Living with the Halo

One Halo speaker. One EU power cable. That's it. The fuse is already installed.

If anything is missing or damaged when you unpack, email hello@georgevanadium.com and we'll sort it out immediately.

The Halo is designed to be simple, but the first setup takes a few minutes because we want it to sit right in your home network. Here's how it goes.

Before you plug in

Find a spot with good ventilation underneath. The Halo breathes through its base, so avoid deep pile rugs, thick blankets, or anything that fully covers the bottom. A shelf, a sideboard, a wooden floor — all fine.

Download the George Vanadium app from the App Store or Google Play before you power on. You'll need it for the first setup.

Powering on

Connect the EU power cable to the C13 socket on the back. Plug into a standard EU outlet — the Halo works on any voltage between 100 and 240 volts.

Flip the illuminated switch on the back. The switch lights up when the Halo has power.

Now wait five seconds without touching the top of the speaker. This is important — the touch controls calibrate themselves during those first seconds. If you touch them too early, the buttons may feel unresponsive later.

WiFi setup

The Halo starts in WiFi setup mode the first time you turn it on. The LED will blink white while it looks for a connection.

Open the George Vanadium app. It will guide you through connecting the Halo to your home WiFi network, giving it a name (Living Room, Kitchen, wherever it lives), and setting your preferences.

Until you name it, the Halo appears on your network as 'SoundSystem_XXXX' — the XXXX being a unique identifier.

Once WiFi is set up, you're done. The Halo remembers everything.

Five touch buttons sit on top of the Halo. Here's what each one does.

Volume up (+)

Tap to raise the volume. Hold to raise it faster.

Play/pause (▶‖)

Tap to pause or resume playback. Only works when music is loaded — if nothing is queued up, the button does nothing.

Volume down (−)

Tap to lower the volume. Hold to lower it faster.

Input (GV icon)

Tap to switch between inputs. The Halo cycles through Bluetooth, WiFi, and Aux. The LED changes colour so you always know where you are.

Bass (Settings icon)

Tap to switch between two bass settings: neutral (0 dB) or slightly reduced (−3 dB). Some rooms sound better with a bit less low end. This is a matter of taste — no right answer.

One rule for all buttons

Don't hold any button longer than six seconds. Holding too long confuses the touch calibration. If that happens, the fix is simple — turn the switch off, wait ten seconds, and turn it back on.

The LED under the top surface tells you what the Halo is doing.

• Blue — Bluetooth is active.
• White — WiFi is active. Blinking white means the Halo is looking for a WiFi connection.
• Green — Aux input is active.

Over Bluetooth

Once WiFi setup is done, switch to Bluetooth using the GV button. Open your phone or laptop, find your Halo in the Bluetooth list (its name or SoundSystem_XXXX if you haven't renamed it), and pair. From then on, it connects automatically when both are on.

The Halo behaves like any Bluetooth speaker — an incoming phone call pauses the music.

Over WiFi

Use apps that support streaming to your network speakers — Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and others. Select the Halo as your playback destination in each app.

WiFi playback continues until the source stops or you play from a different app on a different device. The Halo doesn't get interrupted by phone calls.

Over Aux

Connect any audio source with a standard 3.5mm cable to the Aux input on the back. Switch input to Aux using the GV button.

The George Vanadium app does three things:

• WiFi setup — required for the first time you use the Halo.
• Renaming your Halo — call it whatever fits your space.
• Multi-room setup — connect multiple Halos to play the same music in different rooms, or different music in each.

For daily listening, you don't need the app. Once everything is set up, your phone, laptop, or streaming service takes over.

If you change your WiFi network, or want to move the Halo to another network, put it back into WiFi setup mode.

To do this, hold the GV icon and the Settings icon at the same time for three seconds. The LED will start blinking white — the Halo is looking for a new connection.

Open the app and follow the same setup you did the first time.

Some things happen automatically.

• When you turn the Halo off and on again, it remembers which input it was on.
• When music stops playing, the Halo drops into a quiet standby. There's no timer — it just waits.
• The illuminated switch stays lit as long as the Halo has power.

The wood cabinet takes a soft damp cloth with a drop of gentle detergent when it needs it. Wring out the cloth well — avoid water pooling on the surface.

The acoustic fabric on the front is best treated with a dry cloth. Gentle wiping is enough for dust.

If something spills, dry it as quickly as you can. Water is not the Halo's friend.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Air must move underneath. The Halo breathes through its base. Don't place it on deep pile rugs, thick blankets, or anything that seals the bottom.
• Keep it away from water. No bathrooms, no kitchen counters near the sink.
• Room temperature up to 40°C is fine. Beyond that, the electronics don't like it.
• No need to unplug during thunderstorms — the Halo has a built-in fuse.

No sound

Check the basics first:

• Is the power cable plugged in?
• Is the switch on the back turned on?
• Is your phone or laptop connected via Bluetooth, WiFi, or Aux?
• Is the volume up on both the Halo and your source?

If all of those check out and there's still no sound, contact hello@georgevanadium.com.

Touch buttons not responding

Turn the switch off, wait ten seconds, turn it back on. Don't touch the top for the first five seconds after powering on — that's when the buttons calibrate.

WiFi setup won't complete

Email hello@georgevanadium.com. We'll help you sort it out. Every home network is a little different, and there are a few things we can check together.

Anything else

Write to hello@georgevanadium.com. You'll get a reply from Patrick or someone from the workshop. We built each Halo by hand, so we know them well.

Every Halo comes with a two-year warranty and a lifetime repair programme. See the warranty page for details.

If something needs fixing, don't try to open the Halo yourself. Email us first — we'll figure out what makes sense.

Anything else about your Halo? Write to hello@georgevanadium.com. It comes directly to us.