In this case the Acoustic Energy Radiance One pairing which are more sensitive and provided a greater volume headroom for the Icon.Īt once, the music, over all frequencies, had a slightly more relaxed air, as the Icon had to work less hard to do the same job. With that in mind, I swopped the Spendors with transducers that were rather easier to handle. In fact, I heard guitar noodling from Howe that I have heard on only a few amplifiers, most being rather expensive examples priced in the high thousands. Blurring was always kept to a minimum or was eradicated totally in many cases. Steve Howe’s guitar, similarly, can be a blur of activity but the Icon always had his string work in its sights. With the Icon, though, Bruford was heard to produce a quick dart here and a flashing rim shot there: those flailing arms were never lost by the Icon. Many amps at this price point slur and blur and get left behind. The Icon amp successfully followed him wherever he went, which was an achievement in itself. Playing a slice of prog and Yes’ Yours is No Disgrace from The Yes Album, Bill Bruford showed his unique sense of rock drumming which features a jazz style and intricacy blending with rock rhythms.
The nuance and subtlety was very impressive indeed.
It not only told you that you were listening to a group of people singing together – instead of a blurry conglomerative mess that can sometimes occur from some amps – but each voice could be tracked individually and, more than that, unique vocal features were more obvious here that in just about any other amp I’ve heard at this price point. In fact, the Icon was most effective during harmonies. Specifically, the smooth vocal delivery somehow floated over the the complex instrumentation. On the rear are phono and speaker sockets to cater for these sources. The front of the unit includes a rotary volume knob, a headphone/speakers toggle switch and a choice of three sources with an appropriate rotary selector. Featuring a headphone amplifier, it can also be used with 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm speakers. The Class A, Stereo 20 PP is driven by ECC83 / ECC82 double triode valves, EL84 output valves and is hand wired, ‘point to point’ via an ultra linear output circuit with Teflon-insulated silver plated wiring. Treated to personal attention and fussed over if anything should ever go wrong (which it rarely does). When you buy from Icon Audio, then, you tend to become part of the family. Each product is hand-built and is largely indestructible, instead of being ensconced behind an ivory tower, the owner/designer (David Shaw) is often deep in conversation with his customers while the company have never heard of the ‘throw away society’. In a way, it is fitting that this 10kg, Leak-alike should be produced by a company such as Icon Audio because the Leicester-based company acts and operates like an audio engineering company from the 50s. This amp is not a copy of that design but uses the basis of it to produce a modern equivalent. These vintage amps are now highly sought after by collectors and can fetch more than £1,500. It was an instant success worldwide, renowned for its extraordinarily musical performance. Leak launched the Stereo 20 amplifier using the then-new Mullard EL84 and ECC83 valves. In fact, it should because it’s based on a classic design: the Leak Stereo 20. This compact 15W design from Icon Audio might look familiar. Valves come in many shapes and sizes which means that, despite their reputation, they can produce serious bass too. A well designed valve product produces a natural, uncoloured, sound the offers delicacy in the upper midrange, an ethereal treble and detail to die for. Rather, a valve produces a sound like you’ve never heard. In sonic terms, there’s nothing that sounds quite like a valve. There are too many bad examples out there. Paul Rigby presents a possible solution of entering the valve amplifier world on the (relative) cheap with the Icon Audio Stereo 20 PPĪ good valve amplifier at a low price is a real rarity.
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