# XM vs Sirius **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 28, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xm-vs-sirius/333021 "2005-11-28T06:04:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xm-vs-sirius/333021/41 "2005-12-01T16:00:14Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Sirius Canadian channels AS OF RIGHT NOW are not going to be available in the US. I’ve got five of the Canadian channels; Bandapart (French./Quebecois pop/rock), Iceberg (English Canadian rock/singer-songwriter/AAA), Premier Plus (French talk), CBC 1 and CBC 3. I’m missing CBC Premiere Plus, Energie, Rock Velours, RCI, Hardcore Sports and CBC Infoplus, which Canadian subscribers get. Canadians won’t be getting Sirius Disorder (a shame, since it’s one of their best stations), a couple of rock stations, some religious and Spanish stations, and for now, Howard Stern 100 and 101. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xm-vs-sirius/333021/42 "2005-12-01T17:31:07Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > -I don’t get reception AT ALL in my apartment, which is where I planned on doing 80% of my listening. Music channels are broadcast on the Sirius web site. You can use your computer to listen. If you want to listen to a station that isn’t webcast, then you need to consider placement of your antenna - as already discussed, there are tips for that on the web site. At my house, I just put the antenna outside on the window sill and it works very well. > [@Cisco](#): > > -The reception in my car, when I get it, is terrible. The sound quality is significantly worse than AM radio. I’m guessing that you are using FM modulation - it’s the worst way to receive satellite. Try switching the frequency and see if that helps. If it doesn’t you may want to consider returning your equipment and getting something else. You can also buy systems that use a cassette adapter, which will be better, but obviously you must have a cassette player in the car radio to use a system like that. You can also find out if your car radio has an aux jack on it - if it does you can plug in there instead of using FM frequency. That should work well in terms of sound quality. My first Sirius radio was an in-dash system, and the sound quality on it, of course, was great, but you couldn’t bring that one into the house. For more info that you ever wanted to know about reception and installation, visit [Crutchfield’s](http://www.crutchfield.com/S-0epoi1cOPfF/cgi-bin/SuperProdGroup.asp?g=247250&cc=01&wm=tn&cm_re_o=fB5EzM*5yBpFwEAN*l5TjnSInDi) site. Lots and lots of info there, and free online help too if you have a question. > [@Cisco](#): > > -The unit is ugly as hell and has an unintuitive user interface. It also has a minimum of 2 wires I have to string all over my car, which annoys me. If you don’t like the equipment, return it. There are other choices. Also, try having whatever new stuff you pick installed by the place you buy it at. They’ll neatly hide all the wires. I got my stuff at Circuit City - it didn’t cost much at all to have them do the installation ($50, I think) and they did a great job. When I sold my old car, they also took the Sirius radio out and put the old one back in for free. If you really don’t want to spend any extra money, then go to the fan sites mentioned elsewhere in this thread - there are lots of suggestions there for installing the equipment yourself. > [@Cisco](#): > > -Several of the entertainment channels that I was looking forward to (most notably The Discovery Channel) seem to play sports 24 hours a day. Not only does that not even make sense, I hate sports. Some of the stations are given over to sports at certain times, usually weekends. If you go to the website, there are schedules there that tell you when this happens. Just avoid those times and listen to something else. It’s not like you don’t have choices! > [@Cisco](#): > > -They charged me $27 for one month of service. Is there an activation fee or something I wasn’t made aware of? Yes, there is an activation fee, and it’s all over the paperwork you get. It’s a pretty small fee when you consider how much cell phone companies want for essentially doing the same thing. > [@Cisco](#): > > -NONE of their customer service or tech support staff seems to speak English. I’m all for the hiring of immigrants, but at least wait until they have a passing comprehension of our language before putting them in a position that requires it! Hm, I’ve never had this problem when I’ve called - they’ve been great and while I have talked to a couple folks who have accents, we were able to understand each other without much problem. Maybe you just had bad luck. Ask to speak to someone else if there’s a problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xm-vs-sirius/333021.md?page=2)