“The Icons performed admirably with challenging, full-range material like The Song of the Nightingale, producing smooth but exciting big-hall sound with ample slam on big-bass attacks.”

“… the XF-48 delivered clear, punchy sound and plenty of output. They generated enough low-end grunt for satisfying movie sound …”

“Klipsch’s Icon XF-48 is an extremely able, extremely slim, extremely good-looking powered speaker. And it’s priced very fairly if you factor in the sums that would be otherwise spent on an external amp. Fans of serious sound who are unafraid to veer away from the passive-speaker herd—Icon-oclasts, if you will—should absolutely seek out the XF-48 for a listen.”