Negate for a second the fact that the xB is "XM Ready", I don't have the money for it, my ears may bleed from not having completely digital signals wired to my car (i'll live with it)................. but what do you think is a better choice, XM or Sirius?

Do they both cost the same per month? I recall XM being like 3 bucks more but I read that they lowered the price... but is that permanent?

Are there NO commercials on Sirius, but SOME on XM?

Channel for channel, which has better content?

 

i'm not sure ...but if my knowledge proves me right... i thought XM radio was only $10 a month.

 

Yes you are correct, I found out that XM is cheaper than Sirius, although personally, I guess cost is not an issue. $3 dollars more a month is pocket change, and you can get sirius for an entire year at the cost of 10 bucks if you prepay.

Hmm... I've been doing a lot of research and weighing the options is tough. I plan to get for the moment just one with an FM modulator built in, which both services offer. For about $150 each company offers a package set with everything included, although the one for XM says "everything is included, no need for a car kit" but the Sirius ones state "the car kit is included", so I'm concerned about whatever clutter the Sirius is going to include, although all I ever thought there was was the unit and the little antenna, as long as an FM modulator is included IN the reciever, there must be no need for a large tuner box sitting around in your car.

Other issues include company stability (with a third of the users, will Sirius have to downsize it's channel selection, add commercials or increase price even more in the future)?

Which company has better units (Sirius has 2 nice units, one from audiovox and the other from jvc, while XM has what I think is a superior unit from Delphi that just came out and is considered "state of the art" because of future connectivity)?

The Kenwood Excelon that I plan to buy in the future has a partnership with Sirius.

Most importantly is content. Although practically all the CDs in my car are punk-rock in nature, I would use the satellite to keep up with hip-hop (Sirius offers 9, XM only 4-5)/dance (Sirius offers 5, XM offers 4)/pop (Sirius offers 5, XM offers 9). So there is no clear cut winner here either. I love remixes of any sort, anyone know if either company offers something of this sort?

I also read that Sirius (at least the new units) allow you to click when you hear a certain song, and then quickly find when and where it will be playing again, and you can save 20 such songs). Does XM offer this as well?

 

xm is much better, i have had both

xm has less rap stations true but the quality is far superior!

it is cheaper and there are no commercials on music stations

and xm has teamed up with Alpine which i prefer over kenwood

 

Personally I have Sirius, and love it. I have a Panasonic aftermarket headunit with the add on tuner. Basically this is the same way your Kenwood would work when you get it. I also have the same configuration in my wife's vehicle.

We originally chose Sirius because we already had an investment in the Panasonic headunits. As a result I do not have any experience with XM. All I can do is tell tou about my experiences so far.

Before you do anything else I would recommend reviewing this web site.

Click Here ===> http://www.xmorsirius.com

That site should help answer some questions for you.

In my experience with Sirius they typically re-tune their streams about ever 6 months, so they are always tweaking the service to try to make it better. They also have a VERY nice community message forum and support site at http://www.siriusbackstage.com. They also offer FREE internet streaming of their content from their web site if you are a subscriber.

 

Yes, you can have digital direct connect without buying the factory option, and its not as pricey as you may think...Look Here https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19455

 

GO Xm. Lower rate, same radio/ basically. I work with both of them and I just got xm for my dad and he loves it. Still commercial free, so hit or miss you get the same radio either way. If you listen to sports however, you may want to go sirius because they offer more radio play by play coverage.


Hope that answers your q's.

 

yeah, xm is cheaper...better sound quality as well...ive had xm for a while now...fm modulated and it works great..sirius seems to have a tinny sound quality to it and cuts out lots more than xm does...demo'd both units and decided on xm..
the deciding factor would be programing...sirius has NPR which xm doesnt...and xm has regional traffic reports which comes in handy if you drive alot during peak times.
for my needs i chose xm. also, you dont have to go with the factory tuner, you can get a roady2. for a little over 129 bucks.

 

yeah, xm is cheaper...better sound quality as well...ive had xm for a while now...fm modulated and it works great..sirius seems to have a tinny sound quality to it and cuts out lots more than xm does...demo'd both units and decided on xm..
the deciding factor would be programing...sirius has NPR which xm doesnt...and xm has regional traffic reports which comes in handy if you drive alot during peak times.
for my needs i chose xm. also, you dont have to go with the factory tuner, you can get a roady2. for a little over 129 bucks.

