Tell me about XM Sirius radio

In My Humble Opinion
1

I rented a vehicle last week that had it, and I really liked it. I was driving out into and through the boonies, and it was great to have NPR the whole way.

I went to the Sirius site and found it not at all clear, which is why I’m asking here at the Fount of All (Worthwhile) Knowledge.

I gather you buy the radio and they stick it in your car, PLUS you pay a monthly subscription fee? Is it like cable TV where you pay different monthly amounts depending on the extent of the package? And you can also buy a radio that sits in your house? Does reception vary A LOT in quality, like cell phone reception? Please give me an idea of the costs… the website was particularly not helpful on that score.

2

We’ve had Sirius in my wife’s car for 5 years, and in my car for the past 2.

This is correct. If you sign up for a longer period (I’m on an annual subscription), it’s slightly cheaper on a per-month basis.

Exactly. There’s a package where you get everything, and other packages (sports, music, etc.). I have the “everything” package, so I’m not sure how cost-effective the other packages are. I have a bundled package that covers the radios in both cars.

They also have an add-on package that lets you listen online (computer, tablet, smartphone).

They do, though I don’t have one. I looked at it at one point, but they seemed expensive to me.

It’s digital, so it’s pretty much all-or-nothing. You either have a signal, or you don’t. Anything that blocks your view of the sky (primarily tall buildings and parking garages) can interfere with the signal, though a small amount of mass (such as sitting in my garage with the garage door closed) doesn’t seem to be enough to block the signal.

In big cities, they have a “repeater” system of over-the-air transmitters. I live in suburban Chicago; when I’m driving downtown, I’ve never had an issue with the signal dropping, due to the repeaters (even when in a parking garage, on Lower Wacker Drive, etc.). However, if I’m far enough away from downtown, I’ll lose the signal if I’m in a parking ramp. Other than that, I’ve never really had a problem with not getting a signal.

I don’t have my statement in front of me, but it looks like their “Premiere” plan is about $18 a month, if you pay monthly. The “Mostly Music” plan is $10 a month.

This page might help suss out the pricing (but, I agree, it’s confusingly laid out):

3

You need to have the physical radio and a subscription. You can have multiple radios on the same account - for example I used to have one in my car and one in my house.

There are multiple levels of service. First you have to choose between XM and Sirius which have slightly different lineups, and you can also purchase packages of some of the channels that are native to the other network (unless this has changed). I pay a yearly subscription of around $180 I think. Note that normally you get a free trial period when you purchase the radio.

The service is digital, so there is not much variation in quality - either you get a signal or you don’t. I’ve very rarely had problems with a signal unless there is a massive obstruction between me and the satellite, like a mountain. Sometimes I lose the signal briefly when driving through a dense forest close to the road. I don’t know what the reception is like in a city with a lot of tall buildings - I’ve never noticed a problem driving in downtown Nashville though. It might depend on your latitude and how high or low the satellite is in the sky.

I can’t stand driving without it now, though. It’s great.

4

I forgot, when I had the radio in my home, it can be difficult to get a good signal. Ideally you want to be able to place the long, wire antennae near a south-facing window.

5

Some cars come with the tuner/antenna built in, but yes, you can buy a satellite radio to put into your car. Yes, you pay a subscription fee and there are a few different pay levels. I pay mine annually and I’m not sure if you can be billed month to month like cable. I believe there are some radios that you can move between your car and a tabletop system for your house. I think you can also listen online for an added fee. I don’t think anyone pays full price. Go to a site like fatwallet and search for XM. You’ll find a thread detailing the current deals and prices people are getting. You should be able to get a basic package for <$10/month. I think I reupped this year for something like $85/year.

As far as reception goes, in my experience you either get it or you don’t. In the car if you go through a tunnel or are driving between highrise buildings your reception will drop. I have a friend who has a tabletop speaker and radio and the only place she gets reception on on her balcony because her apartment doesn’t have any south facing windows. She’s brought it to my house and it works great because we have lots of southern exposure.

6

It’s awesome and I couldn’t live without it.

