I have to agree with Perna's summary and I also give the edge to Sirius for most of the same reasons. Sirius does play some b-sides, but XM plays SO many songs I have never heard, and actually hope to never hear again. Sirius plays songs I know, as well as others they feel we'd also like.... and they do a great job.
My only disagreement is sound quality. My Sirius unit is a Sportster which sends the signal through FM, which drops the Stereo and turns it to Mono... yet is still sounded pretty good. Although the factory installed unit in the MDX sounds good, I'm very surprised that it doesn't sound better. Turning the volume up leads to disappointment.
Sirius talk (people talking) sounds better than the same on XM. I personally enjoy the music on Sirius much better and will be returning as soon as I get it installed through the navi unit.
You truly cannot go wrong with either, but I like Sirius for the fact that I can choose one station for one type of music and listen for hours without losing interest. I can't seem to find that on XM.
Sirius does play some b-sides, but XM plays SO many songs I have never heard, and actually hope to never hear again.
Honestly, that makes XM sound more appealing to me, but I have eclectic musical tastes and I like to hear unusual stuff.
I guess I'm wondering whether XM is "eclectic" or just "bad". I realize that this is a value judgment, but I'm curious what those whose tastes might be anti-Top 40 as are mine would compare these two. (I've never spent enough time with XM to be able to comment much about this.)
Personally, I find Sirius to be a bit repetitive and not as adventurous as it could/ should be. There's plenty of straightahead programming on normal terrestial radio that I can get without paying for it. My hope is that satellite would use its channel diversity to push the envelope.
It all depends on what type of music you like to listen to. I don't have a problem with finding something to listen to on XM - but then, I listen to country, swing, occasionally the show tune channel. And after saying I wouldn't listen, I've enjoyed listening to the Standley Cup playoffs (can't believe this Kings fan is cheering on the Oilers). I'd rather listen to lots of different things than to hear the same 30 songs over and over again.
I think the last few posts speak to the real differences in the music played by the 2 services. Since I have have both services, my experience with the diversity of music played on XM gives it the edge. For those of you considering subscribing to only one service, ask yourself this question: If you want to be exposed to music you have never heard knowing that you may not like some of what you hear in order to expand your music exposure, get XM. If you primarily want shorter play lists with higher recognition and don't want to do a lot of channel switching, get Sirius. I listen both to classical music and to rock. Both services have 3 classical channels. Most of the Sirius selections are faimiliar to me. XM exposes me to new music more often. The same is true for rock, but there are far more channels (avoer 10) to chose from. I typically flip between 5 rock channels when listening to XM. husker5
Sirius has exposed to me MANY songs and/or bands I never knew existed, even though I live in Boston, which is one of the better cities for FM Station diversity.
I like hearing stuff that I have never heard before and being exposed to new things, but I'm finding more stuff I like on Sirius than I do on XM. (This is just my personal preference)
One attitude you cannot have is the "I can get that on FM" attitude. Ever take a road trip and spend the entire time on CDs due to most locations having no FM options? I have.
Both XM and Sirius. Find something you like and drive from Boston to California and back, and never have to change the channel.
That's the advantage to Sat radio and I love it.
If you cannot decide, visit XM or Sirius online. Both companies offer 3 days for free listening online. Take advantage of that, and decide for yourselves.
Ever take a road trip and spend the entire time on CDs due to most locations having no FM options?
Most of my driving is local, with much of my out-of-town driving being in rental cars, where my unit obviously doesn't do me much good. My satellite unit is competing with my local radio and CD changer, not so much with those wide open spaces where there are virtually no radio choices.
What would be good for business travelers if you could punch an account code into your rental car stereo to access your account from whereever else you happen to be. But I guess that we're not there just yet.
Again, I happen to like music diversity, but I also understand that puts me into the minority of listeners, and they can't please everyone.
