Polk Audio I-Sonic Entertainment System 2

First off, I would state that I am not an expert audiophile. Impressive sound for its size, however it does not sound better than a real home stereo system. I guess I was expecting a tiny bit more, due to some of the hype and other reviews. It plays fairly loud without distortion. I would say that the sound is clear, but lacking some fullness that would make it exceptional. It can easily fill a small room. The rear firing speakers do allow for less directional sound, so can sound ok from different listening locations, but of course you will not get great separation from a small box. Remote is quite small, but is ok.

I think the unit is a little pricy, especially since it does not include CD or DVD player. I bought this unit mainly to play music from MP3 player and will probably connect DVD/CD player. I wanted the best sound without having a big system to set up and take up a lot of room.

So, for someone who wants the best sound in a very small size, this would fit the bill. Again, just dont expect it to sound as good a real home theater system or stereo.

This is a really nice device. The HD radio works quite well and the iPod dock is top notch. Highly recomended.

Contrary to the product description, this product does NOT contain the CD/DVD player of the original I-Sonic. You may confirm this in the chart at the bottom of:

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/isonic/

This useful chart also compares the features of competing products.

[I have no personal experience with the product, so I put in the current average rating.]

Polk Audio I-Sonic Entertainment System 2I cannot recommend the Polk I-Sonic 2 too highly! The HD sound really is as good as they say; the AM does sound like FM, and the FM, like CD. Since the I-Sonic 2 is the only tabletop HD radio that is iPod ready, the purchase was a no-brainer. My iPod sounds much better on the I-Sonic 2 than on either of my two docking stations with speakers. And the radio sounds better than the radio tuner of my expensive stereo system. I should also mention Polk Audio's customer service. It is incredible. My iPod kept freezing when I first used it on the I-Sonic and finally died altogether. A techie at the Apple store told me my hard drive was no longer operational, and I would need to get a new hard drive ($150) or buy a new iPod ($250). I sent the I-sonic back to Polk. Once Polk had the radio, Ken in Customer Relations phoned me four times from Baltimore to keep me informed about the progress of the investigation into the problem. The iPod was put through internet tests, which determined that it was fully functional; the hard drive, undamaged. The problem was that I had been using an incorrect adaptor to connect the iPod to the I-Sonic. Ken's last call was to tell me that at Polk's expense my I-Sonic and my iPod were being shipped to me in Los Angeles by two day UPS air delivery. Polk is the tops!

I love listening to opera and classical music on the local FM classical station on this Polk system -- it sounds like I'm actually in a concert hall and it's magnificent. However, iPod playback is nowhere NEAR as good. The tones all blend together and lack richness and depth. My Bose wave radio does a far better job playing the iPod through the AUX IN. Wonderful depth from Bose. I am returning my Polk system because I don't want to spend $500 for a good radio. I'm considering the new Bose wave radio with digital FM and iPod connector kit, instead. If this product were priced lower -- maybe $125 -- I would probably keep it just for FM and the clock radio. Unfortunately, it wants to be a great iPod device as well, is priced that way, but fails to perform. Too bad! Would have loved to hear the same quality through iPod as through radio, or even iPod sound comparable to my Bose. I'm not a sound engineer so no idea why they couldn't make that happen -- definitely curious.