Satellite Radio

Bottom Line said:
Jeff...I currently have a Clarion head unit...XMD1 or 2...I think....it was the stock model in the 2002 models.
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Pretty sure that the XMD series used Ce-Bus to connect to accessory devices instead of the newer Ce-Net. The unit Sea Ray installed in Just Ducky was also Ce-Bus. Therefore, when I decided to install Sirius and did not want an FM-modulator system, because they sound awful, I had to remove and replace the head unit, the CD changer, and the remote. I sold head unit and changer the same weekend, so the total cost wasn't too bad. Another advantage is that the new remote has a display. No more guessing! The new remote required replacing the original uni-directional remote cable with a bi-directional one. Since I had to run the antenna wire anyway, I ran the remote cable and antenna wire at the same time, so it wasn't anymore work. The head unit and changer fit the existing holes, so the swap was pretty simple.


Hotlanta said:
I have XM built into my Acura RL (best sound system in any car OEM today).
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Doesn't Acura use bose speakers? Never heard anyrhing even half-way decent from bose.. except for their marketing bullsh.. um hype. Keeping it boating related... I helped a friend install a set of the top-of-the-line bose speakers on this boat. Got them in and thought they were defective, so he exchanged them. Second set was as bad. Maybe we mixed up the phasing, so we switched the wires on one channel. Still awful. Then we thought the amp's outputs were blown. Got another amp. No joy. Maybe the head unit was blown. Removed the speakers and connected them to another entirely different stereo. Still no joy so we finally confirmed that bose is, at best, crap. Has bose finally learned to make speakers that sound even marginally better than a circa 1970 Kenner Close 'N Play? I'd find that hard to believe with their track record.

Off hand, I would guess that Jag's new XF has the best OEM system on the market. They're getting their speakers from Bowers and Wilkins. I can only wonder what took them so long. Have not driven one yet, so don't know.


Best regards,
Frank C.
 
The XMD-3 and 4 use CE-Net. The one thing that bugs me about the Sirius box is it's inability to support free-changing from one channel to the next. From the remote you can only select pre-sets. Only on the head unit (XMD-4 in my case) can you scroll through the channels one-by-one. You do get 15 presets, 3 sets of 5. I believe the new CMD unit supports more tuning options from the remotes. As for speakers, I'd chose durability over fidelity for the open cockpit area in a boat. Anything "better" is just wasted to open air. But I'd certainly recommend a decently beefy power amp. Not for total volume, but for good quality mid-range volume. Use too low-powered an amp and you have to crank it all the way up, and get horrendous distortion. Better to have an amp that only has to crank up half-way before it's REALLY LOUD. That'll also be less likely to overheat when stashed in one of the few free places inside the cabin.
 
NorCal Boater said:
I tried sattelite radio and found I was still changing stations. Now I just run my iPod through the radio. I have 14 hours of music that is my "greatest hits." I like it much better than sattelite and I don't pay a monthly fee.
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If you like listening to your own music, over and over, then satellite would certainly seem like a waste. But personally I tired of listening to music I already own. Even with over 4k tracks I still find it a little repetitive.

With sat radio I'm probably hearing tracks I already own, but it's at someone else's planning. Never underestimate the value of a DJ (even if it's pre-programmed one like those wretched Jack radio stations). Sat radio also does a pretty good job of exposing new music, along with digging to the 'back of the rack' for somewhat obscure older material.

Is it "worth" the monthly? Eh, I could go without it if budgets demanded. But I'd really like to have a portable unit that could go between the boat, car and home and ALSO remain integrated with their built-in controls. None do this, and I'd venture it's not in the Sat company's best interests anyway. The good thing is I can (and do) suspend the subscription on the boat during the winter months.
 
fc3 said:
Doesn't Acura use bose speakers? Never heard anyrhing even half-way decent from bose.. except for their marketing bullsh.. um.
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Yes, Acura does use Bose. Have you listened to the surround sound in a new Acura? It's outstanding in my opinion. Your assessment seems unduly harsh. Should be good on a boat as well although I have no experience with Bose on a boat.
 
wkearney99 said:
With sat radio I'm probably hearing tracks I already own, but it's at someone else's planning. Never underestimate the value of a DJ (even if it's pre-programmed one like those wretched Jack radio stations).

to that end so does the random setting on the iPod with Playlists....