My daily driver is a BMW and I opted for an XM MiFi, rather than the $900. Sirius BMW upgrade. Right now I'm in a rental and it goes from car to car so easy. I get 99% reception just by putting the antenna on the dash.
sb55 brings up an interesting subject. I've had excellent success with a handheld portable GPS unit that I've used in cars all over North America & Europe. I actually prefer it to one that's hard-mounted in my daily driver, as I do probably 40% of my annual mileage in rental cars or in my wife's vehicle.
However, I've been led to believe that portable satellite radio receivers lose a lot of fidelity as the signal is transferred to the car's audio system. Whether it's via an FM signal or otherwise isn't entirely clear to me, but a number of the newer cars offer an aux input (for iPods & the like), so that may provide better fidelity.
The scenario that's forming for me is to buy a portable to use in my current car (& rentals) right away, then possibly spec my next car with the other provider, hard-mounted.
Anyway, what say all of you (who have been so helpful with the XM/Sirius comparo) regarding portable satellite radio receivers?
Most portable units offer the abilty to plug into an Aux port if your stereo has one available. If not, they send the signal through FM and the stereo picks it up on your set station.
If you can use the Aux, please do. The FM option works, but it loses a lot in transition.
Perhaps the best way to compare content to is to list each channel on XM and see what Sirius has to match it. Then do the same with every channel on Sirius. See if there are any gaps.
Personally, I like the old MTV VJ's as DJ's on Sirius. Brings back plenty of fun memories - Martha Quinn, Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman, and Nina Blackwood. JJ Jackson probably would be there, but he passed away a couple of years ago I believe.
Perhaps the best way to compare content to is to list each channel on XM and see what Sirius has to match it. Then do the same with every channel on Sirius. See if there are any gaps.
On that basis, they both seem about the same. For the most part, the music channels are conceptually very similar to one another.
The real difference seems to be how broad and deep their playlists are within a given format. I see now that XM is marketing itself as having more variety, whereas I recall Sirius wearing a similar hat more than a year ago.
Just a guess, but perhaps there is a bit of role reversal here in their marketing and formating. A year ago, XM was clearly the dominant player, with Sirius appearing to be the scrappy upstart that might not go the distance, but now the tide seems to be shifting away from XM and toward Sirius, even if XM is still the larger of the two. (Perhaps Sirius' focus on branded content, such as Stern, has more long-term promise.) So as Sirius goes more mainstream, is it now XM's turn to play the role of the bolder underdog in order to stand out?
guess I'm wondering whether XM is "eclectic" or just "bad".
It's both. When I had XM, I liked listening to XM Music Lab, because they played a lot of prog rock. Unfortunately, they would also throw polka, weird Zappa+Emo stuff ("don't go where those huskieeees gooooooooooooo (whine whine whine)"), and gregorian chants in as well.
Or, you'd turn on a rock station. You'd get Alice Cooper's "Feed my Frankenstein", ok, but then they'd follow it up by some truly horrible Def Leppard B-side you've never heard. So to prevent earbleeds, the channel flipping continues.
The one channel I miss from XM is Cinemagic. There is truly nothing like it on Sirius.
I have an Audiovox PNP3 that I bought with an additional car holder (for the wife's car) and with a home holder. My plan was to move it when and where I wanted to and that has worked very well.
A couple of years ago, we were going off for a driving week in California and I pulled the holder and antenna out of my wife's car. Loved having the Sirius channels with us and it worked very well even though I had to use the FM Modulator to get into the radio. Worked so well, in fact, that when I came back from that trip, I bought a spare holder and antenna. Now I have it packaged with a cassette adapter and take it with me when I rent a car.
I've used it in California, Vegas, Florida, and New England in all kinds of cars, vans and SUVs and loved having it with me. I just pop the antenna on the far right side of the dash (under the windshield) and plug everything in, tuck it under floor mats and we're ready to go.
I work (and have for 30+ years) in broadcast radio and frankly one of the fun things on a road trip was to get to listen to all the local radio stations and hear the different styles and accents. That doesn't exist anymore so I find having the familiarity of the Sirius Channels with me preferable - not to mention Sirius traffic and weather.
