XM or SIRIUS???

I am shopping sat radio systems currently and have been up and down both marques websites. And I keep coming back to SIRIUS as the winner. What I can't understand is on the surface SIRIUS appears to have a better package yet their subscriptions are 6M for XM and only 3M for SIRIUS. Looking for PRO/CON either way to help me understand the two better and allow me to make a more informed decision to get the "right" system for me. So fire away your feedback/input/suggestions/etc. TIA

I have XM and wish I had Sirius. Hope that helps.

Patric, why do you wish you have Sirius? I had XM and loved it. The only thing sirius had that I wanted and wasn't on XM was NPR. This was pre Howard Stern deal but I don't care about him. What do you think the advantages to Sirius are?

I just like the music channels on Sirius better than on XM. I have XM in the car and Sirius at home with my Dish Network service. That being said, I just think the channels on Sirius are better. Also, they have the NFL contract. Just my opinion. Stern does not sway me one way or the other.

I am thinking SIRIUS is the way to go. Now I just need to pick the right combo of car and home so I can listen in both places.

I love my Sirius. I can't imagine buying anymore CDs. I started with a one year subscription. They then give you a month free. FYI, the Starmate Replay fits nicely where the CD or cassette trays are just below the stereo. I can post a pic Monday if you want.

I'd love to see a pic Mike. Thanks for the offer.

Also, anybody hardwire the SIRIUS receiver instead of using the cigarette lighter plug?

I have had Sirius in 2 cars for 3+ years. Very happy with it. My choice was made due to the availability of NPR .... 3 separate channels that carry just about all their stuff except for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. (They DO carry the hourly news headlines during these shows.) Marketing guy at Sirius told me that local PBS stations would revolt if that was available via satellite. They also stream the audio from CNN Headline news, and have very good NFL coverage. Can't comment much on the music .... except that there must be something for everyone with all the choices.

You can get a lifetime subscription with Sirius for $499. If you want to upgrade your gear in the future and retain your lifetime subscription, there is a $75 transfer fee. I am planning to buy a Sirius S-50 for its recording capabilities and portable ipod-like size when they are available again and get another lifetime subscription. I use the Sportster receiver for the house and vehicle. When listening at home, I tune all my other "terrestrial" radios (4) to the same designated station I use through the car radio and am able to listen to Sirius in my living room, kitchen and bedroom. There is a limit distance-wise to how far the FM modulator can transmit in this manner. My house is single story, and the distance from the Sirius unit to the furthest unit is about 25 feet. You really don't need to set it up like this, but I was experimenting the other day and voila! Hope this helps.

Sirius = music as good as XM, NPR (never thought about it, but people are mentioning it), and better sports coverage, plus Howard Stern, which I do enjoy - to each his own, but no brainer for me - I'm signing up soon. Plus I bought a bunch of their stock when it was in the $3 range, so please choose Sirius

yes and I use a fm modulator all of it turns on at the same time

I have Xm and it works for me..don't like talk radio and sport radio...

I'll post a pic Monday evening. It will be hardwired. I'll post a pic Monday evening. It will be hardwired. The reason I have to wait until Monday is the kit is being hardwired Mon. morning. I just pulled the kit out of my Audi to put in the C4S. I too will be using the FM modulator. That's the way it was in the Audi. It worked fine.

I sell and install XM and Sirius all day. The music channels are very similiar and the price is basically the same. The major difference is sports and talk channels. You have to decide what sports you would rather have and if you are a howard stern fan. Thats about it. As far as hard wire install. It is a two wire hook up if you are using a fm mod set up. Power and Ground. Plus the antenna. We hard wire 99% of the systems that are sold at my store. The best thing to do is to do an aux in so you get the turn digital sound and not the FM analog wire less transmision. You should really have it hard wired at a good shop. They do it all day and the labor i charge if bought from me is $85 with a custom braket and i can mount it almost anywere. Very clean very neat. I also think the satilite radio is one of the best things that has come out in my industry in awhile.