Sat radio also does a pretty good job of exposing new music, along with digging to the 'back of the rack' for somewhat obscure older material.

Digging deeper into the disk is awsome..... Satelite reminds me of things I own and need to revisit


Is it "worth" the monthly? Eh, I could go without it if budgets demanded. But I'd really like to have a portable unit that could go between the boat, car and home and ALSO remain integrated with their built-in controls. None do this, and I'd venture it's not in the Sat company's best interests anyway. The good thing is I can (and do) suspend the subscription on the boat during the winter months.
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Suspendibility is a good option too, I do it with my Dishnet account for the boat as well... I love my (my wife's) Sirius... good content, good mixes, good access to sports.... NFL and NASCAR of me, good new music, at 41 I still need to find out what's new...... yeah, we're going to the Chevelle/Finger 11 show in cincy next month..(that's another story)
 
wkearney99 said:
If you like listening to your own music, over and over, then satellite would certainly seem like a waste. But personally I tired of listening to music I already own. Even with over 4k tracks I still find it a little repetitive.

With sat radio I'm probably hearing tracks I already own, but it's at someone else's planning. Never underestimate the value of a DJ (even if it's pre-programmed one like those wretched Jack radio stations). Sat radio also does a pretty good job of exposing new music, along with digging to the 'back of the rack' for somewhat obscure older material.

Is it "worth" the monthly? Eh, I could go without it if budgets demanded. But I'd really like to have a portable unit that could go between the boat, car and home and ALSO remain integrated with their built-in controls. None do this, and I'd venture it's not in the Sat company's best interests anyway. The good thing is I can (and do) suspend the subscription on the boat during the winter months.
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I've got over 600 songs on my 'pod and I play them on shuffle. That's lke 20 hours of music. I takes a long time to hear them over. I that's why I put them there....so I could hear them again.
 
sbw1 said:
Yes, Acura does use Bose. Have you listened to the surround sound in a new Acura? It's outstanding in my opinion. Your assessment seems unduly harsh. Should be good on a boat as well although I have no experience with Bose on a boat.
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A few years ago when I was looking for a new car I looked at at Acura TL with the Surroudn sound and have to say it was AMAZING! It's to bad they don't make a decent car all the reviews I read gave it a very poor rating. I ended up with an Infiniti G35 with there so called premium stereo which is bose and it sucks.
 
NorCal Boater said:
I understand your point regarding both. However, at my age (57) the only CDs we buy are either Greatest Hits or soundracks. I travel by air for work about 40 weeks a year and if I didn't have my ipod and noise cancelling earbuds, I would probably get arrested by the air cops. I spent a considerable amount of time getting all the songs I like on the 'pod. I didn't mean to imply that my way was the best. I am only saying what works best for me. Now if I could just find a way to get all of my wife's Parrothead crap off of there....
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lol...I hear ya. Especially the JBuffet. uuugh.

My iTunes at home has over a month and half worth of material, non repeat. THis is also including some audiobooks and some comedy sketches (Eddie Murphy:Delirious for example.) We took all of our cd's, burned them onto the Apple, and gave them all away. We are cd-less.

No one way is the best, and I think your point of the generational gap is a very valid one. I am 38, and I crave to hear new music continually. I will pop on Sirius Alt Nation or other stations just so I can hear the latest music and groups. And no matter how much I think I remember every song out there, I always end up hearing one I havent thought of for years. For example, I havent heard the Cars in a long time. "It's all I can do" came on which is a song I havent thought about. It spurned a day of Cars for me.

As well, yes, I love Howard Stern.
 
sbw1 said:
Yes, Acura does use Bose. Have you listened to the surround sound in a new Acura? It's outstanding in my opinion. Your assessment seems unduly harsh. Should be good on a boat as well although I have no experience with Bose on a boat.
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I don't think it's harsh. I've never heard any good bose speakers. I've heard quite a few and, I think, there's a reason why bose sounds like blows.

