Polk Audio introduces the I-Sonic Entertainment System

fireshoes
fireshoes Posts: 3,167
edited September 2005 in Speakers
If you remember the survey we took some time ago, here first look at the resulting product. It is a compact stereo system with dvd/cd player, HD Radio, and is XM ready.

Press Release

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  • Toxis
    Toxis Posts: 5,116
    edited April 2005
    following Boston Acoustics who followed Cambridge Soundworks who is trying to be the next Wave Radio. I love how everyone tries to model this thing and will never get the market share that Bose already has. Marketing at it's best.
    Never kick a fresh **** on a hot day.

    Home Setup: Sony VPL-VW85 Projo, 92" Stewart Firehawk, Pioneer Elite SC-65, PS3, RTi12 fronts, CSi5, FXi6 rears, RTi6 surround backs, RTi4 height, MFW-15 Subwoofer.

    Car Setup: OEM Radio, RF 360.2v2, Polk SR6500 quad amped off 4 Xtant 1.1 100w mono amps, Xtant 6.1 to run an eD 13av.2, all Stinger wiring and Raammat deadener.
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited April 2005
    What is "HD Radio"?\

    nm, cd-quality radio
    Never Forget
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited April 2005
    Looks very nice!
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited April 2005
    It needs clock radio functionality....

    Other than that I may grab 1.

    HBomb
    ***WAREMTAE***
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  • phuz
    phuz Posts: 2,372
    edited April 2005
    I remember that survey, and it looks like they listened. heheh

    I'll take two. One for the bathroom, and one for the bedroom to use as an alarm clock. I've been waitin for this one.
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  • fireshoes
    fireshoes Posts: 3,167
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by HBombToo
    It needs clock radio functionality....

    Other than that I may grab 1.

    HBomb

    "The I-Sonic entertainment system is also a full function dual-alarm clock radio that can use the radio or DVD/CD player as the alarm." ;)
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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by fireshoes
    "The I-Sonic entertainment system is also a full function dual-alarm clock radio that can use the radio or DVD/CD player as the alarm." ;)

    I just relooked after phuz's comment and saw that....

    Thanks bud

    Goes home with boot in mouth;)
    ***WAREMTAE***
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited April 2005
    At $600, I'll never have one.
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited April 2005
    $600 for a radio? say what?
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  • phuz
    phuz Posts: 2,372
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by Airplay355
    $600 for a radio? say what?

    How many people do you know that actually paid $1050+ for their LSi9s?
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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited April 2005
    oh yea lol
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  • bknauss
    bknauss Posts: 1,441
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by PolkThug
    What is "HD Radio"?\

    nm, cd-quality radio

    That should actually be "CD like quality". I'm picky :)
    Brian Knauss
    ex-Electrical Engineer for Polk
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  • bknauss
    bknauss Posts: 1,441
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by phuz
    I remember that survey, and it looks like they listened. heheh

    Yup. Just a lesson for you guys... if you get an email for a survey, I *highly* recommend putting in your 2 cents. We actually do listen!
    Brian Knauss
    ex-Electrical Engineer for Polk
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited April 2005
    Where do the tubes plug in. :confused:
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited April 2005
    HD Radio

    Anyone live in an area that has an HD station or plans for going HD in the future? Not me, so there's one function that I don't need. With the advent of HomeTheater and inwall speakers, why bother with a radio thats only good for 1 room? Strike two. XM Radio? No interest here, that would be strike three. A room full of music from a little box? Please!!:rolleyes:

    Yeah I'll get flamed but seems that Polk is going by the BOSE playbook with this product.

    Come on Matt, stick with what you do best. Quality speakers at a fair price.

    When do the flat screen TV's hit the stores?
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
    2005-06 Club Polk Football Pool Champion!! :D
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,776
    edited April 2005
    They shoulda made a SDA alarm clock...
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited April 2005
    My first thought was, "Man, this is ugly." But then I realised that it looks just like the CDP unit thingamabob in a Bose Lifestyle system. And since Bose does so much research and marketing and can't possibly make anything ugly, I guess this Polk table radio isn't ugly.