sorry meant to say ( aux in gives you true digital sound) much better than fm mod analog

i've had sirius for about a year now and have no complaints. if it matters to you--they have neckcar coverage starting in '07. they also have this dude--"bubba the love sponge" who i had never heard before, is similar content to stern (if you like him), but is a sprint car racer, so there is some car/race talk from time to time on his show with some interesting behind the scenes goings on and info---mostly in the nascar and dirt world tho'. so another vote for sirius here!! and being a stockholder had nothing to do with my comments......yeah right

Thanks for the 4-1-1. I am going to hard wire power on both the Pepper and the 996. In the 996 I am going to install the AUX-IN Becker kit since I have a non-MOST system. But in the Pepper which is brand new I will just have to do FM modulation. For those of you that have done FM Modulation in the MOST cars does it have to wirelessly transmit or can you run directly into the FM input. Appreciate all the input! Keep the comments coming and any pics showing mounting locales and especially wiring. Cheers, Dell

It wirelessly transmits to a station preset. There are a few options. Mine is FM 88.5. In your area, there may be a better choice.

Dell - Regarding the the FM Modulation vs. wired to the FM input go the wired route. I have the Starmate set up that way in my company car. Here in Vegas most of the 88.1, 88.5 ect. stations are used and you get crappy sound unless it is hard wired. Are you going to be at Parump the first weekend of MArch?

Thanks jeev! I am going to use the Becker AUX-IN direct kit for the 996 but I need to find out over on the Pepper (Cayenne) boards if I can use the FM wird input. Never know with those damn MOST system. As for the track event.....Of course I will be out there.....I am a track day addict You going?

LVDell yes you can. THey have a plug that has a 3.5- rca stereo. All you do is plug it in and plug the rca's into the aux in piece. For you guys using using FM mod. Some do come with wired FM mods that will give you a better signal but more work to install and most of the units wired fm mods are OK. But direct input is the way to go. Night and dave difference in sound quaility.

night and day difference in sound

JBrown....are talking about the AUX-IN in the Cayenne? I know I can do it in the 996 but I didn't think I could in the Cayenne. Either AUX-IN or Wired FM is what I would prefer. The wireless FM route is HORRIBLE out here in Vegas.

Dell, Just FYI, there is one option in between the "through-the-air" FM Mod and the Aux input choices: Most Sat receiver manufacturers offer a kit that takes the output of the Sat rcvr and hard wires it to a junction box that plugs in-line between your normal radio antenna and the antenna input on your car radio. Not as good/direct as Aux input, but beats raw FM modulation in terms of interference and/or weak signals.

Looks like I can do the AUX-IN (best option) in the 996 and...... ....hard wired FM (in line junction box) in the Cayenne. Damn MOST!!!

i will ck in work tomarrow if there is a aux input adapter for the Cayenne. Yes if you do fm mod the direct antenna plug in fm mods are the best.

Hey Dell - I AM THERE!!!!! It will be my 1st track event in the 996!!!! I am pumped!!!! I will be in a 2000 Arctic Silver 996 w/ fact. aero, see the pic and shoot me a hollar if you see me!

I'll defiinitely look for you. See you out there!

Meant to include a little more info: Used the inline antenna junction box for my daughter's Honda with a JVC Sirius tuner / car kit. Ordered the adaptor from JVC's website for approx. $13.00

Can anyone recommend an XM receiver with cd that will fit where the Porsche radio sits in a 99c2?

Check any Circuit City, Best Buy, or even the Crutchfield catalog. the vast majority of in-dash Sat tuners / AM-FM / CD players are single DIN sized (I think that's the term) and will slide right in. To use a unit like this, you will also have to buy a Sat receiver that fits elsewhere in the car (under the driver's seat of my wife's car) and is connected in line between the Sat antenna lead and the in-dash unit. Then, all Sat channel tuning is done on the face of your in-dash unit, just as the AM/FM selections are made. Most units like this have a flip down face to reveal the CD loading slot behind.

Sirius!

I went with XM because I don't think Sirius can stay in business they look to be in cash burn mode and the Stern deal is nuts.

