Marantz Horizon wireless speaker system review

he Marantz Grand Horizon and Horizon wireless speaker systems take a sculptural approach to design, starting with their marble bases right on through their 3-dimensional disc form — a form that my colleagues have likened to celestial bodies like the sun and moon, as well as a thermostat, a robot vacuum, and a spare tire.

The sound you’ll hear from these premium high-performance speakers is no joke though. Both feature powerful built-in amplification and driver arrays that spread the music around your listening space to create a holographic soundstage that — while it may not take the place of a comparably priced stereo hi-fi system — can absolutely do justice to your favorite recordings.

If you've already got a space in mind for a Horizon speaker, you're in a unique class.

The question is not “can you get as good or better sound for the same price if you were to buy a high-quality integrated amp with built-in streaming and a nice pair of speakers?” You can — and there are a ton of options.

The real question here is, “does your space, budget, and desire for simplicity make a premium standalone speaker system the best option?” If the answer to that question is “yes,” then I think you’d have a hard time finding more engaging, full, detailed sound than what you’ll hear coming out of the Grand Horizon and, on a bit smaller scale, the Horizon.

Horizon and Grand Horizon features

The Horizon and Grand Horizon speakers look like pretty much identical bigger and smaller siblings, and they come in the same three colors: Midnight Sky, Moon Ray, and Champagne.

Both models share the same wireless features. These include the HEOS platform, which makes it easy to access free or subscription services like Pandora, Amazon Music HD, and TIDAL. They also support Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and Roon. And both have high-quality Bluetooth 5.4.

They’ve also got the same streamlined but versatile wired inputs, including stereo RCA, HDMI eARC, and Toslink optical, plus a USB-C port for playing music from a compatible storage drive.

The Grand Horizon's eight drivers fire in multiple directions, as do the Horizon's six drivers.

The Horizon has 310 watts of built-in amplification powering six drivers, while the larger Grand Horizon has 370 watts powering eight drivers. 1" silk dome tweeters and midrange drivers — which are 3" in the larger model and 2" in the smaller one — all fire outward from the around the edge of the wheel. At the hub of each disc is a subwoofer — 6" in the Horizon and 8" in the Grand Horizon.

Setting up Horizon speakers at home

Unboxing is a well-designed process, although it was helpful to have a second person for the Grand Horizon. Removable locking handles mean there’s no tape to cut. Just slide the outer box up and off, then slide the inner box up and off.

There stands the Horizon or Grand Horizon in a form-fitting neoprene bag with handles that make it easy to remove it from the packaging. Accessory cables include a decent HDMI cable and a nice cloth-jacketed black three-prong IEC power cable.

Sturdy, well-designed packaging made unboxing a pleasant experience.

I think a big part of the appeal of this type of speaker is “simplicity.” I suspect that most people will use it as a streamer, in which case the only connection necessary is to AC power, although we recommend that you connect to your home network via Ethernet for both stability and download speed.

In both cases, I didn’t look at the instructions for setup. I powered them up and did something that everyone should do when setting up new smart home gear: I waited. Magically expansive setup sound-wash came from each speaker in turn: low bass notes, synthesized tones across the sound spectrum that show off the speakers’ wide, holographic soundstage.

The sound we heard made us smile.

I opened my iPhone’s Wi-Fi settings and each speaker appeared in turn. I clicked on each and allowed my iPhone to smoothly guide me through the process of adding each as an AirPlay speaker. Then I opened my streaming music service app, Qobuz, selected first the Grand Horizon and then the Horizon as AirPlay speakers, and listened.

I watched four other people listen to the Grand Horizon, and the common thread was the huge smile that spread on their faces when the music kicked in. It happened to me too. That kind of smile is something you can’t fake.

Streaming options

Both Horizon models have high-quality Bluetooth, but you can get better sound with a network connection. I’m an Apple user, so I appreciate that these speakers work with AirPlay 2, which lets you stream to and sync multiple compatible players.

