Marantz is entering the wireless speaker realm, and it is hitting the ground running with a duo of luxury wireless speakers that look straight off the set of a Star Trek episode.
It's been a while since Marantz released any kind of speaker, as it focused on hi-fi separates and amplifiers. Marantz is looking to "radically...transform customer expectations in the market" with the new Marantz Horizon and the larger Marantz Grand Horizon speakers.
The audiophile company says that either speaker is built to be powerful enough to fill any room with expansive, all-encompassing sound.
This powerful sound is thanks to Marantz's proprietary "Rise amplification" system, which the company says is based on "responsive and thermally efficient technology" that outputs a claimed 310 watts for the Horizon and 370 watts on the Grand Horizon.
It powers several Marantz Gravity drive units. Other than size, here is where there are some differences between the two speakers. The Horizon features a 165mm subwoofer with two 25mm silk-dome tweeters and three 50mm full-range drive units. The Grand Horizon, meanwhile, runs a 200mm subwoofer and adds a 25mm tweeter with four 76mm midrange drive units.
The speakers aren't short on connectivity, as they can connect to several streaming services via the Marantz Heos wireless music platform. Starting services include Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify and Tidal, with Marantz saying more will be available soon. Apple AirPlay2 and Bluetooth are included as well. Heos will also let you pair speakers for a stereo system or integrate them into a multiroom setup.
For the more analog among us, both speakers feature analog, optical and HDMI (with Dolby Atmos) inputs, as well as accessing USB-C drives.
Beyond its ports, Marantz says the speakers offer more than just sound aesthetics as they feature proximity sensors that trigger "AuraControl" LED and ambient light sensors to "create a seamless symphony of light and sound." The speakers also feature fiber that Marantz calls its 'Radiance' Ecofiber, which is supposed to be sustainably sourced from ocean plastics and create a "warm" luxurious feel.
The speakers can be set up on a flat surface or placed in their own tripod stand, which is sold separately. If you pick one of these up, it'll surely be a conversation piece just for its looks alone.
These speakers won't be kind to your wallet, with the smaller Horizon costing $3500 while the heftier Grand Horizon will set you back $5500. The not-included tripod stand costs $700 by itself. The price alone might keep it off of our best Bluetooth speaker picks, but we'd like to put our ears to the test.
Available starting January 14, 2025, both speakers come in three colors: midnight sky, moon ray or champagne.
