- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,753
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
You may have seen me talk about XM radio in
a thread I posted a few months ago in this forum
area. Many of you were subjected to my raves
about this fairly new satellite offering, and now
for a second time, I am going to talk a little more
about my new favorite toy.
First of all, I need to make something clear. I
am not being paid by XM RADIO to write this review.
I don't own stock in the company. XM RADIO doesn't
even have a clue as to who I am. The reason I chose
to write this review is solely based on my love and
confidence in this product.
To tell you how much XM RADIO has changed my life,
I need to start from the very beginning....
SATELLITE RADIO - THE NEXT BUZZ?
Imagine a radio station that can broadcast its
signal from more than 22,000 miles away and then
come through on your car or home radio with
complete clarity.
A few years ago I had heard about two companies
that were about to introduce a revolutionary new
audio product for the automobile. The competing
companies, XM Radio and Sirius Radio
were betting that consumers would gladly pay a
monthly fee for a hundred channels of digital-quality
audio delivered to their car. For me, the coming
of satellite radio was one that I welcomed with
open arms -- especially for the fact that I love
listening to music in my car and home.
Last year's Christmas present to myself turned out
to be the purchase of an XM RADIO unit for my
car. Unfortunately, I did very little research before
I went out to Circuit City and paid $200 for a
Pioneer FM modulated unit. Once installed, I found
myself extremely happy with the selection of music,
but not very happy with the fact that I was listening
to FM-quality radio.
After doing research on various XM Radio forums,
I discovered that the only way to get digital-quality
music was to buy an entirely new head unit for the
car and have the system hardwired. This proved to
be a rather expensive purchase, as I spent $380 on
an Alpine 7894 head unit (I wanted MP3 playback
capability), and had XM hardwired in my car. In
addition, I had an old subwoofer boombox placed in
my car with a brand new power amp. By the time I was
done I spent a little over $1,000.
The end result was pure audio nirvana! I have
spent the last two months totally engrossed in
XM Radio. From the moment I get in my car to the
moment I arrive at work, the radio is blasting
digital music that sounds so incredibly close to
CD quality that most people will not be able to
tell the difference. Since installing XM Radio,
I have not played a single CD in my car nor turned
on an FM radio station.
I'm not quite done with my story yet, but I need
to break here to tell you about how I turned my
brother onto XM Radio....
My Brother gets XM Radio
While my brother was up for the holidays, I started
bragging about my new XM Radio system. Since he
loves music just as much as I do, he was curious to
see what it was all about. We sat in my car one
morning and rolled around the dial, sampling
different types of music from rock to classical to
jazz. My brother was so impressed with the sound
quality and selection of music that we ended up in
Circuit City later that afternoon to buy him a unit.
My brother opted for the Delphi SkyFi unit. This
portable unit with its huge display and ease of
installation was the perfect thing for his Honda.
He didn't want to spend the money for hardwired
installation, and the fact that the SkyFi unit
plugged into his cassette adapter made it the
perfect choice at a great price of under $200.
I was a little skeptical about how well the SkyFi
unit would perform through a cassette adapter, but
when I heard the crystal-clear audio playing through
his speakers and saw the smile that lit up on his
face, I knew that my brother was satisfied.
XM Radio in my home
This past week, while browsing through the XM Radio
website, I saw an offer where XM Radio was allowing
you to add a second player to your home or car with
no activation fee and 3 months of free service. I
thought it would be a great idea to buy a Delphi
SkyFi unit for my home, since I spend my day
sitting at my computer listening to music anyway.
I went out and spent $200 on the SkyFi tuner and
home adapter kit. It took me a mere 10 minutes
to set it all up, and soon after activating with
the folks at XM Radio, I was having digital audio
pumped through the boombox that sits above my desk.
The audio quality is outstanding. Through this
boombox there is no distinguishable difference
between CD and XM Radio. It would be very difficult
for anyone to be able to tell the difference if
both were played side-by-side.
Now, my entire day is XM Radio enriched. The music
starts at 4am when I sit at my desk and turn on my
computer. It continues at 6am when I get in my car
and drive to work. It continues at 3:30pm when I
drive home. Finally, I rock myself into the evening
playing my XM Radio while I sit at my desk managing
this forum or writing a review.
Why XM Radio?
I have heard the argument that any radio broadcast
that you have to pay for isn't worth the price. I
dare anyone that is a current satellite radio owner
to make that claim.
Let's face it -- broadcast radio stinks. Over the
past decade, corporate owned radio stations have
become tiresome to the ears. The stations are more
interested in commercials and shorter play lists than
catering to the musical needs of its audience.
What satellite radio offers is 100 channels of
programming catered to every variety of taste. No
matter what your personal taste is, there is a
station dedicated to it. My favorite station is
The 70s decade channel. Here is a station
that plays all the music I grew up with. What's
great about this station is that the cuts go so
deep that you'll find yourself hearing music that
you probably haven't heard in decades. The channel
has lots of personality playing movie and news sound
bytes from the era as well as Class Reunion
countdowns. If I have problems remembering the
name of a song or its artist, the large display
on my SkyFi unit spells it all out.
Whatever era best describes you can be found here --
there's channels dedicated to the 40s, 50s, 60s,
70s, 80s and 90s. There's Classic Rock, Progressive
Rock, New Age Rock, Deep Cuts, Folk Music, Country
Music (Old and New), Love songs, classical music,
soul music, disco, Broadway music and so much more!
Those of you who love film as much as I do will
savor the Cinemagic channel which plays the
best movie music of all-time 24 hours a day. There
are even channels dedicated to old time radio
programs, CNN & Fox news, weather, Bloomberg Financial
and even a comedy channel that plays uncensored
stand-up.
Though many of the channels are commercial-free,
those channels that do have paid advertising only
play such advertisements at a rate of 2 minutes per
hour. Trust me when I tell you that you'll rarely
even notice the commercial breaks that occur here.
The cost of XM RADIO is a mere $10 per month.
Unfortunately, should you buy an additional unit
for the home as I did, you will have to pay an
extra $10 on top of that. The most economical
way to have XM RADIO for both car and home is with
the portable Delphi SKYFi unit. Unfortunately,
those with very good ears may not enjoy XM-RADIO
in their car unless it is hardwired. In that case,
the Delphi SkyFi unit may not be the best choice
for the car, but a great choice for the home.
I hope that through this review that I may be
able to persuade many of you to think about
satellite radio and some of the benefits it offers.
I would bet that every single one of you who owns
a Home Theater is just as much a fan of quality
music as I am. If this is the case, satellite
radio may have a sweet spot in your future.
