Bose, Sennheiser, Jabra, Sony — those are the names we associate with audio tech. Louis Vuitton, not so much, but its new Horizon wireless speaker, with its internal lights and totally-not-cribbed-from-a-UFO design really, really wants you to notice it.
The LV Horizon Light Up speaker is supposedly inspired by the company’s Toupie handbag (whatever that is) but we’re also seeing some influence from the closing scenes of Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull there.
What’s that on the Horizon?
But it’s not a UFO, it’s yet another piece of very expensive audio gear from the French fashion brand. Previously we saw the company’s earbuds (which have the same name as this speaker) hit the market. In that particular case, Louis Vuitton was fielding a rebadged set of Master and Dynamic’s MW07 ‘buds. This particular Horizon looks considerably more original. And also a little tacky for its R42,000 ($2,890) price tag.
The spinning-top/UFO shapes a bit of gear weighs in at 1kg and comes with a dock in case you want to use it without it rolling off a table. The build is mostly stainless steel, with the embossing that you’re paying extra for all over the speaker itself. There are touch controls, as well as an LED light ring that wouldn’t look out of place in a (considerably cheaper) Razer audio product.
There’s a 3in woofer inside, backed up by a pair of 0.75in tweeters, omnidirectional sound (when it’s in its dock) and a Qualcomm QCS 404 chipset inside the thing running the show. If you’re super-keen on your audio, you can save some money by buying something that sounds better for less. But if you’re all about the fashion, here you go. Go forth and conspicuously consume (and don’t just buy one so you can take photos for Insta and then return it later).