Tech Toys redux --XM Radio

[Cholly]

I'd been toying with the idea of getting XM Satellite radio ever since I bought my XM ready Yamaha RX-V657 home theater receiver over a year ago. Last week, I flew up to Hartford, CT for a visit with my daughter and her family. My son in-law met me at the airport, and had his XM Roady XT with him. I was so taken by the sound quality that I vowed to get one for myself, which I did this past weekend. Installing it in my '04 Honda Pilot was a snap, although activation took two tries with me talking to a real person after the voice response system hiccupped. I also decided to get an XM "Connect and Play" antenna accesory for my home theater receiver and installed it yesterday. They recommend installing the antenna in a window with a view to the Southern sky, but I installed it in a window facing to the Northwest, and it works perfectly.
I may never listen to AM or FM radio again, other than for local news and weather. The sound quality is great, the variety is great. What more can I say? I've no interest in the many talk radio stations, but the rest suits me just fine.

[AcuraCL]

I've been pretty happy all-in-all with my new SkyFi2, though the "sound quality" ain't exactly what I'd call the main feature :) However, running Sirius through my main hifi system at home, I didn't expect much in the way of sound quality. I'd say XM and Sirius are about equal.

It was tough choosing one over the other, bec. both have strong offerings in their channel lineups. However, I went with XM on the strength of their music offerings.

I haven't yet had the unit "installed" in the car ... so I try to conceal the wiring when not in use in a spare towel and remove the main unit.

I'm using the cassette adapter, which the user's manual says should yield the best sound quality. Haven't tried fm modulation yet. I'd say the sound is way below CD quality ... a bit below FM quality ... like MP3s maybe. I got a home kit too and it's ok, but I doubt I'll play it through the big system much. Mostly I wanted to be able to listen to the OldTime Radio station in the house occasionally.

Did you do the car install yourself or have someone else do it?

[Cholly]

I've been pretty happy all-in-all with my new SkyFi2, though the "sound quality" ain't exactly what I'd call the main feature :) However, running Sirius through my main hifi system at home, I didn't expect much in the way of sound quality. I'd say XM and Sirius are about equal.

It was tough choosing one over the other, bec. both have strong offerings in their channel lineups. However, I went with XM on the strength of their music offerings.

I haven't yet had the unit "installed" in the car ... so I try to conceal the wiring when not in use in a spare towel and remove the main unit.

I'm using the cassette adapter, which the user's manual says should yield the best sound quality. Haven't tried fm modulation yet. I'd say the sound is way below CD quality ... a bit below FM quality ... like MP3s maybe. I got a home kit too and it's ok, but I doubt I'll play it through the big system much. Mostly I wanted to be able to listen to the OldTime Radio station in the house occasionally.

Did you do the car install yourself or have someone else do it?

I installed it myself--a no brainer.The Roady XT includes a car kit (mounts, cassette adapter, 12v adapter and antenna). I first installed it temporarily, because the two mounts (vent mount and swivel adhesive mount) weren't appropriate for my Pilot. I made an adapter from a piece of 2X4 cut to fit the cubby under my radio and a piece of 1 inch aluminum L, and attached the swivel to the L. From that point, it was just a matter of routing the wires and concealing them somewhat.

BTW, I chose to post this thread on this forum rather than the XM forum, because there isn't too much activity there and I wanted to voice my positive reactions to XM. :)

[AcuraCL]

I installed it myself--a no brainer.The Roady XT includes a car kit (mounts, cassette adapter, 12v adapter and antenna). I first installed it temporarily, because the two mounts (vent mount and swivel adhesive mount) weren't appropriate for my Pilot ...
Maybe a no-brainer if you're the handy type. I, alas, am not :)

There is nowhere to put mine either, and I couldn't begin to imagine how to get a wire from the outside of the car to the inside, nor where to conceal them ... well, this is why there are people out there who do it for money, eh?

Being an "old guy" ... what channels have you saved?

I have the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, the classic rock channels, classical ones, show music, soundtracks, new age, weather channel, baltimore local traffic/weather, classic soul, old time radio, and a couple of others.

[Steve Mehs]

Welcome to the XM Nation, Population 6.9 Million :)

The Roady XT is, IMO, one of the best sounding XM plug and play receivers to date. In terms of sound quality from what I have, at home the Sportster Replay beats the SkyFi 2, but in my truck the Roady XT beats the Starmate Replay. The sound quality is very close between XM and Sirius though.

The reason you’re able to get XM at home by pointing the antenna in the opposite direction is your most likely picking up the signal from terrestrial repeaters located in a city near you.

One of the nice things about recent generations of XM Plug and Play hardware is Tune Select. Just hold down the Select button on the receiver, or the XM button if you have a remote for the Roady and it will flash ‘Song Selected’. Now everytime that song is played on XM, no matter the channel, your radio will beep to let you know and you have to option to go to that channel.

Like I said many times, satellite radio is the only way to go. AM/FM is not an option in my Mountaineer, it’s XM/Sirius.

[AcuraCL]

I love TuneSelect. I don't listen to much popular hit music, so I set TuneSelect to beep me for artist, not song. Really cool.

[Cholly]

Maybe a no-brainer if you're the handy type. I, alas, am not :)

There is nowhere to put mine either, and I couldn't begin to imagine how to get a wire from the outside of the car to the inside, nor where to conceal them ... well, this is why there are people out there who do it for money, eh?

Being an "old guy" ... what channels have you saved?

I have the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, the classic rock channels, classical ones, show music, soundtracks, new age, weather channel, baltimore local traffic/weather, classic soul, old time radio, and a couple of others.
I've only saved a few channels so far: Classical pops, classic rock, 40's and Watercolors (traditional jazz). I haven't experimented with Tune Select as yet.

As to routing the antenna wire: I brought it in through the top of the driver's side rear door opening, dressed it between plastic door moulding and ceiling upholstery and ran it down to the floor, then under the front of the center seat floormats to the right side of the center console. From there it goes up front to the receiver.

As I said previously, mounting proved to be a bit of a problem because my dash has no hard surfaces. I measured the cubby hole under the radio and found I could cut a piece of 2x4 to fit snugly in it, and sized it to project about 1/4 inch in front of the dash. My plan was to attach the swivel mount to it with screws, but when I did so, the receiver interfered with the front of the radio. I attached a short piece of 1 inch aluminum angle to the bottom of the 2x4, with the front face of the angle down from the 2x4. I then fastened the swivel mount to the angle with machine screws.
Once I had everything installed to my satisfaction, I coiled the excess lengths of each of the wires and tied them with 4 inch cable ties so they would be out of the way.
Best Buy carries a universal mount you could use with your SkyFi. It sells for around $39 as I recall. Also, they and Circuit City both carry a cupholder mount by Belkin called the TuneDok. I've seen it at CC for around $12.