here's my $.02... I have both Sirius and XM. The XM is factory installed in my wife's Accord.

Since it is built in to the stock radio, there is no need for an FM modulator and the associated background noise. A BIG PLUS in my book, I hate background noise!

In my 04 FX4, I have installed an Audiovox SIRPNP3 installed. While I dont like the need for the FM modulator to connect it to the Audiophile system, I will deal with it for the great music selection on Sirius.

When we first got the Accord, I thought XM was great. It has good "hits" stations, and the "decades" channels are nifty. However, I cannot find a good new rock/alternative rock station that fits my taste. Maybe those of you with other tastes dont have this problem, but I just cant find an XM station that I really like.

On the other hand, with Sirius, there are at least (4) channels that I REALLY LIKE. Octane, Alt Nation, Faction, Buzzsaw, and Hair Nation are my favorites.

So, in my opinion, Sirius is the better bet... however what content you are looking for makes a big difference.

 

i'll second that!

 

I have XM and love it, only a few times have I lost signal and those times have been during bad weather. XM is geared more toward the older listener, while SIRIUS is geared toward the younger. Yes SIRIUS has 90% of all the major pro sports, but I would rather watch my Lions lose on TV and the only other sport I really care about is Hockey and once again I would rather watch my Red Wings play ( that is if they ever will play hockey again).


It really comes down to what type of music you like and the brand of HU you like.

Sound and Vision magazine took both Sirius and XM for a test drive and rated XM as having superior sound quality. But don't get too hung up on that because they both sounds awesome, way better than what you're used to listening to on the AM and FM bands.

 

I've had both as well, and here's why I chose XM:

1) XM has better looking and more functional hardware. I think the Sirius radios look like they were designed in the 70's. XM seems to blaze the technology trail, and Sirius seems to follow soon after.

2) XM has deeper playlists. Sirius seemed to repeat a lot of songs, and that's one of the things I wanted to get away from (FM radio).

3) Sirius spends big bucks to attract big ticket programming (NFL, Stern, NASCAR), but they just recently surpassed one million listeners, compared to three million for XM. I like aggressive companies, but they're spending money they don't have, and won't have for a good while. XM seems to be more practical about the programming additions, and have steadily grown their subscriber base to three times that of Sirius, without breaking the bank. Yes, Sirius has the NFL, where you can listen to games just under 20 weekends a year, but XM has Major League Baseball where you can listen to games just about every day from March through October. XM also has Opie and Anthony, who I listen to exclusively now after being a lifetime Stern fan.

 

Sirius has 1.5 million listeners.

 

As of January 24, 2005, Sirius had 1.24 million subscribers.

As of December 31, 2004, XM had 3.2 million.

Still a 3 to 1 ratio.

 

As of April 2, 2005 Xm will be $12.95 a month, just like Sirius. First XM followed Sirius and went commercial free, now this.

 

If you pay a 1 year subscription for Sirius, It is $8.95 a month. Each additional subscription is 6.95 per month.

I have Sirius on my Kenwood Excelon, and it is awsome. There are a lot of great channels including all the sports.

Just be warned, Sat radio is NOT "CD quality". It is better than FM, but still has some "artifacts" due to the compression of the signal.

I loved the fact that I never lost a signal en-route to my Deer lease that is an 8 hour drive, and my camp is in the middle of a bunch of rock cliffs and arroyos out in the middle of nowhere.

 

I completely agree. I've also got a Kenwood Excelon head, integrates very cleanly.

But no, it's nowhere near CD quality. Neither is XM. Both sound more like a 128kbps-encoded MP3. The better your sound system, the more apparent it is that it's just not quite as clean as a CD.

 

I've always heard satellite radio described as "near CD" quality. Personally, I don't disagree with that.

I'm paying $11.94 per month, with Opie and Anthony, so another buck is still a steal. I will investigate long term options since current subscribers can lock in the current rate.

 

Beginning April 2, 2005, we will expand the basic service package to include two premium services at no additional charge — the High Voltage channel (previously $1.99/month) and XM Radio Online (previously $3.99/month). The monthly subscription price for our new expanded basic service will increase to $12.95 beginning April 2, 2005. The price change will not affect XM's Family Plan, which allows you to add up to four additional subscriptions for $6.99/month per radio.

Now why couldn't they included the Playboy channel? although, just being able to listen to the Playboy channel seems kinda pointless

 

I just bought XM a couple weeks ago. I have some things I love, and a few complaints.


I love my main channel, Ethel. For me, it's a perfect mix of "alternative rock." The best thing about it is the variety -- they play lots of different tracks by lots of artists. To me, it's the best radio programming of all time, and I love it 95% of the time.

This, however, is also the downfall. Because XM has such deep playlists, you can't flip over to a channel of a different genre and hope to hear your favorite songs. You can't flip over to a station and immediately hear Hendrix, The Who, The Beatles, etc. There is no classic rock station where you will just hear the hits. They are all very varied in their playlists.

I would suggest going to here: http://www.xmmonitor.com/played/search

and put in a few of your favorite bands. You will be able to see what they play of your favorite bands. If they play several of your favorites on one channel, then you're in luck. If not, you might want to try Sirius.


Here's a good example:
My favorite band is Smashing Pumpkins. Love them. XM 47, Ethel, plays lots of Pumpkins. They also play Radiohead, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc. In addition, they play lots of new music that suits my tastes, such as The Arcade Fire, etc.


If you can find a channel you agree with on XM go that route. If not, don't think that you will eventually find one you like. Their playlists are deep to a fault.

 

It's for those 3 people who read Playboy for the articles...

 

WHOA!!! they have articles in Playboy????? Damn! when did that **** start happening?!