Satellite Radio Questions
12-15-2003, 12:08 PM
#1
Satellite Radio Questions Does anybody have satellite radio in their car? If so, how do you like it? I am interested in this, and am tired of the same ol' country music and tejano stations.What brand do you recommend, and does the new receiver fit in the stock dash and mate up with the OEM wiring harness? I am not a stereo person, and if I could have ordered my 1LE without one, I would have done so. Is Crutchfield decent to work with. What are the "ins & outs." So please educate me. Thankyou. 
Last edited by sawedoff; 12-15-2003 at 03:53 PM.
12-15-2003, 03:01 PM
#2
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I have a Pioneer XM unit that I got for $100 and an antennae for $50. I bought it at Best Buy. This one isnt a replacement radio. Its a stand-alone unit that uses a RF modulator (there are casset-adapter versions also). I love XM! I dont listen to regular radio anymore. As for chosing XM vs. Sirius, XM has better sound quality and it has the stations that I wanted.
Here is XM's site:
http://www.xmradio.com/index.jsp
I can't seem to find a link to the radio I bought, but I think its still available. Check out BestBuy's store. Its a small faceplate that controls a grey box the size of a thin textbook. I can find pictures of the "grey box" - the actual tunner - but not the faceplate. I'll see if I can post pictures later.
Delphi has a few options in the XM radio line as well.
XM is $10 a month and I think Sirius is $9 a month. You can pay every 3 months or for the year. There is no yearly contract. Its basically like cable.
--VIP1
Here is XM's site:
http://www.xmradio.com/index.jsp
I can't seem to find a link to the radio I bought, but I think its still available. Check out BestBuy's store. Its a small faceplate that controls a grey box the size of a thin textbook. I can find pictures of the "grey box" - the actual tunner - but not the faceplate. I'll see if I can post pictures later.
Delphi has a few options in the XM radio line as well.
XM is $10 a month and I think Sirius is $9 a month. You can pay every 3 months or for the year. There is no yearly contract. Its basically like cable.
--VIP1
Last edited by VIP1; 12-15-2003 at 03:07 PM.
12-15-2003, 06:28 PM
#3
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I have XM, wouldn't have another car without it. I changed out the head unit and I also have the pioneer xm unit hardwired in above the shifter where the TCS switch use to be
12-15-2003, 06:39 PM
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i have a kenwood head unit with sirius. a little more a month than xm is but i think you get more commercial free music channels as well. clarity is great. either way you go, it beats the pants off of fm....
12-15-2003, 06:53 PM
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xm rules...........
tip, you can prop your antenna on the little flap thing in the hatch, on the very top edge of it, and still close your hatch, and i get 100 percent reception and no antenna outside.
tip, you can prop your antenna on the little flap thing in the hatch, on the very top edge of it, and still close your hatch, and i get 100 percent reception and no antenna outside.
12-15-2003, 07:22 PM
#6
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Last edited by VIP1; 05-19-2005 at 09:29 PM.
12-16-2003, 02:24 PM
#7
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Originally Posted by VIP1
I have a Pioneer XM unit that I got for $100 and an antennae for $50. I bought it at Best Buy. This one isnt a replacement radio. Its a stand-alone unit that uses a RF modulator (there are casset-adapter versions also). I love XM! I dont listen to regular radio anymore. As for chosing XM vs. Sirius, XM has better sound quality and it has the stations that I wanted.
Here is XM's site:
http://www.xmradio.com/index.jsp
I can't seem to find a link to the radio I bought, but I think its still available. Check out BestBuy's store. Its a small faceplate that controls a grey box the size of a thin textbook. I can find pictures of the "grey box" - the actual tunner - but not the faceplate. I'll see if I can post pictures later.
Delphi has a few options in the XM radio line as well.
XM is $10 a month and I think Sirius is $9 a month. You can pay every 3 months or for the year. There is no yearly contract. Its basically like cable.
--VIP1
Here is XM's site:
http://www.xmradio.com/index.jsp
I can't seem to find a link to the radio I bought, but I think its still available. Check out BestBuy's store. Its a small faceplate that controls a grey box the size of a thin textbook. I can find pictures of the "grey box" - the actual tunner - but not the faceplate. I'll see if I can post pictures later.
Delphi has a few options in the XM radio line as well.
XM is $10 a month and I think Sirius is $9 a month. You can pay every 3 months or for the year. There is no yearly contract. Its basically like cable.
--VIP1
okay, let me educate you a bit. first of all Xm is 9.99 a month, 101 channels with commercials (15 phone activation, 10 online activation fee), sirius is 12.95 with 100 channels, with no commercials(15 dollar phone, and 5 dollar online activation charges). XM has 2 stationary statelites, while sirius has 3 that are on a figure 8 orbit. sirius has better sound quality, and has a better signal.
sirius has the best deals on hardware right now, you can get a whole kit (home car tuner and fm mod) for about 130 bux, or you can buy a kenwood deck and antenna and get a free 150 dollar tuner, and if you buy a year subscription, you get 1 month for free (basically the same price as xm in the end)
both have digital quality sound
i had XM since its launch in 2001, and just recently switched to sirius (better deals, plus no commercials) to be honest with you, look at each servers channel line up, and decide which is better for you personally dont go by other peoples recomondations, becasue they are both very simialr
both services have deals when you add on additional tuners ( i think both are 6.99 for each additional tuner)
i am an authorized dealer of each, so if you have any other questions feel free to pm or email me, i can answer all of your satelite question
jimmy
jfd145@psu.edu
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12-16-2003, 05:28 PM
#8
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Originally Posted by jimmy 2 Times
okay, let me educate you a bit.