So what you're saying is that you have 150 channels and there's still nothing on.
It's ironic. When I bought my car 3+ years ago, I splurged for the 6 disc changer. I loved and used it, until 8 months later I bought my Sirius tuner. Then, it collected dust.
When I went back to XM, though, I would actually use the changer because I got tired of flipping through XM's bands. Now that I'm back to Sirius, it's all good. The thing I REALLY like about my new unit is that you can save an artist, and when a track from that artist is playing anywhere on the band, it will alert you. It's awesome.
Yeah, I've got the same sort of set-up with my XM Pioneer thingy... and you can take it with you, like a Walkman for satellite. This would be a really neat feature if I ever attempted any feats of athleticism, but for now it's more of an abstract bonus.
I happen to like the more eclectic mix on XM, but I think Sirius beats the pants off of commercial radio. There's not a huge, huge difference.
XM just happens to have the World Cup channel, which is permanently on in my vehicle... temporarily permanently, at least until July 9.
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Yeah, I've got the same sort of set-up with my XM Pioneer thingy... and you can take it with you, like a Walkman for satellite.
What I don't get is how the antenna works. Delphi had this bizarre kit for the Roady where you'd have a big pair of headphones, with an antenna on the top. The new ones appear to use ear buds like an iPod, but I don't see how you'd get any sort of reception.
The now-old-and-soon-to-be-replaced Sirius S50 simply records programming while it's docked, and then once you take it with you you just listen to the prerecorded content.
Sometimes its refreshing to hear something different then whats heard on terrestrial radio. You'll hear the same songs more often on Sirius....there is so much good music out there, theres no reason to pick one or two cuts off a cd and play them over and over. Of course one song is too much to play off some cd's
When I turn the microwave on in my truck the signal slowly gets garbled (as digital signals do sometimes) and then finally fades completely out. When the microwave goes off, the signal comes back....weird
I'm a complete techno-moron, so I don't exactly know how it works... there must be a built-in mini-antenna. The headphones are just the tiny earbud kind, and I think you can use any headphones at all.
You can do the pre-record thingy with the Pioneer, but I haven't tried out that feature yet. I need to loan the radio to my S.O. for a week and let him figure it out
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I was going to say that I'd probably want to get a new microwave, because my first guess would be that the microwave isn't shielded enough to stop its transmissions from jamming the XM signals. Then thought it could be a power thing, but that didn't make sense. So, since I really don't know what I'm talking about (figured you might know something about such things), I'll be quiet.
You could be right mtngal, I never thought of that. Its a realitvely new occurence so maybe something has changed with my micro-wave. It does vibrate quite a bit back there when the vehicle is in motion.
Is is possible to get Sirius installed on an'07 BMW for less than what the dealer is quoting me ($995)? Had it come equipped from the factory, it would have been $595, so $995 seems too high. It is already pre-wired. Dealer says it takes 4 hours of labor - seems like a lot.
I'm posting this message to see if anyone else is having the same problems as I have with XM and my 2005 Honda Accord. I recently purchased this car, which came with the XM kit installed, so I went ahead and signed up for service. UP until then, my wife and I both had Sirius setup in our cars. I noticed from the start that the quality of the signal from XM was extremely poor, sounding very digitized, compared to what I was used to with Sirius in my other vehicles (this is with either the FM transmitter, or a Sirius compatible deck, which is what I have now). I took the car in for service, but they compared the quality to that of a brand new 2006 and claim that it sounds the same.
Now, regardless of the sound quality, my wife doesn't car for XM and prefers Sirius, so I would like to simply ditch XM in the Honda and was wondering if there was any way to covert the factory stereo to use Sirius instead? I already have a Harmon Kardon Drive+Play installed, so I really do not want another 3rd party unit installed in order to receive Sirius...Any ideas?
I've thoroughly enjoyed the OEM XM radio system in my 2004 Honda Accord Coupe since December 2003. Absolutely no concerns with signal quality - it's great, except on the traffic channels where they've probably scrimped on the bandwidth to squeeze in so many cities.