    I'm not all out against it, but I certainly don't want one (especially not for $600!!!). Polk did a good job with their XM receiver, it seems, but I agree with Frank on this one.
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
    In Use
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    In Storage
    [Home Audio]
    Rotel RCD-02, Yamaha KX-W900U, Sony ST-S500ES, Denon DP-7F
    Pro-Ject Phono Box MKII, Parasound P/HP-850, ASL Wave 20 monoblocks
    Klipsch RF-35, RB-51ii
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  • bknauss
    bknauss Posts: 1,441
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by Frank Z
    HD Radio

    Anyone live in an area that has an HD station or plans for going HD in the future? Not me, so there's one function that I don't need. With the advent of HomeTheater and inwall speakers, why bother with a radio thats only good for 1 room? Strike two. XM Radio? No interest here, that would be strike three. A roo full of music from a little box? Please!!:rolleyes:

    Yeah I'll get flamed but seems that Polk is going by the BOSE playbook with this product.

    Come on Matt, stick with what you do best. Quality speakers at a fair price.

    When do the flat screen TV's hit the stores?

    Frank - I, if I seperated myself as just a consumer, would agree with you in many respects. Because I would rather have high performance products, I probably would never think about buying this.

    I do have to disagree with you on your last two comments:
    -its been well documented that speaker sales keep going down for the industry. Have to get money from somewhere else, and high end table radios are a big market.
    -Given the cost and the lack of a household name like Samsung or Sony (and their buying power), it would most likely be a bad business move to do flat screens. I don't have enough info to back up that statement, but its a good gut feeling IMO.

    Overall, I have a feeling not many forum members will be buying this product. Most of us are into high end equipment, don't care about size, want the best sound for our price range, etc. If you don't buy it, I definitely understand, but if you do, hopefully you like it a lot and enjoy it for a long time.
    Brian Knauss
    ex-Electrical Engineer for Polk
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited April 2005
    Good point. There is a particular market that this product targets. We (most of us) are just not it.
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
    In Use
    PS3, Yamaha CDR-HD1300, Plex, Amazon Fire TV Gen 2
    Pioneer Elite VSX-52, Parasound HCA-1000A
    Klipsch RF-82ii, RC-62ii, RS-42ii, RW-10d
    Epson 8700UB
    In Storage
    [Home Audio]
    Rotel RCD-02, Yamaha KX-W900U, Sony ST-S500ES, Denon DP-7F
    Pro-Ject Phono Box MKII, Parasound P/HP-850, ASL Wave 20 monoblocks
    Klipsch RF-35, RB-51ii
    [Car Audio]
    Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP, Memphis 16-MCA3004, Boston Acoustic RC520
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  • fireshoes
    fireshoes Posts: 3,167
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by Frank Z
    HD Radio

    Anyone live in an area that has an HD station or plans for going HD in the future? Not me, so there's one function that I don't need.

    The top 10 radio groups have all announced plans to switch their stations over to HD within the next three years I believe. As for you, there are actually 30 stations in Colorado licensed for HD Radio, with 10 on the air right now.

    http://www.ibiquity.com/cgi-bin/liststations?state=CO

    If anyone else wants to see what's on the air in their neighborhood, click here.
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  • maggiefan
    maggiefan Posts: 223
    edited April 2005
    Is this HD radio, the digital transmision that the stations are supposedly changing over to? I don't mean sat. radio. This seems to be catching on in Europe, but I haven't heard much about it here lately.
    Larry
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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,535
    edited April 2005
    Two sets of auxiliary inputs allow hook up of any stereo audio device such as an iPod or other portable MP3 player or cassette deck.

