The Icon 12 Speakers Update Review. Are they still “Perfection”?
By Steve Huff
Over six months ago (now almost seven) a set of speakers were sent to me from Norway from the brand “O Audio” (their website is here). I had no idea what to expect before they showed up and I figured it would be the same as any other day when a set of speakers arrive. It usually goes something like this:
I get them in the house, unbox them, set them up and listen for a few weeks before I do my review. Usually this entails lots of listening and then it’s a ton of writing and then a days worth of filming and then a days worth of editing a video. Doing a full fledged review here where I write a review and do a video review takes me a few weeks to get done, for one product. It’s why I do not have a new video every day or even every week. I release them as I go, when I and the review is ready. Heck, sometimes I listen for two weeks and start to write only to decide I will not review a product and then send it back without a review. This is when I really feel it is not worth the cost or when something seems off or defective. I do not want to trash a product that may be a defect so not everything I get in gets a review here.
Gear (Usually) MOVES in and OUT
It’s rare that I keep a speaker here for more than 3 months before sending it back to the manufacturer. Usually they are in and out within 8-12 weeks and even if I buy the review units they rarely last more than 4-5 months before something new gets here that I like better. Yea, I sometimes buy a review unit when I want to keep a product for a longer while or if I feel it could be one that stays for a long while. If I really love a product during a review I will sometimes find a way to own it and keep it, even if it is for just a few more weeks or months after the review. Usually even gear I really love gets moved out when new arrives but this time things are different and this is the first time something like this has happened with a review unit.
When those Icon 12’s came I admired the beauty, design and the entire thought process over at O Audio, who are an amazing group of people. So kind, so real and genuine. I listened to the Icon 12’s for a while (weeks) before I did my review (which you can see here) but I knew from the first night with them that these were really seriously beautiful speakers as they have it all from quality of build and parts to all out sound quality.
Never have I experienced a speaker that had it all and wasn’t just a one trick pony. Never have I heard a speaker sound this good without costing six figures and let’s face it, those six figure speakers are for a very limited audience. Those who never even have to ask what the price is because they can afford anything.. I enjoy all kinds of audio and never bash a product for being too expensive or being too cheap but instead I just concern myself with what an audio product does for me when I shell out the asking price for it.
If I pay $500 for something I expect to get $500 worth of enjoyment from it. Same thing is a product is $20,000. What I really dislike is when I hear a $25k audio product and I know I wouldn’t buy it even if it were $2500. Yea, I have had experiences with some products like this in the “exotic lane” of audio. I have always said that we do not need to spend a ton of money to enjoy this audio hobby and we do not. Yet at the same time, sometimes I bond with something in this hobby that costs a lot of money and yea, the Icon 12 speakers are $24k but for me they are worth every cent of that, especially when I look at the competition for them.
SoI have lived about six months now with the Icon 12
I own them, I love them. They are mine and not ever leaving (well, unless I leave the planet or really truly and desperately need cash) as I have never enjoyed a speaker as much as I do the Icon 12. These are easy to drive with almost any amp, they are a two way design with one 12″ woofer and one horn loaded tweeter up top yet these do not really sound like a horn speaker, they have all of the positive traits of a horn but none of the negative. They are big, heavy and substantial in the physical but easy to move around the room by rocking them into place using their sturdy feet.
Usually at the 6 month point I am ready to try something new and different as I like to keep moving in gear so I can tell you guys who read these pages about more and more said gear. While I have had these here a few speakers have come in for review and have already left. I own a few sets of speakers as well but my personal listening these days is solely with the Icon 12 and a Devialet Astra or ModWright setup powering them. Two (amp) power solutions I have found that sound extraordinary with the Icon 12 and while I prefer the Devialet Astra the ModWright LS99 and KWA99’s are a knockout and just sound phenomenal with the Icon 12 as well.
Over these six months I have tried the Icon 12 with tubes, solid state, class A, Class A/B and D. I have tried separates, integrated amps and a slew of DAC’s and streamers. The finest I have heard them is with the Class D Astra and then the Class A and Tubes of the ModWright. These have sounded wonderful with almost all of the amps I have paired with it due to the ease of driving them. Big power is not needed here but they do seem to sound better with high current amps powering them.
As I sit and listen now to some ambient piano work that is filling my space with a full and amazingly pleasing 3D soundstage I am scratching my head as to why anyone would want to buy a speaker that is hard to drive. I have been there and done that again and again but I will say “never again” because there is no point. I just do not see it and I have owned speakers that were hard to drive as well as super easy to drive. It is true that some highly sensitive speakers seem to lack big deep bass drive, this doesn’t apply to the Icon 12.