You wrote "I recently purchased this car, which came with the XM kit installed". Do you mean that it was an aftermarket "kit" installed by the dealer? Or are you saying that it came from the Honda factory with the unit built-in? You might want to have your system checked out by a different Honda dealer.
That does sound a bit high, but not totally uncommon. The receiver is usually hidden in a hard to get at place. Some factory installed units are in the truck, some below the seat, and some are in the dash, behind the glove box.
Depending on location, the installation can be difficult. The kit itself is most likely not more than $300 to $400. The rest of that cost is installation.
Also, it's not "pre-wired" The stereo is Sat ready. This means that there is an AUX port on the back of the stereo for the Sat receiver to be plugged into. None of the other components or wiring have been installed.
This all adds to the installation time, so depending on the car and the receiver's location, time to install can be considerable.
You and I are seeing the same issue, exactly. My wife and I have been listening to Sirius for 2 years in our last cars and we recently just purchased an 06 Acura MDX, which came with XM pre-installed and has a 3 month trial.
We also are VERY unhappy with the signal and sound quality and are also looking for some sort of convertion kit to allow the system to get Sirius instead of XM.
I have heard of kits in the works for the Honda/Acura system, but I have not yet found anything available on the market. I could pull and replace the stereo, but I didn't want to hack into my system and lose my navigation's stereo interactive controls.
There are several mfgs who make things similar to what you're looking for; I know one came out not too long ago that will let you do a drop-in replacement on GM vehicles. I also know that those things are insanely difficult/expensive to develop, and Honda/Acura might be too small a market.
Again, though, I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for at either that Sirius forum or any variety of Honda/Acura forums. Good luck!
I would think that Acura/Honda would be the perfect market. Honda and Acura do not even offer the option for Sirius, due to the amount of $$$ Honda has invested in XM.
I have heard that some people have actually made auto buying decisions based on what Sat company was being provided. This is why so many of them are now offering both as a choice.
Honda does not, so this is the perfect market for an aftermarket convertion kit.
I would think that Acura/Honda would be the perfect market. Honda and Acura do not even offer the option for Sirius, due to the amount of $$$ Honda has invested in XM.
I don't disagree they're the perfect market, but if you had a small electronics company (which most of these guys are), and you could pick GM, who sells millions of cars a year, or Honda, who sells hundreds of thousands, it's just a numbers game. Both are captive XM manufacturers.
You're also correct in that some people buy based on what sat company the mfg is affiliated with. My wife and I are going to start serious minivan shopping here in 6 months or so, and the Grand Caravan/T&C is at the top of her list because of factory Sirius. We tried XM in my car for ~8 months, and we both hated it.
Unfortunately she won't look at Nissan, since her old man and stepdad are both UAW. Ideally all companies would offer a choice like Nissan, but I can see where XM or Sirius would cut a better deal to be someone's "exclusive" distributer. Ford is exclusive Sirius, but their minivan is so awful even my wife, who has owned two Fords in a row, won't consider it. It's REALLY bad.
Honda and Acura do not even offer the option for Sirius, due to the amount of $$$ Honda has invested in XM.
I don't think there's any true investment per se except for marketing agreements.
This is why so many of them are now offering both as a choice.
AFAIK, almost nobody is offering both from the factory. I know VW was offering an easy add on with the new Jetta for either in it's first year but I believe that's history now.
I don't think there's any true investment per se except for marketing agreements.
According to thispress release, Honda invested $50 million in 2000, although whether that was cash, I don't know. And there may have been some later fundings, I'm not sure.
I know VW was offering an easy add on with the new Jetta for either in it's first year but I believe that's history now.
VW Audi did offer a choice, but has since eliminated XM as an option.
According to thispress release, Honda invested $50 million in 2000, although whether that was cash, I don't know. And there may have been some later fundings, I'm not sure.
Hmm - good information.
