how to get an fm and or am am signal in my basement

ECGnovice

Hi All:

I just put together a home theater setup in my finished basement. As part of the setup, I purchased an onyko TSXR 608 receiver. I can get a few fm stations andam stations in my basement hooking up the included fm and am antennaes.

Is there a way to get better signals down in the basement without elaborate wiring. Are there other antennaes out there that are not expensicvev that I can purchase as accessories that will give me a signal?

Also, I can add Sirius radio with an accessory. Does anybody know if I will have a similar reception problem as to not get a signal down there?

Thanks for your advice.

eeagle

Just using a streaming device like a Squeezebox Duet w/your home network, and get every radio station in the world without any antenna or interference. I believe it will do Sirus as well with a paid subscription.

ECGnovice

what is squeezebox duet?... and is it expensive

ECGnovice

Thank you Las. Interstingly eonugh, I purchased my entire home theater from Crutchfield and I have an old Terk hooked up to my stereo in my den. Is there a particular Terk you have had a good experience with which will not be noticeable on my home theater stand?

ECGnovice

eeagle, great idea! I have tried a variation of your suggestion. I hooked up my Dell Studio 15 laptop with an HDMI cable to my Onkyo 608's front aux HDMI jack whenever I want radio. I can use AOL radio...
Even better, I already have Sirius so I added a Sirius online premium subscription for $2.99 a month which enables me to stream Sirius/XM on any computer plus as a great added bonus I can download a Sirius app to my Blackberry Bold 9650 and have Sirius on the go on my phone. (Years ago I paid for an "XM radio on the go" which meant I had to purchase a seperate radio plus add a full additional radio to my account.)

This setup also is the best solution because I also can not use the Sirius accessory for my Onyko receiver since I can not place the accessory near a window.

BTW, initially, when I hooked up the laptop to the receiver, I did not even get stereo, only mono thru my speakers and had no sound thru my subwoofer at all. I called Dell technical support and they adjusted the settings on the laptop and added 5.1 SS thru HDMI by remotely accessing my laptop. We were also able to test the speakers in the laptop settings. This was the best experience with Dell tech support in years!

Also, since I have a Samsung bluray with wireless internet thru my network, I can stream Pandora thru the bluray with SS.

Thanks for all your help!

eeagle

Glad it worked out for you. Streaming is a great solution for casual and talk show radio listening. For critical listening though, nothing beats a good FM tuner and well broadcast media.

Link for Squeezebox models

The Logitech Squeezebox models do a lot more than streaming radio. Most of us are using them to serve our lossless CD collection via wireless home network and remote control.....in fact even an iPhone can be used to control your whole system.