Denon, Marantz, and Classé Announce A New Era ‘Powered by HEOS’

In a statement coming collectively from Denon, Marantz, and Classé, the three companies have announced a new era for HEOS, the app-based system that powers wireless whole-home audio across a wide range of connected AV products from said brands. HEOS is not just a control app; it is also the software platform that runs behind the scenes allowing users to stream music, group devices, and control playback from a single interface. According to the announcement, HEOS is moving forward with a refreshed identity, redesigned app experience, and expanded platform capabilities. Products running on the HEOS platform will be marketed as “Powered by HEOS,” replacing the previous “HEOS Built-in” moniker.

Like Denon, Marantz, and Classé, HEOS was previously part of Sound United, which was acquired in 2022 by the health technology company Masimo Corporation, and renamed Masimo Consumer. This collective of audio brands also includes the prominent loudspeaker manufacturers Bowers & Wilkins, Polk Audio, and Definitive Technology. All of the former Masimo Consumer brands changed hands again in 2025 when Masimo sold off its ill-fated consumer division to HARMAN International (see our article Masimo Sells Sound United to Harman/Samsung, Creates Audio Empire?). But even before this corporate drama began to play out, HEOS had come a long way since its 2014 launch. It was originally designed “to let you hit Play and enjoy music everywhere — without confusing setups, glitchy apps, or compromises in sound quality,” according to HEOS. It started as a standalone brand of wireless speakers and components designed to compete with Sonos. After Sound United acquired HEOS along with Denon and Marantz in 2017, HEOS technology began to appear in AVRs from those brands. Within a couple of years, HEOS-branded soundbars and wireless speakers were rebranded as Denon or Denon Home products. It became clear that the key to HEOS’s success was not going to come from direct competition with Sonos, but instead from providing the connected platform for powerhouse AV brands under the Sound United umbrella. There are now more than 50 Denon, Marantz, and Classé products Powered by HEOS, with more than five million units sold, according to the announcement. HEOS users can mix and match products from these brands, giving them freedom of choice. A HEOS user might have just a single product, or an expansive whole-home audio system with up to 64 AV receivers, sound bars, and/or wireless speakers working together in as many as 32 zones.

The last big update to HEOS came in December of 2023 with the arrival of a completely redesigned HEOS 3.0 experience built on a new architecture. It delivered faster performance, greater stability, and a more intuitive “music-first interface.” Since then, HEOS has continued to evolve, with major additions including Roon Ready certification and support for high-resolution music from Qobuz. The app has been updated with Home Page customizations, centralized searches, room and speaker grouping presets, and more. HEOS says to expect additional app updates that will “bring listeners even closer to the music they love — making HEOS more powerful, more personal, and more in tune with how people want to listen.” The new Powered by HEOS identity is intended to drive home the fact that HEOS isn’t a product line or closed ecosystem, but instead an experience-driven wireless engine inside products made by brands that people already know and trust. The new identity is represented by a new logo and app icon, “inspired by radio waves,” according to the announcement.

HEOS today is about more than playing music in different rooms. It is about powering the soundtrack of your daily life — a podcast in the office, a playlist in the kitchen, vinyl in the living room, or a film in the theater. All connected through one powerful platform. That’s the HEOS Music Experience. The promise that your music will always sound its best, be easy to control, and feel effortless every time you press play.

— HEOS

There is not much editorializing required for this kind of announcement, but I will point out that it is potentially significant to see Classé included in the list of brands heralding the reinvented HEOS identity, alongside Denon and Marantz. To my knowledge, there is only one existing Classé product that supports HEOS: the $13K Delta PRE Mk II Stereo Preamp, which was introduced in early 2024. Before the arrival of the Delta PRE Mk II, Classé had been essentially dormant since its product launches in 2019. (Classé was bought by Sound United in 2018 from its previous owner, Bowers & Wilkins. Of course, this was before Sound United separately acquired Bowers & Wilkins in 2020. Try to keep up.) Now in 2025, we haven’t heard much to suggest that Classé is a going concern — certainly not to the extent that it was in the 1990s when I first got into audio. Back then it was a powerhouse in the world of solid-state amplification. But since 2019, the company has all but fizzled out entirely, and rumors have circulated that it was truly kaput. It is not hard to imagine, however, that under new and well-funded ownership (the Samsung-owned HARMAN conglomerate is one of the biggest and most powerful in the industry), maybe Classé will be resurrected and returned to the glory of decades past. If that is not in the cards, then why bother mentioning the brand alongside Denon and Marantz in this HEOS announcement? Denon and Marantz are two of the most successful and recognizable AV companies in the world. Perhaps this is a hint that Classé will be given a new lease on life. We have seen some defunct brands come back from the dead. It happened with PS Audio in the late 1990s, and with KLH as recently as 2019. Technics was relaunched in 2014 after a dormant period. Other examples abound.