Marantz, a 70-year-old brand best known for high-end audio gear like amplifiers and receivers, announced its first speakers this week. The Marantz Horizon and Grand Horizon both pair an array of drivers with a central subwoofer and feature robust wireless connectivity with direct access to streaming services.
Both speakers will be available starting on January 14th, 2025, in three different colorways: midnight sky, moon ray, and champagne. The Marantz Horizon will sell for $3,500, while the larger Grand Horizon will be $5,500. Marantz will also sell a matching tripod made from American walnut wood for $700.
Marantz’s products have traditionally been designed as components that are part of a larger hi-fi audio system, but its first speakers are all-in-one solutions that don’t need to be paired with amplifiers or other hardware. They each feature a spherical design wrapped in fabric made from recycled ocean plastics that pushes sound in all directions to completely fill a room. On the front of each speaker is a ring of 100 LEDs that illuminate as you approach that can also be used to adjust the volume when touched.
The two speakers are differentiated by their size and the number of drivers they include. The smaller Marantz Horizon features six in total including a 6.5-inch subwoofer, a pair of one-inch silk-dome tweeters, and a trio of two-inch full-range drivers powered by a 310W amp. The larger Marantz Grand Horizon pushes that to eight with an eight-inch sub, three one-inch silk-dome tweeters, and four three-inch full-range drivers powered by a 370W amplifier.
Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi, and support for AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. Both speakers run on Denon’s Heos platform (both Marantz and Denon are now owned by Masimo, the company behind the Apple Watch bans and patent dispute) which supports streaming services like Tidal, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, and Amazon Music, including high res audio options. Heos also allows the speakers to be used as part of a multiroom sound system, or two to be paired for stereo sound when used in the same space.
Both the Horizon and Grand Horizon offer wired connectivity, too, including RCA, an optical TOSLINK port, HDMI eARC for those wanting to use them as TV speakers, and a USB-C port that can play MP3, AAC, and even FLAC files from an external drive.