XM Satellite Radio

[hondacuraplanet]

My wife bought the Delphi SkyHigh XM Satellite radio system for me for Christmas. I wrote up initial thoughts in this thread:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthr...?threadid=3547

Are there any other XM owners out there that can give their thoughts? Is one receiver different from another in sound quality?

[Mike & Margaret]

I have seen several complaints of this regarding the XM units. I am biased because I work for the national distributor for SIRIUS satellite radio.

Regardless of the unit, XM or SIRIUS, I have found you get what you pay for. Honestly, a mobile unit that goes from vehicle to home? The idea sounds great but, would you pack up your DVD player, TV or CD player from your house to put in your vehicle? Vice versa?

Anytime you add mobility and continous wiring changes to a product, you will eventially run into a problem. Wires can become damaged, etc.

The best bet is an in-dash source that stays in the vehicle. Leave you car stereo in the car and the home stereo in the home.

My suggestion.... Check out a SIRIUS unit.

[catbert]

I have the Pioneer XM unit permanently in my Pilot. I can't live without it. How I ever made it to work without being able to listen to Fox and Friends is a mystery to me. I've had zero problems with the XM since installation in August. My husband sells them and installs them and they sold hundreds as Christmas presents this year. I don't know the difference between XM and Sirius, but no one around here sells the Sirius, so it was a no-brainer for me.

[mrvincent]

I will never pay for radio. I like my LOCAL news, weather and sports of which you cant get on Sat. radio. For music I use CDs.

Ok, I guess I started the war. Bombs away!

[catbert]

Originally posted by mrvincent
I will never pay for radio. I like my LOCAL news, weather and sports of which you cant get on Sat. radio. For music I use CDs.

Ok, I guess I started the war. Bombs away!

I was right there with you before I got mine. My husband had one and kept telling me I needed one. I told him it was a total waste of money, that there were enough channels for me to listen to out of Charlotte to keep me happy. Then I rode with him in his truck for a day and just loved the XM. I like not having to listen to commercials on certain channels, and I really like the cinema channel that plays nothing but movie music.

But I totally know where you are coming from with paying for radio. But everything seems to be going to a fee base. Everyone said that Internet would be free soon after inception, but it just keeps getting more expensive. We can't get local tv channels at my house, so we have to pay for them through satellite. You even have to pay for air for your tires. It probably won't be long until you pay for local radio too. And that's a shame!

XM is just a little luxury I really enjoy. Each month costs about the same amount as a movie ticket - not bad for a month of entertainment. TEHO.

HEY TIM - how's your wife doing?

[havapilot]

The XM radio is installed ih the work truck because I spend 20-30 hours a week in it, mostly by myself covering radio sites in Southern NY as a field engineer for a wireless company. When I heard about XM it sounded like something that could make the long drives a little more pleasent.

I never wrote a product "Review" so I will probably miss some stuff, but here is my honest opinion. XM is a great thing for those of us who spend endless hours on the road and are NOT audiophiles.

I purchased the XM Radio made by Kenwood as an add-on about 6 weeks ago. It took about two hours to install and add it to the stock Ford explorer radio. It has a nifty control head (1" x 5") that I Velcro'd to the dash. The radio unit was placed under the passenger seat. The antenna looks like a big blister and is glued to the roof. There are two thin RF cables from the antenna to the radio. One is for Satellite, the other is for the terrestrial broadcast. The signal from the XM radio is fed to the stock ford radio through its FM ant input. You remove the FM antenna from the Ford radio and plug in the XM radio jack coming from the XM radio switch box, which is connected to the XM radio under the passenger seat. . Then you connect the FM antenna to the xm Radio switch box. (Its just a daisy chain) When XM is turned on you tune your radio to 89.1 and there it is, all 100 channels , that are now controlled by the XM head. When XM is off you get the normal radio operation.

Content.
There is something there for everyone. When I get pissed at the boss I can turn on the Comedy channel and hear some non censored comedy. Or Jazz or Blues or Rock or Fox news or CNN news or..... It goes on and on.
Most are commercial free. Some aren't. I don't listen to the commercial channels , except for FOX news. That's what XM is all about, choice. Bottom line is XM provides lots and lots of totally commercial free music and other content. When I start the truck it always seemed I would get some really obnoxious car ad that i've already heard 15 times this week.. Now I get Sanatana or Simon and Garfunkel or... . I don't have to make a CD, and then listen to the same ones over and over. I don't even need to put one in.