7

I have the basic XM Snap-in Radio that works pretty well on my road trips. I didn’t bother snaking the antenna wire through to the outside, I just stuck the antenna up on my dashboard and the reception is good enough. I do have problems with reception driving in areas like forests and mountains where the line of sight to the satellite is impaired.

I think you get a limited-channel (two week?) free subscription when you purchase a unit.

8

If you are going to use it in both your car and your house, then what you would probably do is to buy the portable receiver, a “home kit” (which you plug your radio into at home, and then connect to a stereo system), and a “car kit” (which is pretty much the same thing, although I am not entirely sure how that hooks up to your car). If you buy a radio for your home and a different one for your car, you will require two subscriptions, although they do offer a multi-radio discount.

9

What I really like when traveling, or even on the ride to work and back a rather boring 1/2 hour each way…is the old radio program station. (82 I think)

Jack Benny is timelessly and hilariously funny. Charlie MacCarthy, Red Skelton (much better on radio than he ever was on TV), all can be very funny. Bob Hope can be very dated. X Minus One, Suspense, The Whistler, Lights out, Dragnet, Escape, the creaking door one (can’t remember the title) all very entertaining and can scare the crap out of you.

A couple, or three, very famous radio plays are…Zero hour, Mars is Heaven, Sorry Wrong Number with Agnes Morehead. There are many many more examples of classic radio drama at its best.

10

I’ve had one for years, but I couldn’t tell you the cost, because years ago I bought a “lifetime” subscription, and I haven’t paid a thing for it since. They don’t sell the lifetime plans any more, but mine’s grandfathered in.

So, I’m not entirely sure how it works today, but I think they still pretty much have the same thing going that they always had: a base price gets you access to the bulk of their programming. There are a couple of a la carte add-ons that you can opt for and pay extra for; that’d be stuff like MLB, NFL, and so on. Looking at the site, it appears that you can customize what you want to a much greater extent these days. You can pay month to month if you like, but you tend to save if you pay in advance, six months or a year or whatever. You’ll then get a renewal notice when your time’s almost up.

They used to include internet streaming with the subscription, and some subscriptions still do (once again, mine’s grandfathered). You can also add it on for another fee. Because my streaming plan is “basic”, I can’t listen via the Android app, but I can listen on a computer. So, you gotta pay for what you want.

If you want your rig to look nice, you’ll need a professional install and get an in-dash solution. Mine is just a little Sportster 5, and since no one ever rides in my car but me, I’m fine with my rather ugly setup: receiver on the seat, plugged into the cigarette lighter, with an antenna cable running into my back seat and a 3.5mm male/male audio cable running from the receiver to my radio. But hey, it works, and if I want to move it to another car, I can do that.

Reception-wise, it’s a lot like digital television these days: either the signal gets there or it doesn’t. There’s no fading out with static or anything as the signal gets less and less distinct. Basically, anywhere you have a clear view of the sky, you should have 100% signal and no drop-outs. My brother used to love his, because he lived in the mountains of western Colorado, and he’d get a crystal-clear signal even in the deep valleys that regular radio couldn’t penetrate. The flip side of that, however, is that if you don’t have a clear view of the sky, you’ll have no signal. So, when you go into a parking garage or through a tunnel or something, there will be no radio at all.

Since I commute about an hour every morning and evening, the satellite radio is a cup of awesome. Same channel, all the way to work, no static or fade-out. Rock.

Edit:

Inner Sanctum!

11

Right …Inner Sanctum. Brain fart there.

12

Question about the old lifetime plan.

I almost bought one many many years ago and it would have saved a lot of money over the years. What stopped me was something to do with “lifetime of the equipment” clause. Well I knew nothing lasts forever… (In fact my first Sirius did tank after 4 years.) So I didn’t go for the lifetime thing.

Guess I was wrong in misinterpreting. Wish I’d bought that now.

13

You don’t have to pay full price for the subscriptions if you are a little ballsy. It costs them nothing extra to stream to an individual customers so you can call, ask to cancel, and they will give you a reduced rate. I always refuse the first offer they make and then they offer me the $20 for 5 months deal or $4 a month. I believe they can go down to something like $2 a month but the deal I take seems fair enough for me (the normal rate is about $15 a month IIRC).

