Delphi XM Satellite Radio opinion

polkatese · June 2003

All,
I've been intrigue by this $99 unit. The question, is the audio quality comparable to a high-quality recording CD/HDCD? or is it more like DTV music quality? What is its specifications? any measure of its quality comparable to the equivalent of CD sampling rate? or am I comparing apples and oranges here? Any thought? thanks for the education in advance....

ps: It is sad but it's true, I've become very picky on recording quality, sometimes forgo a good material/album because of its mediocre of its transfers, and ended up listening to the same album over and over again (because of its superb recording quality). Am I the only one experiencing this new disease?

mantis · June 2003

Yes XM radio receiver for the home at 99 bucks .You can get the longer antenna feed to get the antenna outdoors where it works it's best.
I have Installed 2 of these now and there cool.It's more like the sound quality of DSS music channels.Seems to be about the same.
It's a cool thing .....I was digging it when I installed it.....it's small and comes with a little stand,the remote is IR so learning it into the 10.2 will be cool..........
I assume your thinking here Bro.........it's a service remember...it's like 12 bucks a month.......might be 10.

dorokusai · June 2003

I have the Delphi unit in my vehicle PT, and it is great. Never had any problems, and the channel lineup is excellent. A must have item, IMO.

polkatese · June 2003

thanks for the information, guys!

Dan,
XM sounds awesome in a rental car (now it becomes more common to get one from Hertz-rent-a-car without paying for it) but I am curious if it sonic quality worth the monthly subscription. The one that comes with DSS/DTV I am not terribly impressed with. It tends to sound flat and compressed. Not very exciting, even compared to redbook, it sounds less dynamic. On the road, I can't ask for anything better. It's time to do real audition at CC and make them do the setup for it. Thanks again.

mantis · June 2003

Tweeter carries them 2....I know you live near one.Maybe they have one setup so you can hear how it sounds on some of the gear you own......It's nice i'll give it that.I was Intrigued.......to say the least.

I only heard it twice ......I haven't heard it on a good system.....But I want 2.I feel cd quality might be a streth more on the lines of DSS music is a fair compare.I will listen more and let you know.

polkatese · June 2003

Dan,
good point! tweeter it is....

dorokusai · June 2003

Sound quality wise in my area is 100%, no static, no echo, perfect...but then again XM homebase is in DC area,

avelanchefan · June 2003

I have Sirius. Now with Sirius's finacial problems, I wish i would have went with XM.

As for Siruis, I love the programming. I get great reception. Once in a blue moon it will cut out for 10 seconds or so. No echo's, great sound. Not tinny or anything at all. This is for my car though. Have not heard to much about the delphi unit, although I did notice that Sirius had a commercial that said they now have a home unit too, it's made by Kenwood I believe.

Stick with XM though. They look to be the more stable of the two. BTW- Sirius is based out of NYC.

fireshoes · June 2003

Sirius and XM are both in the same financial ballpark. The only difference is Sirius got to market a year late, so their subscriber base is still small. Sirius does have a lot going for them though.... commercial free, great sports packages, and uncensored except for the top 40 station I believe. There are about 650,000 subscribers to sat radio right now and I saw an industry estimate that by 2012 there will be 42,000,000. Dish Network was 2nd to the tv sat market and they aren't doing so bad.

dorokusai · June 2003

XM is not quite in the same financial ballpark as Sirius, granted they are behind in their subscriber forecast, but are doing well. Plus their relationship with GM will probably ensure lasting survivability, Sirius is just late as mentioned. There was a great writeup in the Washington Post magazine about XM and its history, creation and future. I don't know if back issues of that are available on the internet or not.....if I find it I will post the link.

madmax · June 2003

XM quality is excellent. I compared the Delphi unit to the Sony unit and found very little difference in audio quality. (On a cheap system though). It did seem that the sony had a slight edge in quality but I couldn't be sure. I have used my sony with my HS and it is extremely close to CD quality. You need a good audio cable from it to your system, not a $2.99 interconnect.
Do it now! You won't be disappointed!
madmax

PS: The Delphi unit is much nicer to use than the sony. Any sonic differences would probably not be noticable unless you could do an extensive A/B comparison.

polkatese · June 2003

Thanks, Max!

Delphi XM Satellite Radio opinion

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