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

I had a $69 under the counter radio in kitchen for last 10 years and got the idea to replace it with a radio of quality,owning a Bose clock radio in my bedroom I figured I would go with that.I purchased 1 and a corner shelf from Lowes,installed shelf,installed an outlet by shelf for a clean look,then took the Bose out of the box.It says don,t install in a corner! Get the Gun*...I tried it and didn,t think it sounded good,so I went on line to see what is their best competition.This polk was the closest,I bought it and did a comparision test.
The Polk sounds better right out of the box without even tweaking the bass or treble contols,Wow* I think the Bose is better made and has a nice c.d built in,The polk has no c.d player but sounds better,a nice display showing what song is playing and H.D crystal clear radio stations. I am keeping the POLK. I believe you will be amazed at the sound

The Polk Audio I-Sonic system 2 with HD radio and Ipod dock is a wonderful system. Even on its own, without HD reception, the base is strong, the mids and trebles great. I also own the Sony, but this is a far superior sound system. When the HD is added it, the sound is really awesome.
The remote functions quite well, and makes the alarm very easy to use. I appreciate the fact that is shows the alarm is on, and the time in small letters on the bottom of the screen when the time is displayed, and when the radio or ipod is playing. The Ipod docks well and charges easily. The brightness of the display goes from very bright to what I thought was off, but in reality is very very dim, just right for nighttime use. It doesn't keep me up at all.
Would be even nicer for less money, but I am very satisfied even at the regular price.

The sound from the speakers is decent enough - I do prefer Boston Acoustics table top unit. The HD channels never came in, and reception for radio not what I wanted. A lot of static, - I am both an AM and FM listener. Didn't want to go through ordering several different antennas, have wires everywhere and have to adjust everytime I change a channel. Boston Acoustic radio gets decent reception without the hastle (although in another area of the house.) The area I wanted for the Polk now I stream radio through speakers/computer, much better reception. I returned the Polk. An expensive radio as well.

Ordered the Polk I-Sonic Radio with high hopes. Received, tested, and now returned it.

PROS: Radio looks good in our kitchen. Similar form factor to Bose that it was to replace. Great Sound.... similar to Bose.

CONS: Slow to find and tune stations. Lots of presets... but you need to scroll through in sequence to get to your preset (Ugh!) Also very SLOW to tune to HD radio stations... tune... pause... wait... pause.. found it! I think this is a function of the HD radio technology, not the radio (?). This wouldn't be so bad, except lack of direct touch preset buttons makes this a real pain to go to your favorites.

Also, buttons on top are small and layout is poor. OK for technophiles... but my wife wouldn't even turn it on... too confusing!

In the end I decided to return this and buy an Internet Radio (Just ordered the Grace GDI-IR-3020 but haven't received or tested it yet.)

Figure I can get all the FM and AM stations + HD stations + Pandora + I Pod using the internet. We'll see.

The sound quality of the ES2 is excellent. I love the HD Radio feature, I didn't realize there were that may HD stations available in my area. I found the ES2's firmware level was backleveled. I called Polk Audio and they sent me an upgrade free of charge. The firmware installation is simple and straight forward. After installing the firmware my HD station locking improved on weaker stations and the interface with my IPOD ITouch was much better.

Overall, I am very happy with my ES2, I highly recommend it.