Never test drove an Acura. They don't make a V8 and I've never, ever owned a car that didn't have a V8. No V8 disqualifies, just like a bad safety rating from IIHS, DOT, et. al., etc. Might make an exception or a V12, but that's another story. Just to mention boats in this post... my first boat had a four-banger, but I traded it the same year I bought it for... a boat with a V8! Next boat will probably have I6s, but most mediums sized diesels are I6.

Now, back to satellite radio, despite the pending merger of XM and Sirius, you'll still have to choose. Each company selected an entirely different broadcast scheme. Sirius uses satellites that fly in elliptical orbits in an attempt to always have one overhead. XM uses geosynchornos orbits which places the satellites far down on the horizon for those up north. The both used entirely different codecs for audio compression and different system for authentication. So, even in the event of a merger, they'll have to:
  1. abandon one system after moving all of their customers to the other technology,
  2. maintain both systems and offer radios that can receive both services
  3. have customers choose XM or Sirius type of receiver
Only option 1 makes sense. While it will be expensive for the companies to move their customers to new receivers, it probably will be cheaper than to maintain an extra four or five satellites in orbit. Were I to bet, I'd bet on them maintaining the Sirius system. Their system makes a little better use of bandwidth, and their satellites are better. A couple of XMs Boeing built satellites are already failing and will fail totally after operating only half of their design life. Probably cheaper post-merger to switch XM customers over to Sirius that to launch a bunch of new sats. I see there is a box to convert many GM cars from XM to Sirius. Half way there, just need to also trash GM's blows speakers. :grin: And so I come full-circle.

Best regards,
Frank C

Now returning you to your regularly scheduled program...
 
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Per CNN:


XM-Sirius merger approved by DOJ

Justice Department gives thumbs up to satellite radio merger more than one year after it was first announced.
 
We have both sirius (boat and car) and XM (other car). Personally, I like Sirius better.

They are pretty similar when it comes to music, but it's the news and sports where the variance comes into play.

XM does have baseball, which is a big bonus for me, but Sirius has college football and nfl games. I guess it depends if you like sports and if that's a factor for you.

I don't think that you can go wrong with either choice - they both have good music.
 
Saw that, now we wait for the FCC to give the word and then we find out who loses out and who gains.

Sounds like it's time to go ahead put a big renewal in before the prices go up.
 
IF XM is your thing... they FINALLY have what I've been waiting for. It's called the XM Mini-Tuner. It ties into your aftermarket head unit just like normal, but there is a docking station that can be hidden somewhere, this docking station excepts the tuner module. What you end up with is the clean looks of a permanent vehicle integrated XM receiver with the convenience and lower monthly cost of a portable "plug and play" style receiver (like the roady).

You pay for one radio because you take this quarter sized tuner from vehicle to vehicle. It's called the XM Direct 2 mini tuner. They also have table top style radios which accept the tuner module.

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Group/ProductMenu.aspx?g=247350&tp=87&nvpair=FFBrand|XM

Now that this is out... I feel it's the only way to go; no long are you stuck with that ugly seperate radio just so you can move it from vehicle to vehicle.
 
wkearney99 said:
But I'd really like to have a portable unit that could go between the boat, car and home and ALSO remain integrated with their built-in controls. None do this, and I'd venture it's not in the Sat company's best interests anyway. The good thing is I can (and do) suspend the subscription on the boat during the winter months.
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Make sure you read my above posting
 
That's a step in the right direction, but they don't have a module for older Clarion units nor the in-dash OEM equipment in either of our vehicles.
 
Nice thing about Sirius is you can pay for just 6 months which is the length of the boating season up north. Hope they keep that feature. XM is for 12 months no matter that your boat is stored away inside a steel building.
 
I'm curious what this means to the weather aspect of their systems and for companies like wxworx.com

Will it put some of these companies out of business?
 
Details still have to be approved by the FCC.
 
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