The customer service people are completely open with the fact that you can do this and they tell me to call back every five months and say the same thing to get the reduced rate. It is never a hassle and only takes a few minutes.

14

Thanks ever so for these Sirius-ly* informative replies!

*Channeling Phil Dunphy.

15

I love satellite digital radio. I was an early adapter of XM. Siriius and XM were delivering similar services before they merged but there were differences in the technology. XM receivers can’t accept the Sirius transmission and vice versa. I’m not sure if they are currently selling receivers that will accept both.

I have a car that came from the factory with an XM receiver and I have a car that has a Sirius receiver. I am a customer of both. In my estimation I prefer XM.

To get it in your car without a factory installed receiver is not just a matter of buying and slapping in a receiver. There has to be an external antenna and the receiver has to be wired into the sound system of the car. You can do it yourself if you know what you are doing but otherwise it is better to hire a professional.

SiriusXM sells receivers that can be removed from the car and used in a boom box or wired into the home audio system. The subscription is linked to the receiver, not the location. No extra cost if you are willing to move the receiver around.

Reception is generally very good. In major cities there are repeaters that deliver the signal in dead spots. In some rural areas if you are next to a steep hill or thick trees you might lose reception temporarily.

Still, in my estimation, it is a bargain if I compare it to cable TV. I spend a lot more hours listening to satellite radio than watching television. On long motor trips it is great to not have station drop out due to distance. And yes, I really like NPR of which there are two stations. (With Sirius, the second NPR station is a premium channel, hence my preference for XM.)

It ain’t perfect but it is worth it to me. Good luck!

16

This is what I came to say. After having the subscription, it’s one of the few luxuries I’d work an extra job to keep. Commercial free (relatively) and a zillion choices of formats. I have a Samsung in-house receiver that records my choice of channels during the night, and then I carry it to work as my source of music (no reception in my building). It’s like an mp3 player, and I can skip the songs I don’t like. I also have a receiver in my truck for long trips.

Interesting sidenote (you did say “Tell me about XM Sirius”): The Sirius satellites also carry the real-time weather data for aircraft. If equipped for it, planes can receive a compilation of weather all over the world, which is overlaid on their GPS map displays. As part of the subscription, all the other channels are included too. I flew a Cessna (literally) across the country last weekend and had all the XM radio channels to enjoy. I climbed up to altitude, flipped on the oxygen and autopilot, and sat back to enjoy good music for the next 6 hours. The onboard system is set up so that it will fade the music out when ATC transmits… then fade it back in when it’s quiet again. (Sorry for the slight hijack, but I think this part of it is really cool. :slight_smile: )

17

I have had it for the past 4 years and I love it. The Internet radio add-in works with my iPad, iPhone, and 3 Squeezebox Radios in the house.

One point about the Internet radio: they know if you are listening on two devices and they stop streaming to one of them. If I am listening to something at work and my wife turns on the Squeezebox to listen to something else, my stream will stop with a “you are no longer authorized blah blah blah” message. Not a terrible thing, but I was curious about what would happen when I first got the service.

Their pricing model is annoying, pretty much like cable TV and cell phone contracts—they try to woo new customers while leaving loyal existing customers to pay higher prices.

I have found that when your contract is about to run out you have to call up their customer retention department and calmly explain that you are going to jump ship (“I’m not using it as much as I used to, and Pandora does everything I need”) and then they offer you better terms than you would get otherwise.

18

I received the home unit and a two year subscription as a gift. A short time later I bought a new car that came with a 1 year paid subscription. When the year was up and I tried to cancel one or the other, at the time Sirius and XM were merging, I had a hell of a time getting things resolved.

I eventually cancelled everything. A year later I started getting bills in the mail and that was messy.

19

This is really helpful. I figured people would like it, but I’m surprised at the number who can’t live without it.

20

After having XM, commercial-laden radio drives me crazy.