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Marshall’s Hanwell speaker: Rock my smartphone

Jim Marshall’s name is synonymous with rock royalty. The Who, Led Zeppelin and other greats performed live at ear-splitting levels with a stack of Marshall amps behind them. Now, you can enjoy your iPhone’s playlist at ‘11’, like the best of them.

This limited-edition – all are numbered – speaker system is made by that doyen of the popular music business since the early 1960s, Marshall. It is named ‘Hanwell’ after the West London location of Jim Marshall’s original music store and electronics factory. To describe a Marshall amp as the ‘Aston Martin’ of amplification also handily ties in with the car company’s base at nearby Feltham in the 1950s.

Marshall started out selling electric guitars to the likes of Ritchie Blackmore, Pete Townshend and legendary session man ‘Big’ Jim Sullivan. Marshall Amplification was created in 1962, responding to a demand from the burgeoning British R ‘n’ B scene for an amp with exactly the right sound to match its driving riffs and solos created on American Gibson and Fender electric guitars.

The Marshall ‘Bluesbreaker’ was a combination amp with tremolo, specifically built for Eric Clapton to fit into the boot of his car. Coupled with Clapton’s Les Paul Standard, it gave the famous tone recorded on the John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers’ (whence it got its name) album ‘Beano’.

The Hanwell you can buy today features two 6” hi-fi woofers and two dome tweeters. Producing a room-filling 100 watts, one simply connects a smartphone or MP3 player to it via the supplied curly ‘telephone wire’ lead… and then get rocking. It costs £650.00 plus carriage – surely tax deductible from your first record label advance?

You can order a Marshall Hanwell from www.marshallheadphones.com