But it's suprising that it took Honda almost 5 years (2000) from investment to offering the product in the vehicles or 4 years from XM product launch (2001).
wikipedia notes that XM supplies bandwidth to GM for On Star and to Honda for their traffic/nav system. Seeing that Hughes (a GM company) was a driver behind XM and GM and Honda have technology sharing (engines and electronics), it's not suprising for Honda to actually invest.
As an update, GM spun off Hughes a few year's back. (The Hughes guys were always fairly autonomous, I'm not sure that the Detroit crew quite knew what to do with it, but I digress.) But you are right, that certainly exemplifies the tie-ins with the automakers.
I would have thought that XM was the guaranteed winner, given the heavy investment from the automakers. But now it looks like that Sirius might have more long-run potential because it has managed to get more branded content, which is generally how media companies increase their audience.
We'll see what happens. I've been guessing that one of the companies will end up buying out the other, but that's just a guess on my part. (It might ultimately be cheaper to buy out the rival than it would be to beat it based upon market share, especially as their stock prices fall.)
Excuse my naivete here, but if Sirius is running off a satellite, and I have a roof antenna, why in certain areas with a clear sky overhead do I get such rotten reception? I mean, why should say a 4-story building block out a satellite? Or when I pass a large hilltop? Does it have something to do with repeaters and where they are stationed?
Sometimes I can't figure out the reasons why I have good reception on Avenue A and poor reception on Avenue B, even though they are only a mile from each other.
I believe it is all about getting a direct line to your car. Trees cause me grief with XM... or hills in some areas. My understanding for cities is that there are repeaters planted all around so that buildings won't block the signal. I suppose they can't cover every square inch.
On a clear day, that IS odd. I know a few consistent spots that I lose reception in my area. When it is cloudy the cut-outs are longer. I've also noticed that some spots that weren't bad in winter are bad now because there are more leaves on the trees in that area.
XM uses two satellites in geostationary orbit, and the angle changes in the winter and summer. Other electromagentic phenomena such as solar flare activity can further add some changes in the signal.
Sirius uses three satellites in lower orbits, with any two satellites being in the line of sight, so it has a different set of compromises.
Of course with either one, local repeaters and other local considerations for reception are also possible.
I just listen and enjoy, and don't mind the occasional dropout. With either XM or Sirius, it sure beats listening to screamer ads and pointless DJs!
I was noticing today that when I said "the same street" what I meant was "on one side of the street versus the other"...so there is a slight variable that might explain why going East gets slightly better reception than going West.
i just got a hummer h3, and all of the radios that hummer offers are xm capable not all are xm ready, i was told by the dealer that in order to make my radio xm ready they had to pull the unit and install a chip that would allow me to select xm from the band button, only problem, they want over $400 for it, does anyone know where i can get it cheaper or any other options i might have?
Just stop by your local car audio-specific shop (I used Audio Express... dunno if they're just local or not). They have a number of XM-ready radios that might be better value and/or provide a better listening experience.
I also had more confidence in the installation process, given that that's what they do (as opposed to the dealership, where that's a really minor part of their experience).
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Sirius does play some b-sides, but XM plays SO many songs I have never heard, and actually hope to never hear again.
Sirius plays songs I know, as well as others they feel we'd also like.... and they do a great job.
My only disagreement is sound quality.
My Sirius unit is a Sportster which sends the signal through FM, which drops the Stereo and turns it to Mono... yet is still sounded pretty good.
Although the factory installed unit in the MDX sounds good, I'm very surprised that it doesn't sound better.
Turning the volume up leads to disappointment.
Sirius talk (people talking) sounds better than the same on XM.
I personally enjoy the music on Sirius much better and will be returning as soon as I get it installed through the navi unit.
You truly cannot go wrong with either, but I like Sirius for the fact that I can choose one station for one type of music and listen for hours without losing interest.
I can't seem to find that on XM.
Honestly, that makes XM sound more appealing to me, but I have eclectic musical tastes and I like to hear unusual stuff.
I guess I'm wondering whether XM is "eclectic" or just "bad". I realize that this is a value judgment, but I'm curious what those whose tastes might be anti-Top 40 as are mine would compare these two. (I've never spent enough time with XM to be able to comment much about this.)
