Bill Fotheringham Jr.
(February 12th, 2007)

STRENGTHS:
- Sound quality. I'm hearing things that I usually only hear when I'm wearing my Sennheiser headphones. Bass/treble response is very accurate and clean.
- Footprint. Great size, very clean & compact. Doesn't look like a big beat box.
- Packaging. Sleek, stylish, looks great! The variable strength of the display level lighting is a nice touch.
- Features/programming/ease of use. Both the Zune and I-Sonic were new to me and they were easily hooked up in minutes.
- HD Radio! I'm an evangelist now, I can't tell you how cool this feature is.


WEAKNESSES:
- None. I rarely use the cd player although it sounds great. I don't anticipate using the dvd or clock radio features for some time - great features though.


REVIEW:
The I-Sonic's sound quality is truly remarkable. The bass and treble response are extremely clean and true, and the sheer amount of room-filling sound is hard to believe. When I showed the I-Sonic to a friend he started looking around the room for ceiling mounted speakers.

We use the system run our Zune in the living & dining room, replacing racks of Denon gear, Boston Acoustic speakers and hundreds of cd's. I was mostly concerned with making a small tradeoff in sound quality for the payoff of reduced clutter. But the sound quality is fantastic, no tradeoff at all.

The HD radio is a hidden gem. I had never been exposed to it before and it is incredible. Crystal clear sound is a given, but multiple broadcasts on the digital bandwith means that many of my favorite stations have 2-3 separate programs now. My favorite NPR station has a local program, the national broadcast and a 24 hour BBC feed. There is a great rock station that has the regular programming plus an all-live music program. I didn't expect HD radio to be this great or that I would listen much, but this added feature is truly outstanding.

The I-Sonic was the ideal solution for my need to have superior sound in a compact, clutter free environment. I highly recommend this system to current gear heads out there who need high performance in a tight space.