I have never found 84DB 4 ohm speakers to sound “better” than a set that is 98 DB efficient and 8 ohms like the Icon 12. Instead I usually find the opposite. Why do I want speakers that need 500 watts of power or heat to sound right? Sometimes they may be more dynamic but usually they sound less soulful and like they are struggling to be free. There is a thing as too fast, too tight and too correct when it comes to speakers. This usually = SOUND WITOUT SOUL, at least to me.
The mighty Icon 12 do not need much to power them to flat out gorgeous sound but everything does matter and your source and amp will matter as well. The better you feed the Icon 12 the more they will reward you and while they sound great with most amps they can sound unreal and magical with other amps powering them (and a good source).
WHY ARE THESE “THE ONEs” that STUCK WITH ME?
I’ve had some mighty fine speakers over the last few years in here from Fleetwood Sound, Focal, B&W, Buchardt, Borresen, Dyptique, Qualio and many others but the Icon 12 hit me in a different way right out of the gate. The Icon 12 are the first speakers that arrived here that seem like they are a living breathing thing and while I know of course that they are not they feel like they are and that is all that matters. It connects with me moreso, the music. There is something these speakers are doing for music that just sounds so damn right. So organic, so ethereal and real.
There is zero fatigue and I mean ZERO, even if listening for 8 hours. There is zero harshness, ever. No hardness and nothing analytical. Thank God for that. What there is though is massive scale in the soundstage width, depth and height. These can throw a massive 3D stage but they do so while keeping bass big, juicy and powerful and with zero slop. Bass is fast but not “fast and lean” …rather they are “fast and bombastic” and have a very full bodied sound yet the details are all here, even the tiniest of them sneaking out of the background of a track, exposing itself in a 3D air hang moment.
I can turn these down to low level and get sweet full bodied detailed sound. I can turn then up and create a music nightclub in my space. Just add a disco ball or lights and me and my wife can really get down, zone out and live life as if we are in 1970’s New York at Studio 54, lol.
These speakers bonded with my heart due to their sound signature which I have not heard in any other speaker to date done in this way. Now maybe these just fit my space with perfection. Maybe it’s the source and amp power I use that really makes these come alive. Maybe it’s me and it’s just the sound I love. When set up right and with the right electronics I feel the Icon 12 can surpass some of those $100k speakers I have heard in life, which almost always left me cold as they had a mechanical sound vs a human kind of sound.
SO GOOD I BURNED THE BOXES
Something I have always done with audio gear is keep the boxes because I have always unload gear after 6-9 months to move on to the next (for review purposes as this is my job these days) but this is not happening here with the Icon 12. In fact, if I lost these I would most likely give up the audio hobby fully. Why? Well everything else would be a slight let down after living with these and I would just miss the Icon 12 and what they brought to my life on a daily basis. They are not about flash, wow and trying to hard to impress. They do this in a. natural easy going way, impress. They do this more over time and the longer I have them here the more I fall in love with them.
I now have memories made with the help of the Icon 12. Personal memories that will be cherished until the day I leave this earth. I now look forward to waking up, chatting with Debby, doing my daily workout and then sitting in my room listening while I write or answer emails. I then sit back in my recliner and soak in my fave mellow tunes for about 45 minutes after I am done with work. The Icon 12 feed my soul with emotion at times and this is something that is rare in audio, where I found that mystical perfect system for me and my ears, brains and eyes. After a shower and lunch or some time out with Debby I go back to the room in the evening for an hour or two and listen. Sometimes she joins me. I then go to bed and it gets repeated the next day.
The Icon 12 are so good that after 3 months in of owning them I dragged the coffin sized boxes out to our fire pit and burned them. They were taking up tons of space in a spare room and I knew if I kept them I may be tempted one day to sell them, as old habits can be hard to break. It’s strange as I have zero desire to sell them or have them leave and instead I imagine myself when I am 80, still listening to the Icon 12, lol. Who knows what will happen but all I can say right now in August of 2025 is this:
- The Icon 12 are my favorite speaker of all time out of well over 100 being listened to over the decades.
- Yes, they are expensive at $24k but I would have saved tens of thousands if these entered my life 20 years ago (they weren’t a thing then) because I would have not sold off old gear and lost money on it to move to the next. So I feel they are well worth the cost as these are as end game as it gets for me. There may be more expensive speakers but none that I prefer to the Icon 12 for my personal use.
- These have been with me since the start of 2025 and I love them now more than ever.
- These offer it all from being easy to drive to looking beautiful to sounding out of this world good.
- These are also unique and come from a smaller brand who has been around for many years now with passion for audio vs a corporate brand run by suits whose main and only goals these days are profits.
- You can drive these with most amps as they do not need mass power to sound great but will sound better as you go higher up the power “quality” chain. I wouldn’t buy these and run them with an $800 integrated Yamaha amp and $100 DAC.
- Best I have heard them have been with the Devialet Astra, then the ModWright KWA99 with LS99. They also sound really good with the $3500 Galion P75 and A75 combo but lose a little refinement here, just a touch.