Personally, I find Sirius to be a bit repetitive and not as adventurous as it could/ should be. There's plenty of straightahead programming on normal terrestial radio that I can get without paying for it. My hope is that satellite would use its channel diversity to push the envelope.
husker5
I like hearing stuff that I have never heard before and being exposed to new things, but I'm finding more stuff I like on Sirius than I do on XM.
(This is just my personal preference)
One attitude you cannot have is the "I can get that on FM" attitude.
Ever take a road trip and spend the entire time on CDs due to most locations having no FM options?
I have.
Both XM and Sirius.
Find something you like and drive from Boston to California and back, and never have to change the channel.
That's the advantage to Sat radio and I love it.
If you cannot decide, visit XM or Sirius online.
Both companies offer 3 days for free listening online.
Take advantage of that, and decide for yourselves.
Most of my driving is local, with much of my out-of-town driving being in rental cars, where my unit obviously doesn't do me much good. My satellite unit is competing with my local radio and CD changer, not so much with those wide open spaces where there are virtually no radio choices.
What would be good for business travelers if you could punch an account code into your rental car stereo to access your account from whereever else you happen to be. But I guess that we're not there just yet.
Again, I happen to like music diversity, but I also understand that puts me into the minority of listeners, and they can't please everyone.
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However, I've been led to believe that portable satellite radio receivers lose a lot of fidelity as the signal is transferred to the car's audio system. Whether it's via an FM signal or otherwise isn't entirely clear to me, but a number of the newer cars offer an aux input (for iPods & the like), so that may provide better fidelity.
The scenario that's forming for me is to buy a portable to use in my current car (& rentals) right away, then possibly spec my next car with the other provider, hard-mounted.
Anyway, what say all of you (who have been so helpful with the XM/Sirius comparo) regarding portable satellite radio receivers?
TIA
If not, they send the signal through FM and the stereo picks it up on your set station.
If you can use the Aux, please do.
The FM option works, but it loses a lot in transition.
Personally, I like the old MTV VJ's as DJ's on Sirius. Brings back plenty of fun memories - Martha Quinn, Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman, and Nina Blackwood. JJ Jackson probably would be there, but he passed away a couple of years ago I believe.
-Paul
On that basis, they both seem about the same. For the most part, the music channels are conceptually very similar to one another.
The real difference seems to be how broad and deep their playlists are within a given format. I see now that XM is marketing itself as having more variety, whereas I recall Sirius wearing a similar hat more than a year ago.
Just a guess, but perhaps there is a bit of role reversal here in their marketing and formating. A year ago, XM was clearly the dominant player, with Sirius appearing to be the scrappy upstart that might not go the distance, but now the tide seems to be shifting away from XM and toward Sirius, even if XM is still the larger of the two. (Perhaps Sirius' focus on branded content, such as Stern, has more long-term promise.) So as Sirius goes more mainstream, is it now XM's turn to play the role of the bolder underdog in order to stand out?
It's both. When I had XM, I liked listening to XM Music Lab, because they played a lot of prog rock. Unfortunately, they would also throw polka, weird Zappa+Emo stuff ("don't go where those huskieeees gooooooooooooo (whine whine whine)"), and gregorian chants in as well.
Or, you'd turn on a rock station. You'd get Alice Cooper's "Feed my Frankenstein", ok, but then they'd follow it up by some truly horrible Def Leppard B-side you've never heard. So to prevent earbleeds, the channel flipping continues.
The one channel I miss from XM is Cinemagic. There is truly nothing like it on Sirius.
A couple of years ago, we were going off for a driving week in California and I pulled the holder and antenna out of my wife's car. Loved having the Sirius channels with us and it worked very well even though I had to use the FM Modulator to get into the radio. Worked so well, in fact, that when I came back from that trip, I bought a spare holder and antenna. Now I have it packaged with a cassette adapter and take it with me when I rent a car.
