Satellite Radio

[scharmer05]

I decided that I want Satellite Radio. I spend a lot of time on the road or in the field, so I figure that it would be a wise investment in my future entertainment. My Suburban is XM ready so I could add that easily, and my Pioneer deck in my Impala could have either tuner and antenna added to it for about 50 bucks on ebay and an hour's worth of tinkering around in the car. You can have 2 tuners for 20 bucks a month with either service, so I would probably have one dedicated system in one of the vehicles. If I were to go with Sirius I would put a dedicated tuner in my Impala and then have a Mobile unit in my Suburban that I could take out on the lake in the summer, in the field in the Spring or fall, in the house for the home stereo, or anywhere else my heart desired. If I were to go with XM, it would save me a little bit of cash, since the Suburban is already equipped. Then the mobile unit would go in the Impala.

Both services has a trial program where you can listen to most of their channels online, so I have been doing that this week. They both have channels that I enjoy. Sirius has NASCAR which is swaying me that way somewhat, but it is not a deciding factor, as I do not enjoy listening to NASCAR that much. I would much rather watch it.

I have also heard that XM has a better satellite setup, in that their 2 satellites are always over the US. Sirius usually only has 1 of their 3 over the US at any given time. At least that is what I am told.

I am still in the middle, so I would love to hear some testimonials. I am sure there are a lot of people on here who have had XM for at least 3 months from when they have bought new GM vehicles. I hope someone has something to say about Sirius as well.

So to those of you who have it and use it, why do you love either service? Anyone had any problems with service? Let me know your thoughts.

[Delta Force79]

Sirius....great music programming for the most part, and Howard Stern. Sirius is also going to offer new packages, which will allow you to pick up to 50 stations for like 6 bucks a month vs. the normal 12.95 or whatever. I pay by the year so I don't even know the exact monthly figure.

[z28luvr01]

XM and Sirius have merged, but I don't think it is complete yet. Eventually, stations from both companies will be available on one device, but from what I've heard, due to the different broadcast methods of XM and Sirius, you can't receive Sirius on a current XM radio, or vice versa. I would wait for the merger to complete and for a new generation of receivers.

[scharmer05]

XM and Sirius have merged, but I don't think it is complete yet. Eventually, stations from both companies will be available on one device, but from what I've heard, due to the different broadcast methods of XM and Sirius, you can't receive Sirius on a current XM radio, or vice versa. I would wait for the merger to complete and for a new generation of receivers.

A guy at a local audio shop told me that even though the merger has taken place, nothing will be complete for about 2 years. That may be complete BS.

Edited August 14, 2007 by scharmer05

[Drew Dowdell]

technologically, no merger has taken place and won't for at *least* two years.

I like my XM radio in my Cadillac, I found that the Sirrius in one of my rental cars was very slow to respond to channel changes. That may have been a hardware issue though.

[Delta Force79]

technologically, no merger has taken place and won't for at *least* two years.

I like my XM radio in my Cadillac, I found that the Sirrius in one of my rental cars was very slow to respond to channel changes. That may have been a hardware issue though.

I have a Sirius Sportster that is close to 2 years old at this point and there is a slight like delay maybe a second when changing channels. I think this is programed into the units to give you a chance to go back just incase you didn't want to change and hit the remote by accident or something. I've never experienced any prolonged delays in channel surfing.

[toesuf94]

We have both. I prefer the programming on XM over our Sirius units. I hate the delay when switching stations on the Sirius units, and I have a harder time finding the programming I want to hear on the Sirius units like I can on the XM. Plus the XM is much less susceptable to the under bridge losses that the other unit is.

And I am an ERA fan, meaning I like to tune into specific genre of music, say 50's. 60's or 80's...cannot do that on Sirius.

[Oracle of Delphi]

XM, Baby!

Channel 45 - XM Café, now Starbucks XM Café

Channel 46 - Top Tracks

[vonVeezelsnider]

XM... G. Gordon Liddy!

[Delta Force79]

I have a feeling if Sirius were a GM item instead of XM, the majority here would be the reverse. The proof is in the rise in Sirius subscriptions, while XM has leveled off and hence the merger.

Edited August 14, 2007 by Delta Force79

[Oracle of Delphi]

I have a feeling if Sirius were a GM item instead of XM, the majority here would be the reverse. The proof is in the rise in Sirius subscriptions, while XM has leveled off and hence the merger.

Does it matter? Soon I'm sure when the merger is complete, we wiil all be on the same blended network. Something like Sirius XM Satellite Radio Network.

[z28luvr01]

Channel 45 - XM Café, now Starbucks XM Café

Wonderful, so now another station succumbs to commercials

Squizz, Big Tracks, The Boneyard, The Message, Bluesville, and Highway 16 FTW. I do wish they'd put The Torch back as a normal station instead of an online only station.

[Cadillacfan]

Having been an XM user for a few years now, I have an obvious bias towards XM. My brother has Sirius and lets me borrow his online account to listen to Stern.. but other then that, I don't really listen to other channels. XM has a better lineup and I have a feeling that if and when the merger is completed, the majority of the channels that will be offered will be from XM.

[CARBIZ]

I've had XM for 18 months now. Go with a portable. I take mine everywhere. I usually have XM in my company demo, but the portable can be docked to your home stereo, or used like a Walkman, plus the internal memory is great for capturing favorite tracks for later transter to your computer. I love the portable so much that I rarely use my iPod. If you are a fan of house or dance music, XM is an orgy of such music, plus Fred 44 has all the cool music from the '80s, not the commercial crap.

I've never used Sirius, in all honesty. I just have no complaints about the XM service.

[VenSeattle]

Sirius subscriber here. Love it.

One of the only things that annoy me about GM is that it doesn't offer buyers a choice between the two... but soon it won't matter.

I'm 50% sure the merger will go through... which is up from 34.3% a few months ago.

[scharmer05]

Thanks for the help guys. I went with Sirius. I decided that I wanted to hard wire a tuner into the Impala instead of an FM modulated unit. I have over 2 grand into the stereo in the Impala so I figured it would benefit the most from a dedicated satellite radio install. It sounds amazing except for a few of the treble notes that get a little tinny, but those were easy to cover up somewhat with the equalizer. The guy at a local audio shop that I deal a lot with here gave me a deal on the tuner. I got it for a little under 80 bucks. He would have given me a XM tuner for free if I would have wanted it he said since I have bought a lot of stuff from him. They just can't move them off the shelves. Everyone wants Sirius.

I am glad that I did it the way that I did. Now I can buy a mobile unit to keep in the Suburban. That way I can pull it out of there when I am out in the field or going to go fishing in the boat or whatever else I run into.

[Delta Force79]

Smart purchase, and congrats on getting it sintalled and all for pretty cheap. That seems to be a problem with a lot of audio shops, Sirius is a hot item, hope you enjoy it.

[Z-06]

Sirius subscriber here. Love it.

One of the only things that annoy me about GM is that it doesn't offer buyers a choice between the two... but soon it won't matter.

I'm 50% sure the merger will go through... which is up from 34.3% a few months ago.

FEDS have no problems with the merger as a matter of fact it may go through by the end of this month or next.

[Delta Force79]

Well it's only been up in the air for oh about 6 months now

Mel Karmazin from Sirius has had to go to bat for the merger with the government more than once....