Could It Be?
Let me state that this website is all me, 100%. I do not work for or write for any other entity other than my own website and this website has been up for over 20 years now (crazy to me). This means sometimes I say things that I couldn’t say if I did write for a publication. I can be 100% open and honest and speak my truth even if it is controversial as no one owns me, or pays me to do any of this. I never let outside influence alter what I say or do, I just say what I say and do what I do, from my true feelings.
I have been in this audio game since I was 15 and I am now 56. I have heard thousands of audio products in my lifetime and have enjoyed the ride immensely as I have learned a ton at the same time. How so? Well, I have learned that electronics that cost $200k do not really sound better than electronics that cost $20k, they are just “different”. I have learned that some brands care more about the customer than others. I have learned that some brands are full on corporate and only care about profits vs quality. I have also discovered the smaller companies that have this passion and go all in on creating products that are the real deal. They also care about their customers.
I have landed here today in 2025 with a system I enjoy more than any other I have ever owned or used…in my lifetime so far. The Icon 12 from O Audio are my favorite HiFi Audio PRODUCT of any kind…EVER. I have never found or heard nicer or better nor have I found a speaker that is more desirable…TO ME.
Could the Icon 12 be for you?
I feel blessed to be able to have these and there was a set of circumstances that led me to be able to acquire them and yea, I am blessed indeed, big time. The question you may have is “Could the Icon 12 bring me happiness and contentment as well”?
Well, if you answer yes to these questions then I feel you would love the Icon 12 as much as I do.
- Do you want a speaker that you can power with almost any amp, tube or SS?
- Do you want a speaker that brings a big solid open sound, with a big solid foundation, a sweet treble with gorgeous midrange and voices?
- Do you want a speaker that disappears like a stand mount but offers the full range sound of a larger speaker?
- Do you want a speaker that offers up a vast soundstage with organic imaging vs analytical that is also holographic?
- Do you like a bit of warmth to the midrange with a little fullness as well to avoid lean music?
- Do you enjoy a beautiful cabinet with solid woodwork and design? Custom drivers? High end crossover?
- Do you like sound that extends out into the room and sounds as if the singer is with you in the space?
- Do you like listening sometimes at low volume and want that same richness and sound at lower volumes?
- Do you enjoy an audio company that cares about customer happiness?
- Do you have a spare $24k to spend on speakers?
If you enjoy the looks of the Icon 12 and they would fit in your space I can not imagine anyone not loving the sound of them. They are that good.
After six months with the Icon 12 I love them more now than I ever have. I have powered them with exotic electronics, high end electronics and mid tier priced electronics. They sound good with it all but I will say the highest cost exotic pieces did not sound the best with the Icon 12. Synergy is all that matters and I can state that most high end Class D will sound phenomenal with the Icon 12. Think AGD, Devialet, Orchard Audio and even HiFi Rose. Class A amps will also sound delicious with the Icon 12 with a little more “juice” in the treble to spark things up a bit more. Even s0, I feel it is impossible to make the Icon 12 sound anything other than beautiful unless you pair it with a defective amp or one of those $100 class D amps from Amazon (which are in no way good, I tried three of them) which have their place but it’s not with any really good speakers.
I am still writing and listening here and that is another thing with the Icon 12…my listening sessions have gotten longer and longer as these just suck me in for hours sometimes. It can be hard to pull away due to the 100% lack of anything even remotely fatiguing here yet these do not have that overly warm, gooey bass heavy sound of some non analytical speakers. These still have all of the detail I can ask for, yet will never sound off, ragged or hard. They also sound perfect in my 13X 18 space and I have zero bass or reflection issues. These are also easy to set up but work well in a nice triangle placement. I sit 8 feet from them, they are 8 feet apart and 3 1/2 feet from the main wall so they come out into the room a bit. There is delicacy and yet massive drive and scale. There is warmth yet also high energy and sparkle. The bass is phenomenal and a subwoofer will NOT be needed. They are effortless.
So there ya go, this was my six+ month update on the Icon 12 speakers which have become my #1 fave of all time speaker and I mean over the last 40 years. I own the Icon 12 now and they are staying here with me for the long haul. I could not imagine being without them now and that my friends has never really happened as I try not to get attached to audio gear. It happens every now and again but these are a bit different. I am more than attached, I am bonded to them and that just confirms to me that I have something very special here. The Icon 12 speakers are indeed true Icons in the world of HiFi Audio and I hope more of you get to enjoy them or at least hear them ; )
The title of this article is “The Icon 12 Speaker Update. Are they still Perfection”. I was going to make this page just have one word…a big “YES” but I figured Google would not index it so I wrote the words above instead. Really though, these speakers are indeed “perfection” for me. Maybe not for you or for all (perfect for all doesn’t exist) but I found my spirit speaker (vs a spirit animal) in the Icon 12 ; )
Steve
