Sure, one can do a search for O audio on this forum. But the search results are exactly as expected. Results for the letter O and the word Audio displayed in no intelligent fashion...thats the point. It's a mess.
Regardless, I recently had an opportunity to listen to the Icon 12 paired with a Pathos Classic integrated at Upscale Audio. To say the speaker is not to my taste is an understatement. The speaker sounded so warm and rolled off in the treble department that I was a bit confused as to what I was hearing. So I asked the sales associate if the speakers were still breaking in. He responded by saying that I was not the first customer to make that comment as he had been asked that earlier in the day.
Apparently this was the exact same pair that was used at the Florida Audio Expo and make its way to Upscale so who knows how many hours they had on them. I was fresh off a Harbeth M30.3 and M40.5 XD demo at another dealer and I know the Harben sound very well. While I enjoy their dynamics, Harbeths have always been too warm for my taste. And during this demo, the Icon 12's were even warmer than the Harbeth sound that I'm accustomed to, which is saying something.
I will say, the one thing the Icon 12's had going for them on this particular day was the midrange.. texture of instruments was fantastic. Very organic and lifelike. There was something special going on in there, but it didn't matter. I couldn't enjoy them because the highs sounded rolled off and the bass was a bit uncontrolled with poor bass detail. Take my impressions with a grain of salt as the amp may have been to blame (poor synergy), or perhaps the speakers indeed need another couple hundred hours of break in. But it was a very poor first impression.
