Any expierance --Head unit w/XM capablities

[gunstar34]

I have a Pioneer Head unit on its way that is capable for XM radio, is there anything else i have to do besides buy an antenna and subscribe, will any instalation shop have these antennas?

[dsel]

if it's "XM ready," which it probably is, you'll still need a tuner. As far as I know, there's only one xm built in receiver aftermarket, the alpine 9820. the antennas are really small now, so don't get one of those huge ones to advertise. See what the connection is...they're not all the same. Some have a green and yellow connection while the smaller ones have a single connection. Crutchfield has a lot of them. Probably not the greatest price, but they're all around $20. or at least call crutchfield, cause they can tell you what you need then you can go buy it elsewhere for less if you can find it for less.

[jimmy04wrx]

get the terk xm universal tuner (xmdirect). it has the antenna and tuner for $50. then you'll need the pioneer xmdirect adapter which is another $50.

[Underscore002]

get the terk xm universal tuner (xmdirect). it has the antenna and tuner for $50. then you'll need the pioneer xmdirect adapter which is another $50.

Exactly what I did yesterday, the TERK receiver comes with an antenna also, took me 30 minutes to install while sitting in my drivers seat (stupid rain...). So far im not impressed with the sound quality, it sounds like its being stremed off the net at lower quality than a CD, anyone else notice this?

[jimmy04wrx]

sound quality is slightly lower than a cd, however it's better than the radio. no matter what unit you choose, you will get that in between sound quality.

[Underscore002]

sound quality is slightly lower than a cd, however it's better than the radio. no matter what unit you choose, you will get that in between sound quality.

I find that the quality varies from channel to channel, but a lower quality MP3 would be something I would compare it to. My friend said it sounded fine to him, so maybe im just crazy. I have a good HU (Pioneer DEH-P6400) and I bought the TERK receiver and cable for it. Maybe it could be the TERK stuff, I have no idea, but as a whole I am completely disappointed with XM so far. I might just have to return my stuff

EDIT: Also, Im not sure how well your FM stations come in but my XM cant touch the FM stations I get in my car (sound quality).

[Just Be]

Is Sirius any better for sound quality?

[Underscore002]

Is Sirius any better for sound quality?

I have XM and my brother has Sirius and I think they both sound about the same, I think your decision should be weather the service plays the music you want. Both offer trials so check them out. If I had to do it again I would probably be leaning towards Sirius but XM isnt all that bad...

-Joe

[Silva_Wagon]

Thats interesting that your FM reception is better than XM. I have an Alpine HU w/ decent components and was running the Terk XM setup thru it...on stations w/ higher bandwith it was crystal clear, as good if not better than some CDs I have. They recently dropped a station I listened to quite a bit, so I switched over to Sirius, and i find that I like the programming better there, sound quality is pretty much the same. Like as previously mentieond you can listen to both Xm and Sirius over the net (which definitely sounds like streaming, because it is, but even as a subscriber to Sirius the quality is very poor...much better recieving it in my car) before you buy it. Probably a good idea before you commit.

[Just Be]

I'm going to do it right and get the Alpine tuner with XM already in the unit. It's cleaner, better sounding and I need a new head unit anyway. I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks when I get it installed.

[dsel]

I'm going to do it right and get the Alpine tuner with XM already in the unit. It's cleaner, better sounding and I need a new head unit anyway. I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks when I get it installed.

I got that one - the 9820. It's good, but the only thing that pisses me off is that it's over $300 and other than the built in XM tuner ,it is one of alpine's lowest end receivers. Can't use the ipod/alpine direct hookup with it, as far as I can tell.

Silva -good idea dumping the XM because of the liquid metal fiasco. I would do the same if I didn't have this HU. I wrote them letters expressing how pissed I was and they ignored me. Now I am forced to listen to pansy a$$ squizz and hear Creed, three doors down and other various vomitous crap.

[Silva_Wagon]

Silva -good idea dumping the XM because of the liquid metal fiasco. I would do the same if I didn't have this HU. I wrote them letters expressing how pissed I was and they ignored me. Now I am forced to listen to pansy a$$ squizz and hear Creed, three doors down and other various vomitous crap.

Yeah I followed threads on XM fan for a bit, and realize there was little chance it was coming back so I ordered the Sirius setup and had it working the weekend after they cancelled LM. I don't think the Sirius metal station "Hardattack" is quite as good as Liquid Metal was...but still a metal station, and "Faction" is also a great Sirius station, they play Punk, Hip Hop, and a occasional techno which is pretty in line w/ my music tastes...the quality of the music between Faction and Alt Nation is much better than Squizz and Fungus. Hopefully they bring back some form of LM...its pretty weak to remove an entire genre when they have a ton of channels.

Just Be - Curious as to your personal experience that the 9820 sounds better than a similar Alpine HU w/ the Universal adapter. The setups that plug into the Ai-Net should be very similar, just external setups... I have the whole unit (Sirius in this case, but the Xm fit in the same area) hidden under the HVAC controls, so its also very clean since you only see the antenna and HU. I went w/ a different H/U because I don't think the 9820 plays MP3s...plus the option for Sirius/XM is nice to have.

[Just Be]

Just Be - Curious as to your personal experience that the 9820 sounds better than a similar Alpine HU w/ the Universal adapter. The setups that plug into the Ai-Net should be very similar, just external setups... I have the whole unit (Sirius in this case, but the Xm fit in the same area) hidden under the HVAC controls, so its also very clean since you only see the antenna and HU. I went w/ a different H/U because I don't think the 9820 plays MP3s...plus the option for Sirius/XM is nice to have.

The only experience was today at the store. It sounded great. I want to replace my stock head unit anyway. I think that it does play MP3's but I'm not positive. Seems like a good deal. $500 installed, instead of all the farting around with the other methods. I'll post again in a few weeks when I get mine.

[Silva_Wagon]

According to Alpine's website, the 9820XM doens't support MP3's or WMA's. 500 installed seems a bit high as well...Crutchfield has it for 350. They're a pretty solid place to buy from, as they include pretty much everything you'd need to install it yourself. Crimp/Solder a couple wires, and turn a few screws and you're done. You might need an antenna for it, but thats like 30 bucks. I'd look into some of the other Alpines tho...for the same cost you could probably get a slightly higher-end Alpine and the XM unit (Terk XM direct runs about 100 bucks...) Just something to look into...I would imagine any of the other Alpine HU's with the XM direct would sound as good as the 9820. Just some things to think about...good luck with your setup! You can't really go wrong with Alpine...

[Just Be]

According to Alpine's website, the 9820XM doens't support MP3's or WMA's. 500 installed seems a bit high as well...Crutchfield has it for 350. They're a pretty solid place to buy from, as they include pretty much everything you'd need to install it yourself. Crimp/Solder a couple wires, and turn a few screws and you're done. You might need an antenna for it, but thats like 30 bucks. I'd look into some of the other Alpines tho...for the same cost you could probably get a slightly higher-end Alpine and the XM unit (Terk XM direct runs about 100 bucks...) Just something to look into...I would imagine any of the other Alpine HU's with the XM direct would sound as good as the 9820. Just some things to think about...good luck with your setup! You can't really go wrong with Alpine...

Thanks for the advice. I don't want to do it myself. This does include everything including installing the antenna and replacing my stock head unit with a smaller one and adding a compartment to fill the void left going to a smaller head unit.