Bluesound Node Icon

On the streaming side, Node Icon has no improvement over the 3-year-old model, Node 130.
They use the same processor - ARM® Cortex™ -A53, Quad-Core, 1.8GHz per core -, the wireless transmission is the same -Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), dual-band -,
On the Bluetooth side, it seems to be a real regression, Icon using Bluetooth 5.2 aptX Adaptive, and Node 130 Bluetooth with support for aptX™ HD, which codec is better...
Unfortunately, the power supply on Icon is the same as on Node 130...that is, a poor power supply...
And what is very important for digital outputs, the internal clock - this is the same, in both streamers
The USB output was not improved either in Icon
So, from a streaming point of view, things are exactly the same as 4 years ago...unfortunately...

@efoo the new Node 132 and Node Icon are said to have much better built-in power supplies than the older outgoing Node 130. So much so, that many say there is no reason to go out and buy a LPS for them. 

Take it with a grain of salt but some reviewers now say the $299 Node Nano sounds better than the old N130 and Node X did. 

After about 20 hours of run time in a an A/B comparison the new Icon DAC section is much improved over last gneration NODE, However little SQ improvement if using an external DAC (Marantz Ruby SACD with matching Ruby integrated amp, T+A 300 speakers, and Rel S510). The display and build quality for the Icon are nice. The Teddy Pardo power supply I installed on the NODE is a better buy for quality IMO.   

That's good to hear about the Icon being so good.   I had a feeling it would  be a decent package

I'm in a similar boat, N130, external DAC, easy decision to stay with N130.

I added the LHY LPS and DH Labs USB and ethernet cables, as well as SmoothLan from Stack Audio. Sounds great, no intention of upgrading anytime soon.

Reference is an analogue source at more than 10X the cost.