I've used it in California, Vegas, Florida, and New England in all kinds of cars, vans and SUVs and loved having it with me. I just pop the antenna on the far right side of the dash (under the windshield) and plug everything in, tuck it under floor mats and we're ready to go.
I work (and have for 30+ years) in broadcast radio and frankly one of the fun things on a road trip was to get to listen to all the local radio stations and hear the different styles and accents. That doesn't exist anymore so I find having the familiarity of the Sirius Channels with me preferable - not to mention Sirius traffic and weather.
It's ironic. When I bought my car 3+ years ago, I splurged for the 6 disc changer. I loved and used it, until 8 months later I bought my Sirius tuner. Then, it collected dust.
When I went back to XM, though, I would actually use the changer because I got tired of flipping through XM's bands. Now that I'm back to Sirius, it's all good. The thing I REALLY like about my new unit is that you can save an artist, and when a track from that artist is playing anywhere on the band, it will alert you. It's awesome.
I happen to like the more eclectic mix on XM, but I think Sirius beats the pants off of commercial radio. There's not a huge, huge difference.
XM just happens to have the World Cup channel, which is permanently on in my vehicle... temporarily permanently, at least until July 9.
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What I don't get is how the antenna works. Delphi had this bizarre kit for the Roady where you'd have a big pair of headphones, with an antenna on the top. The new ones appear to use ear buds like an iPod, but I don't see how you'd get any sort of reception.
The now-old-and-soon-to-be-replaced Sirius S50 simply records programming while it's docked, and then once you take it with you you just listen to the prerecorded content.
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You can do the pre-record thingy with the Pioneer, but I haven't tried out that feature yet. I need to loan the radio to my S.O. for a week and let him figure it out
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I was going to say that I'd probably want to get a new microwave, because my first guess would be that the microwave isn't shielded enough to stop its transmissions from jamming the XM signals. Then thought it could be a power thing, but that didn't make sense. So, since I really don't know what I'm talking about (figured you might know something about such things), I'll be quiet.
Anyone?
Thanks.
Now, regardless of the sound quality, my wife doesn't car for XM and prefers Sirius, so I would like to simply ditch XM in the Honda and was wondering if there was any way to covert the factory stereo to use Sirius instead? I already have a Harmon Kardon Drive+Play installed, so I really do not want another 3rd party unit installed in order to receive Sirius...Any ideas?
Thanks
I've thoroughly enjoyed the OEM XM radio system in my 2004 Honda Accord Coupe since December 2003. Absolutely no concerns with signal quality - it's great, except on the traffic channels where they've probably scrimped on the bandwidth to squeeze in so many cities.
You wrote "I recently purchased this car, which came with the XM kit installed". Do you mean that it was an aftermarket "kit" installed by the dealer? Or are you saying that it came from the Honda factory with the unit built-in? You might want to have your system checked out by a different Honda dealer.
My personal preference is Sirius.
I've had it in my Jeep for 2+ years and I now have the MDX with the 3 month XM taste test.
I'm going back to Sirius.
The receiver is usually hidden in a hard to get at place.
Some factory installed units are in the truck, some below the seat, and some are in the dash, behind the glove box.
Depending on location, the installation can be difficult.
The kit itself is most likely not more than $300 to $400.
The rest of that cost is installation.
The stereo is Sat ready.
This means that there is an AUX port on the back of the stereo for the Sat receiver to be plugged into.
None of the other components or wiring have been installed.
This all adds to the installation time, so depending on the car and the receiver's location, time to install can be considerable.
You and I are seeing the same issue, exactly.
My wife and I have been listening to Sirius for 2 years in our last cars and we recently just purchased an 06 Acura MDX, which came with XM pre-installed and has a 3 month trial.
We also are VERY unhappy with the signal and sound quality and are also looking for some sort of convertion kit to allow the system to get Sirius instead of XM.
I have heard of kits in the works for the Honda/Acura system, but I have not yet found anything available on the market.
I could pull and replace the stereo, but I didn't want to hack into my system and lose my navigation's stereo interactive controls.
