Bluesound Node Icon

I agree with your thoughts I don't think the Icon streamer will be much better than the Node.  

I also love the bluesound OS and the multiroom is excellent.

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