Sirius or XM radio?

[pgriffith]

So which one is better? I want to get XM but everyone tells me Sirius is the new better thing. I dont know what to do.

[Jhonathan]

never played with sirius personally, but ive played with xm, and i like it quite a bit, id reccomend that personally...

[Harbin1]

Sirius is playing catch up right now. XM got their products out first several months ago and Sirius is just now hitting the market. So your friend is half right, Sirius is new but I'm not so sure they're the best thing yet. I'd say within the next year or so, they'll be head to head. I've got some friends who work at an electronics store and they all love the XM radio. I'm probably going with Sirius some time in the spring. Mostly because I've got a Kenwood eXcelon head unit that I love and I don't want to swap brands.

[pgriffith]

So is Sirius a Kenwood only thing? What brand decks use XM?

[Harbin1]

Sirius is not necessarily just for Kenwoods. Many of the satellite radios out there now are FM modulated. Meaning they play through your radio. They broadcast a FM signal and you tune your radio to that signal. You and anyone nearby will be listening to satellite radio!!! So, any brand of FM modulated satellite reciever can play through any head unit. See what I mean? When you match up your head unit brand with the brand of the satellite reciever, you get added functionality. You can control everything from your deck instead of having an additional controler somewhere for the sat. rec.

If you go deeper, Sirius is owned by GM and XM is owned by Ford. Many car manufacturers are going to be offering satellite radio as an option for many of the 2003 autos. This satellite radio thing is just around the corner and it will be pretty big in a few years. Yes, costs you more, but it'll be worth it to me to get rid of those darned disc jockeys that have absolutely nothing important to say and lets not forget, way less advertisements.

Sorry this turned into an advertisement-like schpeel.

[pgriffith]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Harbin1:
Sirius is not necessarily just for Kenwoods. Many of the satellite radios out there now are FM modulated. Meaning they play through your radio. They broadcast a FM signal and you tune your radio to that signal. You and anyone nearby will be listening to satellite radio!!! So, any brand of FM modulated satellite reciever can play through any head unit. See what I mean? When you match up your head unit brand with the brand of the satellite reciever, you get added functionality. You can control everything from your deck instead of having an additional controler somewhere for the sat. rec.

If you go deeper, Sirius is owned by GM and XM is owned by Ford. Many car manufacturers are going to be offering satellite radio as an option for many of the 2003 autos. This satellite radio thing is just around the corner and it will be pretty big in a few years. Yes, costs you more, but it'll be worth it to me to get rid of those darned disc jockeys that have absolutely nothing important to say and lets not forget, way less advertisements.

Sorry this turned into an advertisement-like schpeel.<hr></blockquote>


I seen on a chevy webpage that GM is the first to offer Xm radio in there vehicles. Mayube Sirius is owned by ford and XM is owned by GM?

[96firebird311]

As far a price goes, I think the difference is only a couple of bucks/month. One is like $7.95 and the other is like $9.95. I think one is ad free where as the other is not. One has more channels.... but still the differences are slight. Make sure both companies offer service in your area..... hope your not like me... I live in Hawaii! No XM or Sirius. :(

[C.Palmer]

ok guys i actually sell this stuff for a paycheck so here's the scoop...

my insider information is telling me sirius is going bankrupt... they came out too late and XM already runs the show. This isn't final yet, but it's something to think about when you sign up for sirius and find out a couple weeks down the road that they are done. i'm not saying forget sirius, i'm just saying be careful.

XM is 9.99 per month and 14.99 activation.
Sirius is 14.99 per month and activation is similar but i can't remember off the top of my head.

Sirius is 100% commercial free on all music channels while XM is not. However, XM seems to play a wider viriety of music and only some channels have commericials (maybe 5min worth per hour compared to 30 minutes for your FM stations).

I think XM plays a wider variety of music that is a little more "in" but that's my personal opinion. I sell the stuff and I'd go with XM in a heartbeat. XM is teamed with pioneer while sirius is kenwood. Both products are nice but Pioneer comes first in my books.

Whatever you choose to do, try to go with a dedicated tuner over modulated. It's one less thing you have to stick to your dash and it's so much nicer when it's done. just my 2 cents

[Dominic]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by pgriffith:



I seen on a chevy webpage that GM is the first to offer Xm radio in there vehicles. Mayube Sirius is owned by ford and XM is owned by GM?<hr></blockquote>

GM owns hughes aeronautics (think Delphi, also Northstar) which is a big satellite company as well... Now you see why they can offer XM.

[Red96CamaroRS]

id get XM, but i dont like that unsightly antenna mounted on my roof....

[Pike]

FYI,

Both XMSR and SIRIUS are indedpendant companies and neither is owned by FORD or CHEVROLET. THose companies just have contracts to be able to put satellite radio receivers in their vehicles. Quality is exactly the same between the two. Sirius did come out a lot later than XM and is considered the underdog. Sirius has the larger possibility of going out of business, but XM's not doing so great either (yep, lost money on that gamble). I use XM, and enjoy it greatly. After invesitgating both, I'd go XM anyday.

[C.Palmer]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Red96CamaroRS:
id get XM, but i dont like that unsightly antenna mounted on my roof....<hr></blockquote>

Check XM's website and look at the new antennas they have. They are very low profile now and don't hang off the car like other antennas. They almost look like your computer mouse only 1/3 the size and black mounted magnetically or adheisive.

Delphi made a great tuner plug-and-play unit for XM with an optional home adapter unit so you can bring your XM into your house also.

If you are looking into XM or Sirius, I highly reccomend XM... $200-300 up front costs including activation and then $10/month. Just check out their site and I can answer any other Q's on their equipment as well as a few others on this board i'm sure...