I just ordered the Sirius free equiptment deal, but I was wondering which service is better and why? What OEM's have which system?

 

www.clubxm.com

I'm new to XM myself, but I found that site to be very helpful. They have both XM and Sirius forums there so you'll find plenty of info on both.

I'm quite happy with my XM, but I've only had it for a week. Only time will tell if I continue to be pleased with it.

 

I have xm right now, b/c I have alpine equipment. I want sirius, b/c the music variety is so much better and the commercial free music channels is nice too. I'm looking to get rid of my alpine stuff and get panasonic, just so I can get sirius.

 

Sirius is regarded as having better prgramming. Also, ALL of their music streams are commercial free, this is not the case with XM.

Sirius also has a much more sophisticated satellite system and a more effective digital encoding system. These factors lead to the higher sound quality and fewer signal problems with Sirius.

But, Sirius costs $3 more per month.

 

I disagree, Siruis and XM are equal. They have both tweaked their codecs alot and continue to change them almost monthly. Its to the point where its purely subjective to your ear. XM has terrestrial repeaters in many cities, and generally considered to have better coverage out in the rural areas.

I think XM has a superior network and MUCH wider range of equipment. However, that only equals the playing field to Sirius' superior programming and no commercials (again sound quality being considered equal).

I hope Sirius stays funded and XM get more funding thats not Clear Channel and keeps commercials at 1-5 mins per hour tops on the stations that have it. Luckily, the stations I like on XM dont have commercials at all.

Either way, once you go sat, you'll never *voluntarily* go back. If you got the Siruis stuff, just enjoy it and dont worry that youre missing something from XM. You arent, they are both FAR superior than your local FM stations programming.

 

Sirius has 3 satellites that are set up so that at least two of them are directly over North America at all times. This means that the signal is never more than 30 degrees from vertical as it reaches your vehicle.

XM has only two satellites that are stationary over the equator. This means that the signal is closer to 60 degrees from vertical (only 30 degrees above the horizon) in some ares.

This means that the XM signal is more likely to be blocked by buildings, mountains and such.

This is why XM has twice as many repeaters as Sirius. They need twice as many to maintain coverage.

Rural areas are a non-issue, both offer unobstructed signals. It's urban and mountainous areas where this becomes a concern.

XM gives each stream channel the same amount of bandwidth, no matter what it is playing. Sirius varies the bandwidth allocated to each channel depending on how much is needed. They call this "Statistical Multiplexing." It can take some away from talk channels, or when the DJ is talking on a music channel for use on other streams. This, theoreticaly, gives Sirius better control over the sound quality of all streams.



These are the reasons that I think Sirius is technically superior to XM. That, combined with the better programming and fewer commercials, definitely make Sirius worth three more dollars per month to me.

 

I have had xm for a couple of weeks and as someone above said, would never switch voluntarily. Check out XmFan I was able to get a good deal on my system and free unlimited decals as well as direct access to customer service if needed which hasnt arisen at all.

 

When I got my first XM receiver around the middle of last year, Sirius was pretty funky around here. On paper, they may have a great system, but it sounded fairly bad at times. It would sound good most of the time, but could go days of sounding 'underwater'. I know now they were working out some codec issues and all that is fixed and much better now.

As far was signal, I can't really comment. I'm in the south, so yeah, I always have a better angle to XM. Around here XM is very consistant, even in downtown dallas and the like. I'm sure if youre up North that may be different.

I push XM 'cause I know it and have personally really enjoyed it, although I would like to give sirius another shot. Maybe when XM's sats, die I will Thats a big question, will their sats last thru their current funding? Dunno, Hughes thought there to be enough problem (its the batteries or some power flaw) that it was put in Xm's statement. ouch.. I agree, for sat radio in general, I would pay several dollars more without questioning it. Once youre hooked....

 

I'm in Kitchener, ON Canada and using XM with very very few drop outs. Only downtown or next to a tall building does it occur. Being that we Canadians aren't supposed to have access to XM or Sirius, I'm sure that there are no terrestrial repeaters in my area, so my signal is pure sat. I'm very pleased with the quality of reception.

 

No doubt.

Whichever service you get, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.

 

i've had xm for about a year and i can't complain. sirius is commercial free and doesn't cut out as much but it still cuts out occasionally. i experienced both providers when i used to work for best buy...commercial breaks on xm are nowhere near in length as fm commercial breaks, and from my experience the signal gets cut out on some overpasses, bridges and in between trucks and tall buildings (but not all the time...)and think of it this way, if you have xm, cd, multicd changer, regular radio and mp3 as well as tv and assorted ice in your car ...do you really need to pay 3 dollars more for commercial free? if a comercial pops up or signal cuts out for a few seconds and you need to listen to music just switch to whatever else you have. however if you are into hip hop i'm not too crazy about xm's lineup of "urban music" i think this is where sirius has an edge on xm. but then again what do i know...... i basically only listen to the comedy channels to curb my road rage

 

Sounds like you guys have all read up on satellite.

Nothing can beat a free hardware deal!

Lets get all of the Maximas without satellite set up with Sirius! I have 2 more units that I can ship out, or you can call

1-800-466-9742, use my name, Matt Keown as the employee. The last day to place the order is Wed. March 19th.

My email address is mkeown@siriusradio.com

 

OEM Partnerships for Sirius are available at the following link.
http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conten...=1019257316845

 

Sounds like you guys have all read up on satellite.

Nothing can beat a free hardware deal!

Lets get all of the Maximas without satellite set up with Sirius! I have 2 more units that I can ship out, or you can call

1-800-466-9742, use my name, Matt Keown as the employee. The last day to place the order is Wed. March 19th.

My email address is mkeown@siriusradio.com

You can contact me with any questions.