Marantz last released their powered speakers over 10 years ago. Since then, the world of technology and speakers has changed drastically, and now, Marantz has finally come into the world of wireless speakers. The new Marantz Horizon wireless speaker is one of the best wireless speakers I have used, and in this article, we will look at why it is such a good fit for most audiophiles.
Review
Before I get into the technical stuff, let’s just take a moment to admire the beautiful craftsmanship and design of the Marantz Horizon. The shape looks like the classic Marantz window port design, which we see on so many of their products. The speaker will look good anywhere, whether you mount it on a wall, place it on a table, or Marantz’s own American Walnut tripod stand. It comes in three finishes, Midnight Sky, Moon Ray, and Marantz Champagne, all of which look extremely luxurious. The fabric wraps all over the speaker, and the nice marble base matches the colors of the fabric. I also have to complement the packaging of this speaker. It came nicely packaged in a cover, inside a sleek box, and the whole unboxing took less than a minute.
The Marantz Horizon weighs around 28 pounds, and it comes attached to the marble base, so you just need to plug it in for the setup. The speaker has a built-in sensor that detects when you’re coming near to it and turns on the speaker. It has 100 hidden LEDs in a circle around the speaker, and you can control the volume by touching your finger on the circle.
The Marantz Horizons come with Marantz’s Gravity Drive Units. It has a 6 ½ inch Front Firing Subwoofer Driver, it has two 25mm Silk Dome Tweeters and three 50mm Full Range Drive Units. These drivers are arranged perfectly inside the speaker to give the best performance possible. The built-in Mirage DSP will automatically tune your speaker to give you the best sound in your room.
The Horizon also has a 310-watt amplifier, with a peak power of 745 watts. The amplifier is at the back of the speaker, with connections for HDMI eARC, Stereo RCA, USB-C, and Optical In. It also has support for Atmos, with Dolby Atmos decoding built-in.
You can use the HEOS app with the Marantz Horizon, and this is the best app that one can have. The home screen has everything related to music, your playlists, recently played tracks, and more content from your music services. You can also make HEOS playlists, combining your favorite tracks from different services into one single playlist. HEOS supports Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, Soundcloud, Deezer, and Tidal. We also have Spotify Connect, Apple Airplay 2, and Bluetooth 5.4. Other HEOS devices can also connect with the Marantz Horizon, like the Model M1, which makes managing your home system more easy.
The Marantz Horizon can fill a decent-sized room with incredible sound. You can test different placements, and then use the DSP in the app to tune the speaker to that placement. You will be surprised at how this small speaker produces so much sound with so much detail and clarity. You can connect two Horizons and place them on either side of your room or TV, and you can play music from the HEOS app even if you’re in a different room.
Verdict
When you look at and listen to the Marantz Horizon in person, you will know how much work Marantz put into the design of this speaker. It is at a different level from other wireless speakers and can be put in a home theatre system in place of more expensive wired speakers. From its elegant design to its excellent performance, the Marantz Horizon is one of the best wireless speakers I have used, and I recommend it to everyone.
Buy the Marantz Horizon here.