracks sounded a little distorted and muddy, and not particularly enjoyable. Also, bear in mind that the Acton IV can get very loud. When I was listening to it on the highest volume, I was certain my neighbors were going to knock on my door and tell me to turn it down!

Listen along to my review with the Marshall Acton IV testing playlist:

Marshall Acton IV review: App

The Marshall Acton IV is accompanied by the Marshall Bluetooth app on iOS and Android. The app sports a clean interface with plenty of signposting, and it gives you plenty of control over the Acton IV’s settings. You can customize the five band equalizer or choose one of five EQ presets, assign a function to the ‘M’ button, adjust the brightness of the LED indicators, and update the Acton IV’s firmware.

In addition to all this, you also get access to Placement Compensation where you can tailor the sound based on whether the speaker is close to an edge or flush against a wall or corner. The speaker then corrects for any nearby reflective surfaces that may affect the sound. It’s worth spending a few minutes fiddling with Placement Compensation to get the best sound depending on the speaker’s placement.

Marshall Acton IV review: Verdict

The Marshall Acton IV is designed for music lovers needing a good-looking home speaker that can get very loud. Sporting a beautiful design, the Acton IV is sure to add a retro charm to your living space. But that’s not even its biggest selling point — it’s the room-filling detailed sound. The bass is powerful but controlled, while the treble is vibrant without ever becoming fatiguing.

In addition to Bluetooth connectivity, you get RCA input too for plugging in your record player. While there’s no Wi-Fi streaming, which both Denon and Sonos offer, the Acton IV is Auracast-enabled and can be connected with other Homeline speakers to create a multi-speaker setup. There’s no voice assistant, though, which may also have you considering alternatives.

But if you want a speaker that sounds stupendous and you don’t care about smart features, then the Acton IV should be your port of call. For its looks alone, it has earned a permanent spot on my coffee table.