Happy XRt12 XM Tuner Customer!!

TonyPTX

Egads.....it's been a while since I've spoken to my Polkie brothren....

Anyway...Polk hit the nail on the head w/ their release of the XRt12. This will be my 3rd XM tuner (have an Alpine in the Truck & a Delphi at the office).

I don't care what kinda crusty crud you have in your ears, almost anyone can tell the difference almost instantaneously between the Polk unit and a Plug-n-Play unit like the Delphi....you'd have to be dead to not notice the difference.

Most prominant was the deep punchy bass, improved channel seperation, and decent gain.

At first (before I had it hooked up to the speakers and was letting the XM subscription service kick in) I was like…damn, the whole thing feels like an overgrown Delphi unit…even the remote looks like the Delphi remote on steroids….onscreen display…the exact same…but that's about where the similarities end.

Overall a big thumbs up to Polk for bringing satellite radio to the next level for the home audio enthusiast....I'm only left w/asking...what took so damn long for someone to develop!!!

Tony

dorokusai

I agree completely. It's an excellent unit and the sound quality is top notch. It is so much better than the Delphi that we use in the car.

One of the best purchases I've made in awhile.

steveinaz

I'm going on 2 yrs with XM and like it with one caveat; they need to improve on the quality of the signal--not in terms of signal strength, but sound quality.

Treble is still rolled-off and alot of times the music has awful amounts of digital "artifacts."

Love my Polk XM tuner though...just wish XM would provide a signal that would show its true potential.

dorokusai

I have zero issues with artifacts and the quality is high on this end, but this is XM homeplate.

I think the treble is a little rolled off, but I'm not sitting in front of the XM with my smoking jacket drinking scotch.....that's for the real stereo.

PolkThug

Originally posted by dorokusai
I have zero issues with artifacts and the quality is high on this end, but this is XM homeplate.

But does it sound better than a strong FM signal where you are?

I found that when comparing the MyFi XM2Go to a strong land-based radio station, the XM SQ is not as dynamic, reminds me of a low-mid quality MP3.

steveinaz

My experiance has been that a strong FM station with good equipment easily equals XM on most stations. It's XM's program line-up, no commercials, and the fact that there are no good FM stations where I am, that keep me on-board.

Now, if I lived in a major city with access to good FM, I don't know that I'd pay for XM...

dorokusai

Originally posted by PolkThug
But does it sound better than a strong FM signal where you are?

It is as good if not better than FM. The Delphi unit for my personal vehicle is not as good as the Polk XM. It is definetly a shift in quality between the two units.

I don't listen to music on FM anymore, it's just a waste of time and I have a very low tolerance for programming rhetoric. Keep in mind that I don't even have XM in my work truck and I still don't listen to music on FM. I'm a talk radio fan.

PolkThug

I know what you mean, I use mine mostly for the comedy channel.

Sounds like Polk did a good job with it. Anybody in KC area got the Polk XM? I'd like to compare.

bknauss

Originally posted by steveinaz

Now, if I lived in a major city with access to good FM, I don't know that I'd pay for XM...

Don't worry, even the major cities have crappy FM stations. I have a total of 4 stations I can bear... used to be 5 until a station in the Baltimore/DC area magically turned Mexican (wasn't that great of music before the change anyway!). I'm sure all of the MD and NOVA folks know exactly what I'm talking about.

disneyjoe7

I have to say XM sounds better then FM, XM comes close to CD quality but falls way short at times. I think some songs are worst then others when it comes to compression. Polk XM tuner has made me a fan of XM. I don't listen to much FM music I listen mostly to Talk Radio Real Radio 104.1 I believe a local show here is on XM 152 Jim Phillips.

PolkThug

I spent about 3 hours with the Polk XM tuner tonight. The sound quality is much better than the Delphi XM2go. This makes me very happy, because I was kinda bummed out about XM. The XM2go is great for headphone use and portability, but for serious home audio use, the Polk xrt12 blows it away.

Good job Polk! I was very skeptical about how much better it could be and was pleasantly suprised.

steveinaz

No doubt the Polk XM tuner is far and away better than anything out there, I just wish XM would clean up the quality a little more. Some stations sound wonderful: Jazz 71 comes to mind; 20, 21, 22 sound real good. But there are others that sound awful. I don't know why. Maybe lesser quality equipment in those studios?

PolkThug

Yeah, most of the time I was listening to real jazz channel, and also some rap to make sure the bass was slammin'.

walcuttd

I received my XRt12 yesterday from Polk and hooked it up without problem. I was glad to see that the antenna picks up a strong signal right through the roof!

I am playing through a high-end Krell intengrated amp and I agree with the comments about compression of the audio. If it becomes an issue I will move the unit atop my TV and play it through the lesser audio system I have with the TV - - that would of course allow me to take advantage of the XRt12's AV output display.

This "replaces" a Dynalab Etude; in reality the Etude sounds far better, and, as noted in this forum, the real issue is a lack of decent FM programming. The appeal of XM is in the channel lineup and lack of progam interruptions.