 

yeah, xm is cheaper...better sound quality as well...ive had xm for a while now...fm modulated and it works great..sirius seems to have a tinny sound quality to it and cuts out lots more than xm does...demo'd both units and decided on xm..
the deciding factor would be programing...sirius has NPR which xm doesnt...and xm has regional traffic reports which comes in handy if you drive alot during peak times.
for my needs i chose xm. also, you dont have to go with the factory tuner, you can get a roady2. for a little over 129 bucks.

 

I have both xm and sirius, each in a different vehicle. Sirius is my favorite hands down. It costs a little more than XM but well worth it. Sirius is updated more often and is constantly adding more content, from NFL, NHL, NBA, traffic, weather, etc. Sirius also has a lot more modern/pop stations, especially rap and dance. As far as sound quality, in my area (TX), I don't hear any difference between the two. I'm sure this is location specific so what works well in one area, may not in another. I use the portable plug and play Audiovox unit and it rocks. Works great in the Box and works well in my house and office. Hope this info helps.

--Ronnie
www.audioformz.com

 

Personally I prefer Sirius over XM because Sirius is always adding more channels and has less commercials, The best way to pay for it is what I did, $399.00 for life.

 

I sell both XM and Sirius and seriously they are so close in sound quality it is near the same. Though XM does have ground stations and smaller antennas. But, and this is true, sirius will be adding a few new innovations the beggining of 2005... all I can say.

p.s a lifetime from sirius is $499.99 now.

 

I sell both XM and Sirius and to be honest IMO sound quality on both on FM Modulated units are the pretty similar. I went with Sirius because of Programming (more Rap/RnB and Dance ch.), Commercial-Free(before XM went Com-Free also) and the form factor of the Sirius Units (Kenwood Plug n Play). Also you can pay $120 upfront for a yr which ends up being $9.99 a month. So what my suggestion is go to a retail store like Circuit City or Best Buy check both Sirius or XM out. Check for Form Factor (where you want to mount it), Programming (which channels you like), and Cost (around $250 installed give or take ofcourse).

Here's where I placed mine...


Fits just right!

FYI Alpine next year will be jumping ship to Sirius...so for those who have this yrs alpine decks and monitors the tuner box will be compatible. Also a food for thought, XM has 2 Satellites covering the US and a lot of repeaters, that's why you get less interuptions...sound quality degrading(maybe :?: ) while Sirius has 3 Satellites and hardly any repeaters. Also Sirius was the company who 1st started the concept of Satellite Radio they just needed another competitor so that it won't be a monopoly *cough*microsoft*cough* thus XM was made.

Hope this helps,

 

I will be getting satellite radio in the near future, and when I do, I will be getting Sirius. Why? Clear Channel owns XM, and I'd rather not support them.

 

I have XM in my car. So far I am pretty happy. But ultimately the decision rests with your preference.

 

Alright this is i guess a bit of a touchy subject for me. But I sell both and both have there strong points, but Sirius is the only answer for any one who is "sirius" about music the programing is so much better. One, less talking aka station identification, believe me every saturday i work 13 hours straight listening to both. Two, Sirius has all NHL, NFL, and NBA games. If you ever have a problem Sirius is alot more customer oriented. Oh yeah if you like Howard Stern, as luxNova said, xm owns clear channel and if you think hes going to go to a company that screwed him your nuts. And for all those who say xm sounds better, thats just the hook up. If you get an intergrated system like an alpine radio with an alpine tuner box, which is around 80 bucks with antenna, Sirius has a better sound quality its hard to get the info but if you can find it look at the numbers. but thats me you should always do resarch and go to a store that sells them and listen to the both

sorry about the long winded speech but as i said its sort of a touhy subject because every one thinks that just because xm has like 2 million customers and Sirius has less than a million they are better. Plus Sirius will have a mobile satilite video that uses the sat. radio antenna.

 

boombox....sshhhh! thats a secret....hahahaha! like alpine going to sirius!!

 

Damn, then I'll have to get a new reciever to display the video, and how much more per month are they going to charge me??? Hmm... maybe I'll just cancel my regular cable and live in my box.

 

oops! i guess i shouldn't have said anything oh well. Any way the additional reciever for the mobile video is supposed to be below 100 buck as far as programing cost i don't know but i expect it to be pretty cheap.

Now the downer........(building suspence).....limited channels. In the begining i think its only going to be three channels live music video channels. but hey it's bound to expand just like their regular channels.