The hunt continues.
Good luck.
Sirus Backstage
There are several mfgs who make things similar to what you're looking for; I know one came out not too long ago that will let you do a drop-in replacement on GM vehicles. I also know that those things are insanely difficult/expensive to develop, and Honda/Acura might be too small a market.
Again, though, I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for at either that Sirius forum or any variety of Honda/Acura forums. Good luck!
Honda and Acura do not even offer the option for Sirius, due to the amount of $$$ Honda has invested in XM.
I have heard that some people have actually made auto buying decisions based on what Sat company was being provided. This is why so many of them are now offering both as a choice.
Honda does not, so this is the perfect market for an aftermarket convertion kit.
Honda and Acura do not even offer the option for Sirius, due to the amount of $$$ Honda has invested in XM.
I don't disagree they're the perfect market, but if you had a small electronics company (which most of these guys are), and you could pick GM, who sells millions of cars a year, or Honda, who sells hundreds of thousands, it's just a numbers game. Both are captive XM manufacturers.
You're also correct in that some people buy based on what sat company the mfg is affiliated with. My wife and I are going to start serious minivan shopping here in 6 months or so, and the Grand Caravan/T&C is at the top of her list because of factory Sirius. We tried XM in my car for ~8 months, and we both hated it.
Unfortunately she won't look at Nissan, since her old man and stepdad are both UAW. Ideally all companies would offer a choice like Nissan, but I can see where XM or Sirius would cut a better deal to be someone's "exclusive" distributer. Ford is exclusive Sirius, but their minivan is so awful even my wife, who has owned two Fords in a row, won't consider it. It's REALLY bad.
I don't think there's any true investment per se except for marketing agreements.
This is why so many of them are now offering both as a choice.
AFAIK, almost nobody is offering both from the factory. I know VW was offering an easy add on with the new Jetta for either in it's first year but I believe that's history now.
According to thispress release, Honda invested $50 million in 2000, although whether that was cash, I don't know. And there may have been some later fundings, I'm not sure.
I know VW was offering an easy add on with the new Jetta for either in it's first year but I believe that's history now.
VW Audi did offer a choice, but has since eliminated XM as an option.
Hmm - good information.
But it's suprising that it took Honda almost 5 years (2000) from investment to offering the product in the vehicles or 4 years from XM product launch (2001).
wikipedia notes that XM supplies bandwidth to GM for On Star and to Honda for their traffic/nav system. Seeing that Hughes (a GM company) was a driver behind XM and GM and Honda have technology sharing (engines and electronics), it's not suprising for Honda to actually invest.
As an update, GM spun off Hughes a few year's back. (The Hughes guys were always fairly autonomous, I'm not sure that the Detroit crew quite knew what to do with it, but I digress.) But you are right, that certainly exemplifies the tie-ins with the automakers.
I would have thought that XM was the guaranteed winner, given the heavy investment from the automakers. But now it looks like that Sirius might have more long-run potential because it has managed to get more branded content, which is generally how media companies increase their audience.
We'll see what happens. I've been guessing that one of the companies will end up buying out the other, but that's just a guess on my part. (It might ultimately be cheaper to buy out the rival than it would be to beat it based upon market share, especially as their stock prices fall.)
And lose twice as much money but make up for it in volume.
Sometimes I can't figure out the reasons why I have good reception on Avenue A and poor reception on Avenue B, even though they are only a mile from each other.
-Paul
Sirius uses three satellites in lower orbits, with any two satellites being in the line of sight, so it has a different set of compromises.
Of course with either one, local repeaters and other local considerations for reception are also possible.
I just listen and enjoy, and don't mind the occasional dropout. With either XM or Sirius, it sure beats listening to screamer ads and pointless DJs!
I was noticing today that when I said "the same street" what I meant was "on one side of the street versus the other"...so there is a slight variable that might explain why going East gets slightly better reception than going West.
I also had more confidence in the installation process, given that that's what they do (as opposed to the dealership, where that's a really minor part of their experience).
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