XM Tuner (or Sirius for that matter)

T

Tasty

New member
So, when we bought our '05 CR-V it came "XM ready". Well, the tuner that Honda wants to sell you is about $400 bucks which is crazy just to have it integrated into the head unit when you can buy a Roady for about $30 at Wal-Mart. I would like to be able to use the factory spot for the antenna, but beyond that I don't think I want to shell out that kind of money for the tuner when I could go and buy a Sirius S50 for the same price and record 50 hours of music. Every time I get in someone's car that has satellite radio I just really enjoy the variety of stations formatted to particular tastes. Also, is it worth waiting to see how this new digital FM thing pans out?



I guess this boils down to a few questions: Who on here has satellite radio? Is it worth it? Are there tuners on the market whose antenna will fit in the factory spot?
 
I have Sirius and love it. I turn off the radio in anyone else's car that I get in as I cannot listen to ClearChannel's crap anymore. Don't know about your particular questions though. Go to www.Siriusbackstage.com and they can help you.
 
Tasty said:
I guess this boils down to a few questions: Who on here has satellite radio? Is it worth it? Are there tuners on the market whose antenna will fit in the factory spot?
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Sirius and love it.



FYI, you can just leave the antenna on your dash or in the back on the deck. Doesn't have to be outside of the car.
 
I have neither, but after being in the middle of nowhere, listening to a NCAA football game on Sirius, I was very impressed. I can only imagine having it to listen to in more civilized areas.... :2thumbs:
 
I have a RoadyXT. I wasn't too sure I'd like it, but after two months I can't see myself turning back. All music all the time. In fact there is so much music I have a hard time picking what I want to listen to. I need a remote to run it so I can change channels without looking and reaching!

I've heard the Sirrius units run kind of hot, so be cautious of that. They are also kind of big. Get something better than whatever the Honda guys are selling. :D
 
I have had Xm for a few years now and would not be seen without it. I have upgraded to the Delphi Skyfi II, which records 30 minutes for you without battin an eye....Ive recently gotten hooked on the Humor channells.........But I love listening to MLB and Nascar....
 
I just wonder if XM has anything in the works near the Sirius S50. You can record 50 hours of music on that thing, truly a nice feature. 30 mins is nothing in comparison, but the S50 is pretty hefty at $329.
 
Tasty said:
I just wonder if XM has anything in the works near the Sirius S50. You can record 50 hours of music on that thing, truly a nice feature. 30 mins is nothing in comparison, but the S50 is pretty hefty at $329.
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S50 or not the quality of satalite isn't worth it.
 
tdekany said:
S50 or not the quality of satalite isn't worth it.
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EH? Where have you listened to the quality? The quality is much better than FM and almost near CD quality. The way its hooked up makes all the difference in the world. I had a MB that I retrofitted a XM Roady and Audiovox PNP3 Sirius too, I cancelled both because the quality was crap through the FM Tuner. I then used the tape accessory, much better.



Now that I don't have the MB anymore, I just purchased a Honda Civic EX w/navi (sig), it has XM Radio installed (unlike the op's Honda, no extra $400 charge) through the headunit. AWESOME SOUND. I will keep the subscription even after my 3 months are up.



Dave
 
daveb said:
EH? Where have you listened to the quality? The quality is much better than FM and almost near CD quality. The way its hooked up makes all the difference in the world. I had a MB that I retrofitted a XM Roady and Audiovox PNP3 Sirius too, I cancelled both because the quality was crap through the FM Tuner. I then used the tape accessory, much better.



Now that I don't have the MB anymore, I just purchased a Honda Civic EX w/navi (sig), it has XM Radio installed (unlike the op's Honda, no extra $400 charge) through the headunit. AWESOME SOUND. I will keep the subscription even after my 3 months are up.



Dave
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You must have bad ears if you think sirius or xm has near cd qualty sound. both companies use alot of compression. Soundstage is way more narrower then even fm.



I have a custom install in my car: MBQuart separates with their top of the line Xover, Hsu subs powered by JL Audio. Alpine head unit connected via AUX.
 
I love Sirius. I drive for 8-10 hours at a time at work. I could not imagine my day without it!



Plus it has Stern. He is so much better uncensored!
 
Tasty said:
Who on here has satellite radio? Is it worth it? Are there tuners on the market whose antenna will fit in the factory spot?
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Okay, before I answer this please keep in mind that I live in the city and rarely travel on the road, so my opinion is purely based on city type radio.



I had Sirius for a year, and HATED it. They advertise "CD quality" sound....well, I found that it sounded more like a low bitrate download than anything close to a CD. Aside from that, I had however many stations/channels available to me, and rarely found anything worth listening to.



In the end, I paid for a year up front, and actually used about a month and couldn't get rid of it fast enough, but that's just me.
 
My girlfriend's father has XM in his Volvo semi, and I guess the relatively low quality stereo system it is connected to lacks the clarity to reveal the limitations of the sound quality.



Now on their home theatre system where an additional unit is hooked, I can hear the compression and "fake" high tones that become dominant. I'm guessing in my pickup (Alpine high end head unit, Infinity Kappa speakers all around, crossovers, amp, sound deadening, etc) I would get annoyed to no end with the satellite limiting the audio quality. Just my .02
 
I have XM, and use the Delphi Roady2 receiver. It was $20 I think (Christmas present + activation).

I love XM and have a hard time listening to regular radio now. Everytime I hear commercials I think, "If I were listening to XM, I wouldn't have to hear these ads every 20 minutes!"
 
Yes, satellite transmissions are compressed and to audiophiles this is noticable. Even if you are not an audiophile but know a song really well you will be able to discern some difference between sat transmission and the cd. However, it is much better than what is offered on free, over the air transmission which is 99% Clear Channel and so censored that there is never any thing worth listening to. You are listening to exactly what the record companies are paying CC to play over and over and over and over.



Installation and choice of receiver makes a big difference in the sound quality. FM modulation sucks as does the tape deal. The only way to get good quality out of it is to AUX input the signal through RCA cables. As far as difference in the units some offer more range for whatever reason. This has been said about the Xact and Starmate Replays.



Sat radio makes sense if you are in your car for long periods of time regularly or, like me, in it for 3 hours a day. I have a choice and that choice follows me wherever I go. I don't have to change channels three times on the drive to work like I used to because the signal faded.
 
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