Sirius Review

[.RJ]

Well I finally activated the Sirius today and put it in the car for the drive out to my dad's house for christmas dinner (1.5 hr each way). So far, I really like it, I think its well worth the investment.

Pros:

- Lots of selection
- Easy to setup and use
- Easy to "install" in the car
- Good sound quality with the FM tuner thing
- Remote control is fantastic
- I found the music to be pretty damn good, even the 'raw dog' (uncensored) comedy station wasnt bad either
- 80's music
- No commercials!!!!
- 'Starmate' display kicks alot of ass

Cons:

- Lots of selection
- Mess of wires - when I buy a truck, i'll make a more permanent/clean install of the thing
- Very, Very distracting on the road. I want to flip channels all the time - maybe its just my ADD, but it was to the point where I turned it off a few times.
- I had to keep changing the station for the FM tuner thing to get the best sound quality
- I got some annoying whine/background noise from the player, although it could just be my car

[Mike]

i couldn't stand the fm tuner... the noise and station switcing will always be there... i returned my xm after 2 days.

[.RJ]

Well after I get a truck the nice alpine is coming out of the integra and installing it in the truck - its XM/Sirius ready, so I can either plug the starmate player into the auxiliary input of the alpine, or get the alpine sirius tuner and control it with the apline. Either way, I wont have to deal with it.

[bassmangrammy]

have you ever had XM? I love XM...campared to Sirius idk?

[ViPER1313]

have you ever had XM? I love XM...campared to Sirius idk?

How did you run the antenna for yours? My parents just got this and I want to install it in both of their cars. Does it really have to be mounted to the roof or trunk lid?

[bassmangrammy]

mines on the roof, ran under the backseatsm into the trunk, then up around the back glass.

[HAULN-SS]

the kits that use an FM signal blow - might as well be listening to the local radio. FM causes you to lose all the highs and lows, and you lose some sound quality turning a digital signal into an analog again. The best thing to do is to buy an "XM Ready" head so that the sound never has to make that transition

[.RJ]

How did you run the antenna for yours? My parents just got this and I want to install it in both of their cars. Does it really have to be mounted to the roof or trunk lid?

Just put it on the dash - no place to put it on the roof in a convertible anyways

The best thing to do is to buy an "XM Ready" head so that the sound never has to make that transition

Well sure- thats what the Alpine CD player I have is - but the install is going to be more than just plug and play.

[Feersty]

I expect a full DIY when all this is said and done.

[Mike]

uhh you just plug in a bunch of wires...

[.RJ]

Yeah, the DIY is exactly what you see in the pic... stick it on the windsheild, plug in power, plug in antenna and you're done.

[Sijray21]

I expect a full DIY when all this is said and done.

haha

i've had XM for a while. This was cruicial for the cross-country trip i made. I did notice that the reception with the FM tuner with XM anyway was a little difficult since there are soo many stations around here. I did like it when i put it in the civic and teg. I listen to mine at work all day long via the intArw3b. I'm considering putting it back into my car though.

$13/mo ain't bad

[Maengelito]

I expect a full DIY when all this is said and done.

do you like to... do it... yourself? /40 yr old virgin

[Feersty]

Fwiw, I remember it took awhile for Aaron to get his right. I believe he used only his headunit though.

[bassmangrammy]

BOSE and mercedes don't make it easy to change away from BOSE, so FM mod was the only way I could go.

[Feersty]

With the CL but never the less.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I install like 5 of these everyday. Why your getting static on the FM stations when your XM is on is because of the interference caused by the FM tuner. Turn off your Sirius head unit and youll notice your FM and AM stations suddenly become incredibly clear.

Also there should be a diy, many people dont realize to get rid of the wires, you have to hardwire some of the adapters.

[.RJ]

Next time, I was planning on hardwiring the power source to a switched 12v power supply instead of the cig lighter adapter - good/bad idea?

[D_Eclipse9916]

yeah, the siwtched power source would be the cigaratte lighter wires. You take extra wire and hook up one of those wires into a splice of the ground of the cigarette lighter wires behind the actual cigaratte lighter. then you take that ground wire and solder it to the side metal pieces on the cigarette lighter, that way you keep intact the fuse and transformer, you cannot just wire it up directly. Then you take another wire and splice it into the power and solder it to the top metal piece on the cigarrete lighter adapter and then electrical tape it all up....

Actually if youd like I could help you, I live 2 minutes from you, if you want any help or want me to pick up any wiring supplies since I work at circuit city, I can pick you up some..

PS: That goes for anyone needing any help with their electrical in madison motorsports. If your of motorsports, I charge, cuz I literally start to get friends of friends of friends and I dont have unlimited time. But I dont mind getting those guys if they pay, I definitely need extra money...

[Mike]

have you ever wired up an s2k with an aftermarket headunit and retained the dash controls?

i was going to get one of these: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://marketplace.s2ki.com/s2ki/product.php?productid=185&cat=0&page=1">http://marketplace.s2ki.com/s2ki/produc ... t=0&page=1</a><!-- m --> unless you know of something better.

HIJACK!