XM-Ready Pioneer vs. Roady2 (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Blacklow]

About a year back, I got a Pioneer DEH-P2500 (an XM-Ready CD head unit) for my Honda, fully intending to sign up with XM as soon as I had the spare cash. Well, it kinda slipped my mind--how, I don't know--and when I remembered, it was usually when I didn't have cash to spare. Well, now I do have the cash to spare, and after setting up my dad's Father's day present, a Roady2, I'm jonesin' for XM. This is where my dilemma occurs.

I have the XM-Ready Pioneer head unit in my car, but not a tuner/antenna/splitter combo. I can find combo deals with all three for ~$175 online, but only with the 8-character single-line tuners. eBay has some 16-character single-line tuners, but they're all $125 or more, and antennas and splitters are separate. Then there's the Roady2, which comes with everything except I'd have to use FM modulation instead of a direct connection, which is reduced fidelity.

So here are my choices:
1) 16-character single-line display tuner. Direct connection, but antenna/splitter extra--$200+
2) 8-character single-line display tuner. Direct connection, antenna/splitter included--$175.
3) XM Roady2 w/2-line display and unlimited(?) characters, everything included, but only FM modulation available--$125.

So, any opinion on which is the better these choices? Money is somewhat of an issue, but if there's a real difference in sound quality, I'd pay the premium. If the whole # of lines and character things is a real danger, that could also sway my vote as well.

 

[Shawn C]

You know, Alpine makes an all-in-one unit now. The CDA-9820XM has all of the XM hardware built into it, except for the antenna of course. I just had one installed. It works fantastic and I love the fact that it's all-in-one.

I've had the Delphi unit and currently have to Roady in another vehicle which I installed myself. It's nice having everything in on convenient package.

This might not be for you since you already have a newer headunit, but maybe you want to upgrade that, too? It's around $320.00 or so.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Thanks, Shawn. It sounds like it would be the best option, but I forgot to mention another aspect of my decision-making. I'll most likely be selling my car in the next two months, and my folks will buy the Pioneer from me (it's going from a 94 Civic to 95 Accord, so there should be minimal problems). It sounds like a perfect idea for the new car, though. Any word on a follow-up model, or is this one good for a while?

 

[Shawn C]

The Alpine just came out pretty recently. It won an award at the 2004 CES for "Excellence in Design and Engineering".

It's not a real fancy radio. It's just a basic Alpine headunit / CD player with the XM added in. It still sounds good and has decent power on it's own. It doesn't have a bunch of fancy displays or anything like that. Just the basics and it works.

 

[STLMIKE]

I have this head unit. It was actually cheaper than buying just an XM ready head unit and the separate receiver -- and it was one less thing to install.

Love it!