Home > Consumer Reviews > Polk Audio I-Sonic Entertainment System 2

I got the I-Sonic 2 just about a month ago and I am still amazed at how good this thing sounds. I got a Bose and a Cambridge at the same time, niether come close and are going back. It was great to do a comparision in my own home.

I read a lot of reviews on the first I-Sonic; best I can tell Polk has fixed all of the issues. It doesn't get hot, the display is easy to read, and the controls are so simple I have yet to open the manual.

The iPod dock works with my iPhone and my video iPod and my iPod has never sounded better. Really, you will be blown away by how good this system sounds. I have the unit in my bedroom and it is a perfect place to store my iPod when I get home; keeps it charged all the time.

The HD Radio works well with the single wire antenna provided with the system. I have tagged a bunch of sounds and bought a few from iTunes; very very cool feature even if you just use it to remeber a song.

I am very satisfied with the system and would highly recommend it to any iPod owner, its a perfect match.

I enjoy this system tremendously. Sounds great for such a small package. The firmware was outdated when I received it, and I quickly found out that Polk Audio no longer provides the firmware on their website for download. It seems too many people were having issues flashing the ROM. Basically because 1) they didn't read the directions and use a memory stick < 1Gb, and 2) if they had other files on the memory stick the I-Sonic would get a bit confused. I called Polk Audio and insisted they email me the firmware (They wanted to mail me a memory stick). I performed the upgrade without any problems using an old 128Mb stick I had lying around (made sure nothing else was on it). So you should be able to request the same from Polk Audio.

You'll have to look very hard to find a shelf unit with better sound than the iSonic ES2...I was blown away by the richness and depth of sound. When you hear companies use the words "room filling" when describing small stereos, you can believe it where this one is concerned. It can easily deliver high-quality sound to multiple rooms, and is helped by the separate bass/treble settings...that's a real plus compared to similar units that do not have them.

However, I was disappointed in the HD/FM/AM radio functions of this product. Despite multiple attempts and antenna placements, I did not have much luck in acheiving consistently clear sound from the FM band, even less luck with AM and the HD signal was only sporadic. One minute it produced fantastic sound just as advertised, but in the next it would revert to the standard FM signal making the iTunes tagging function useless (iTunes tagging only works in the HD mode). This flip back and forth from HD to FM on the same station was an annoyance, to say the least.

iPod playback was wonderful. The iSonic ES2 delivered a very clean transfer and I was impressed at the lack of noticeable volume loss between the HD radio and iPod audio (I had read about that complaint in other online reviews). That said, Polk needs to add a playlist toggling capability to the remote. As it stands, switching playlists requires manual adjustment on the iPod itself.

Finally, the clock function did not work. It allowed the time to be set, but upon hitting the time button to end the set function and begin clock operation, it stayed at the time that was entered.

Overall, I was as impressed as I could be with the sound quality of this unit...it's unsurpassed in this genre and exceeds the Bose Wave. But the shortcomings of its other features and functions left it a disappointment and $500 is simply way too much money to spend on nothing but superior iPod speakers. Polk would be smart to get rid of the HD radio and iTunes tagging and put the CD/DVD player back on the unit (the original iSonic had a CD/DVD drive but for some reason it was removed for the ES2 model).

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.

The radio is excellent. Audio is perfect and I thinks it is as good as the Bose and the price is excellent. I am enjoying the radio everyday and I would not hesitate to recommend it to other buyers.