Signal Strength
Its better than I expected. . My area can best be described as rolling hills with the occasional signifacant peak. I have a few drop outs, a second ot two here or there, tunnels in excess of 1 second. I can't complain about coverage from the satellites. On the other hand, seems that the coverage from the terrestrial repeaters is just about useless. There is no way to tell the signal origination point but there are plenty of places like the George Washington bridge where it should work well and it drops out repeatedly. Im assuming that they have a repeater for the GW bridge ( upper and lower level has drop outs). If they don't they should, sometimes there are a lot of people in cars there. It does work well in urban areas at least in Manhatten.

Sound Quality
Now I think I have a pretty good ear and know when Im listening to a system capable of rendering an accurate version of the recording. That's not what you get with XM. The sound is not nearly as full or dynamic as a good CD on an expensive system. It sounds very compressed, like the first generation CD players did . By that I mean it sounds somewhat hollow, with a missing lower midrange and what are surely overemphasized highs. But that's OK because I just described the typical car audio system response. Take into account road noise and the typical car audio system and the sound is OK. Add in the fact that its commercial free and its cheap at twice the price.

If you are an audiophile, don't waste your money on XM, go out and by a new stylus for your turntable and stay home, or get XM for the news when you drive. You willl hate the sound.

If you like "background music" of your choice with no obnoxious commercials, and an occasional max volume event then XM is PERFECT. Its not perfect sound, but it is near perfect music because those annoying Mitsubishi ads cant touch you. $10 a month is a small price to pay to keep that assault of audio garbage from your brain.

[Mike & Margaret]

Regardless of a satellite radio choice of XM or SIRIUS, it is going to take some time for the public to change their perception. "I'm not going to pay for radio" are claims I hear everyday.

Well, satellite radio (SIRIUS) offers commercial free music like rock, hard rock, country, 70's, hispanic, rap, etc. They also offer news, comedy, entertainment, documentary, kids as well.

Picture the early buzz about MTV.... That is satellite radio. It becomes a part of your life. You find yourself driving your vehicle just to hear the radio..

"I'm not going to pay for radio"? Do you pay for satellite tv? Cable? Heck, the cost averages about 50 cents a day. You can't even buy 2 songs on a juke box for 50 cents!

Satellite radio is here and is only getting better.

[SteveLuman]

Tim,

I have had my Pioneer 903 XM radio in my Pilot for a few months now and I thoroughly enjoy it. I especially enjoy it on long road trips.

I do recommend that you don't use the Modulation method though. Get a Blitzsafe or comparable adapter, and keep the unit strictly in the Pilot. My unit is much clearer than most of my local Fm stations.

[hondacuraplanet]

Originally posted by catbert
HEY TIM - how's your wife doing?

She's doing well.....except she now has an overly sensitive nose and feels ill when she smells certain things. We haven't had any red sauce in our house for weeks

So, how would you rate Sirius quality vs XM? I'm not averse to changing over if the sound quality is markedly better.

On XM, I usually listen to XM Comedy, Fine Tuning, XM Pops, XM Classical, and Beyond Jazz. The electronica station and trance is pretty decent as well.

I found that on my system I was able to create a better sound with XM by lessening the attenuation on the horns, opening the soundstage up a bit. Altec horns can compensate for a lot

Here's a pic of the type of speakers I have, mine is front center, A7-500, I have a pair

[Len]

I chose XM over Sirius for one reason: my oldest loves Radio Disney, and we can't get it locally. XM has it, Sirius doesn't.

[havapilot]

I have XM and my wife has Sirius. I got mine first but then she wanted NPR(Public radio) so she got Sirius.

I installed both. Both are FM modulators. I don't think there is much difference in the sound quality of XM vs Sirius. They are both mediocre.

[BillR]

I'd love to get satellite radio (I'm in the car a lot) but I can't decide which if either format will win out Sirius or XM (I don't need another 8-track player). It looks like VHS and Beta all over again. Beta should have won for it's superior design, but it didn't because of Sony's licensing.
As for paying for the service, few people would pay for Cable TV at first either. As long as the service is worth the fee people will pay for it.