But I got better sound quality and a more stable connection with faster playback response when I used HEOS. It lets you add Pandora, Amazon Music HD, and TIDAL. And if you use HEOS, you can group and control it with other HEOS players, which include a lot of Denon and Marantz components.

These Marantz speakers also work with Spotify Connect, which gives you the responsiveness and sound quality of HEOS from right within the Spotify app.

Where to place the Horizon

One big question when you’re setting up one of these speakers is “where am I going to put it?” I suspect that most of the people who buy one of these speakers have already answered that question for themselves.

In the case of the Grand Horizon, I put it on a table in a listening room exactly between and slightly behind my stereo pair, so that when I sit in the sweet spot for my stereo setup, I’m staring right into the Grand Horizon’s “face.”

I set the Grand Horizon at ear level — and where I can see the beautiful marble base.

I and others who listened to it set up here agreed that if someone told you that you were listening to the stereo pair instead of the Grand Horizon, you would have trouble discerning if that were true.

Using the Horizon for TV sound

I used the optional tripod stand (sold separately) to set up the smaller Horizon in our TV room. Like the Grand Horizon, it comes pre-attached to a beautiful marble base — black with thin veins of white in the Midnight Sky color version I tested. The Moon Ray version has a white base and the Champagne version’s is more beige.

The tripod has solid walnut legs and a pedestal on top and support ring made of heavy cast iron. I removed the two stout bolts that fasten it to the marble base and slid it off the two finger-sized mounting posts and onto two identical posts on the tripod pedestal. The back leg of the pedestal has clips for tidy power-cable routing.

I got great TV sound when I used the eARC HDMI connection to my Sony TV.

I connected the Horizon to our Sony Bravia OLED TV using the HDMI eARC connection and could control volume with the TV’s remote. This setup nicely outperformed our older Polk Audio soundbar/subwoofer setup.

Are there other speakers like the Horizon?

So you’ve got the perfect spot. You know you want a nice high-fidelity standalone music player. Maybe your spot is so specific that the Horizon's form factor is the only answer, because it looks like nothing we’ve ever seen in a wireless speaker.

Except for maybe models from Devialet. The larger models can play lower frequencies than the Grand Horizon, but with fewer drivers than either of the Marantz speakers, their imaging might not be as accurate.

The Devialets also don’t have as much connectivity — just an optical input — and you don’t get HEOS, or any other proprietary multi-room control.

The Devialet Phantom wireless speakers also have a unique sculptural design.

In the more traditional kind of “table radio” design, you might consider the McIntosh RS250, which I tested at home around the time of its release. It sounds incredible and has more versatile wired inputs than the Marantzes, including a phono input. It also adds Google Cast to its streaming options, but lacks HEOS.

It’s big, but its low profile allows it to fit under a TV when you’re using its HDMI ARC or optical input for TV sound. It’s also less expensive than the Grand Horizon and — on paper — more powerful. And it’s got classic blue output meters on the front panel for that iconic McIntosh look. I think I heard a more spacious soundstage from the Horizons, although I didn't audition them side by side with the RS250.

How did I like the Horizon and Grand Horizon?

Part of the appeal of the Grand Horizon and Horizon is their unique design. Marantz set out to do something different, and I and people who heard it at my house think it sounds impressive — you hear it and you can’t help but feel tickled.

If you like the look of this speaker, I think you'll like what you hear even more.

Yes, they’re expensive. But it’s hard to imagine exceeding the sound quality, given the physical limitations of this or any comparably priced standalone speaker’s design. Build quality feels really substantial — and they're backed by a 5-year warranty from Marantz. In short, if one of these seems like exactly what you’ve been looking for, it probably is.

Want to learn more?

If you’ve got any questions about either the Grand Horizon or Horizon, get in touch with us here at Crutchfield.

Our friendly, knowledgeable Advisors can help you figure out if either model would be a good fit for you. Contact us today.

And don't forget, free lifetime tech support is included with your Crutchfield purchase.