    Given that the name is "I-Sonic", I have a feeling the "iPod" crowd is the target of this product. Here's hoping Polk sells many of these during the holiday season this year. These would fit very well in bedrooms and dorm rooms. The street price, probably around $500 I'd guess, seems reasonable considering it is speakers, a DVD player, a clock radio, an MP3 compatible cd player, an iPod docking station, an XM receiver (almost) and a conversation piece. The XM antenna should be included, but I guess there will be other accessories for this. And, because it's made by Polk, it should sound good.
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  • bknauss
    bknauss Posts: 1,441
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by maggiefan
    Is this HD radio, the digital transmision that the stations are supposedly changing over to? I don't mean sat. radio. This seems to be catching on in Europe, but I haven't heard much about it here lately.

    This is correct. www.ibiquity.com should have all the info you'd ever want to know.
    Brian Knauss
    ex-Electrical Engineer for Polk
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  • shack
    shack Posts: 11,154
    edited April 2005
    I remember that survey, and it looks like they listened.
    I took Polk's survey and on the issue of price I responded that there is NO WAY I would spend anywhere near $500-$600 for something like this.....Either they didn't listen or I was in the minority...

    At $200 ± I "possibly" would be interested...but at the stated price there is a a "slim to none" chance that I would even consider one of these...by Polk or anyone else! If I ever became desperate for a small system in the $500 price range with all the bells and whistles...this is the system I would buy. Sorry Polk.
    "Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right." - Ricky Gervais

    "For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible." - Stuart Chase

    "Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago." - Bernard Berenson
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited April 2005
    I agree, it's overpriced.

    I would be interested in the Polk Forum only edition.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited April 2005
    I would never buy it, but at least now I have a chance of offering it to the customers who buy the Bose 321 (if Polk distributes via CC).
    Never Forget
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,085
    edited April 2005
    I'd actually like to hear one.

    I sort of have mixed emotions about it to be honest. On the one hand, I'd like to see Polk be just a kick-**** speaker company. I think we've all seen (and fear that Polk may head this way) once proud speaker companies branch off into different directions and abandon what made them great.

    Why I think this WON'T happen with Polk is that Polk is a private company. The companies that we are thinking about all sold out to conglomerates that ran them into the ground. The Polk XM tuner is a great example of a non-Polk item that Polk did in the Polk way: affordable first class.

    Additionally, I see the audio market dividing. You either have the high end, in which anything goes OR you have the rest of it which is cheap HTB with invisible speakers and so forth. IMO, the market in which Polk thrives is shrinking. It isn't gone but it's getting smaller. High fidelity (again, IMO) is losing ground to convenience, portablilty and high tech.

    Fact is, the Kloss table radios have been tremendously popular. Now, I would have liked a Polk table radio more in that line but the fact remains, it is a profitable market.

    Hey, if it keeps the company profitable and on course, I say all the better.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,623
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by Frank Z
    A roo full of music from a little box? Please!!:rolleyes:
    You can't expect it to be AS room filling as towers and a full surround system, but the amount of sound that you can get from these little things is impressive.

    I had a Bose Wave Radio several years back and i was constantly amazed at how big that sounded compared to how small it looked like it would sound.
    comment comment comment comment. bitchy.
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  • Mjr7531
    Mjr7531 Posts: 856
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by brettw22
    You can't expect it to be AS room filling as towers and a full surround system, but the amount of sound that you can get from these little things is impressive.

    I had a Bose Wave Radio several years back and i was constantly amazed at how big that sounded compared to how small it looked like it would sound.

    The one of many things that the I-sonic will have over the BOSE waveradio is stereo, I don't know where the link is, but the BOSE waveradio is a fancy-shmancy mono two-way, funny, eh?
    I can't wait to see how the I-Sonic turns out.
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited April 2005
    Originally posted by TroyD
    I'd actually like to hear one.

    Hey, if it keeps the company profitable and on course, I say all the better.

    BDT
    Ditto and ditto...
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
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