The audio compression on Sirius is more noticable than on XM.
Check out this article from TechTV: http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/p...441370,00.html
Most people probably won't notice it though.
As for which one to get, its down to personnal preference. I happen to like XM.
The link above also contains a link describing the two technologies.
* XM has 2 satellites in stationary orbit, one is above the Western USA and the other is above the Eastern USA.
*Sirius has 3 satellites that are circiling the earth. Each one spends 16hrs actually over the USA. With this, there is always atleast one satellite over the USA at any given time.
*So technically XM has better coverage of the USA.
As far as commercials:
*Sirius supposedly is commercial free, but its a struggle to keep it that way
*XM has increased its commercials somewhat, but they are still few.
--VIP1
Last edited by VIP1; 12-16-2003 at 05:43 PM.
12-18-2003, 04:03 PM
#12
That is a clean, stealthy look, which is kind of what I'm looking for. I would like to thankyou all for your help. You've given me alot of food for thought, and I will probably be contacting some of you. Much appreciated. 
12-19-2003, 10:09 PM
#13
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If you're interested in XM, www.ubid.com has there Sony units for $99 + $2.49 shipping + Sony has a $100 rebate good until 12/31 === total cost $0. And you can get a XM antenna off of E-bay for as little as $10.
I re-shaped my ashtray to fit the Sony unit and used some black rubber molding for an airtight fit. Also, the Sony unit is removeable, it takes about 1 second to remove or put back in.
If you're interested in Sirrus, www.ecost.com has there Jensen units for $39.
Hope that helps, good luck!
I re-shaped my ashtray to fit the Sony unit and used some black rubber molding for an airtight fit. Also, the Sony unit is removeable, it takes about 1 second to remove or put back in.
If you're interested in Sirrus, www.ecost.com has there Jensen units for $39.
Hope that helps, good luck!
Originally Posted by sawedoff
That is a clean, stealthy look, which is kind of what I'm looking for. I would like to thankyou all for your help. You've given me alot of food for thought, and I will probably be contacting some of you. Much appreciated.
01-06-2004, 03:39 PM
#14
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I have XM radio in my Tahoe and love it.
We will do 3-10 hour rode trips and we got tired of bringing out the same bag of cds.
For us there are like 10-15 XM channels that we enjoy depending our mood.
We will do 3-10 hour rode trips and we got tired of bringing out the same bag of cds.
For us there are like 10-15 XM channels that we enjoy depending our mood.
01-12-2004, 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
XM Radio music stations are going 100% commercial free as of February 1st. Plus they're adding real-time local traffic and weather for a number of major cities. Now it's an even better deal!
) and a few other changesjimmy
02-13-2004, 06:46 PM
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Question.. I have a almost brand new Pioneer Premier MP3 deck that the box says "XM Ready".. Im assuming this already has the tuner built in and all I need to do is buy a antennae and sign up for the service?
Thanks!
Thanks!
02-13-2004, 07:30 PM
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I picked up the Kenwood KDC-MP922 with the Kenwood KTC-SR902 Sirius Tuner. All I can say is SAT ROCKS!!!!.
Now for comparison. I travel a lot for my work and have had XM in several of the cars. I lost coverage in wide open spaces. Turning the corner and poof no channel. No sirius does lose signals, but so far only when under stuff like gas stations roofs, garages and tunnels, but never in wide open spaces.
Quality & sound on both to me sounded pretty much the same. Channels, pretty much the same although if you like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal I liked XMs channels more. They both had news channels and sports channels and most important COMEDY CHANNEL. I like the old time radio broadcasts also.
XM did have an advantage, it did not take as long to acquire a signal so channels came in faster.
I rarely listen to regular radio now.
One positive now with Sirius is that more sterio makers have signed on with Sirius.
Also, you can sign on to the sirius web page and listen to the streams using your EID
Not sure if XM allows this since I don't have it.
Now for comparison. I travel a lot for my work and have had XM in several of the cars. I lost coverage in wide open spaces. Turning the corner and poof no channel. No sirius does lose signals, but so far only when under stuff like gas stations roofs, garages and tunnels, but never in wide open spaces.
Quality & sound on both to me sounded pretty much the same. Channels, pretty much the same although if you like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal I liked XMs channels more. They both had news channels and sports channels and most important COMEDY CHANNEL. I like the old time radio broadcasts also.
XM did have an advantage, it did not take as long to acquire a signal so channels came in faster.
I rarely listen to regular radio now.
One positive now with Sirius is that more sterio makers have signed on with Sirius.
Also, you can sign on to the sirius web page and listen to the streams using your EID
Not sure if XM allows this since I don't have it.