For those Sirius subscribers which units do you have and can you post pics on the installs? Thanks Gary

Requested pics:

Sirius Audiovox PNP3 (matches orange dash lighting and shift **** perfectly) with a universal Satellite mount I picked up at Best Buy. Drilled it to the inside of the cubby hole. At home and at work I use the home kit connected to my PC. Had it hard wired to eliminate the cigarette adapter but it produced alternator whine. Went back to a two prong cigarette lighter for the Satellite and the V1. I used the Becker aux plug($20) excellent sound. I unhook the 1/8 standard stereo plug to connect the Ipod. I listen to electronic/techno music and XM is far superior in this category. Its like Sirius isn't even trying. But Sirius has the CNBC ticker pretty cool

you should not get alternator whine from hard wireing it. It would have been were you ran the cable.

really? I even get alternator whine from using the Ipod cigarette lighter charger. I wanted to hardwire the V1 but since I alway remove it from the windshield when Parking I decided against it. right now I have way to many wires dangling.

You can hardwire a V1 with the result being the V1 phone cord coming out of the upper windshield frame at the exact location of the V1 unit along the upper windshield. Just a few inches of wire hanging there when you remove the unit. Run the V1 supplied phone cord along the upper, inner windshield. It can be pushed behind the trim with a plastic credit card or equivilent. Then, down the A-pillar in the same manner. Between the dash and the windshield base, and under the dash to behind the radio area. There, I used the Porsche cell phone lead for power. Sure beats all those wires hanging down to the cig lighter.

we hard wire everthing and never get noise. We go to the main acc wire in the car for power and fuse everthing. I dont no of anyone who ever complained about engine noise.

XM is the superior satellite radio company, if not for technology alone. Sirius is paying that ridiculously large Stern contract (500 million dollars), which means that little to no money is devoted to their research and development department. XM, on the other hand, is releasing two brand-new portable radio units, which I think a lot of people looking to avoid "wired" installations would love in their p-cars. XM is releasing the Inno and the Helix, which are TRUE portable units, UNLIKE anything that Sirius has. Sorry, even with the new S 50 unit from Sirius, you still cant record live programming without being plugged into the docking station! Even XM's original unit, which has been around for over a year now, is 100% portable, plus the new units from XM combine MP3 playback, and they are about 1/3 the size of the original XM2Go units. Pioneer Inno / Samsung Helix: http://www.cnet.com/4831-11405_1-6411962.html?tag=next The Inno and Helix won Best in Show 2006 at the Consumer Electronics Show this year (CES2006).

If XM is superior then why do they only have 1 of the 4 major sports? XM=MLB SIRIUS=NFL, NBA, NHL Not to mention SIRIUS has the entire NCAA tourney and not XM. What am I missing here? I am about to pull the trigger but I just don't see how XM is a better deal.

For what it's worth, XM just added NASCAR coverage along with new shows featuring the drivers. So, I guess for some the decision point might be whatever they are most interested in listening to on Sundays. Dwayne

XM also has the skifi2 which will let you "tivo" 30 minutes of programming, in case you want to go back and here a song you only caught the end of. XM does have better equipment and the signal is much stronger. I was having problems with my Sirius reception for a while, in and out but that probably was only unique to my area. I dunno many people I know have bothe Sirius and XM. One brand for the car and the other for home. I may do the same the XM roady is like only $30 with a car kit. I'll keep the Sirius at home to listen to Stern and CNBC.

Does XM not have NPR???

Dell, Actually, XM has the following, hope this helps: Major League Baseball (MLB) National Hockey League (NHL) PGA Tour Network XM Deportivo (soccer) NASCAR College Sports - ACC College Sports - PAC-10 College Sports - Big Ten ESPN Radio ESPN News Fox Sports Radio Sporting News Radio

That does, thanks for the list. I just printed off a program guide form XM. Still don't see NPR anywhere. I do like the MLB broadcasts. Why can't there just be one!

Also, Sirius is going to be raising rates....but not like that REALLY matters to a guy driving a Porsche. I might wait a few weeks, XM is sitting on a huge announcement, although it is all speculation at this point. Honestly, XMs new units are amazing, they are about the size of an iPod, you can store 50 hours of recorded material, use it as an mp3 player, and I heard it doesn't need a wired antenna to the roof (not 100% sure though).

XM does not have NPR. Edit: Although they do have a Bob Edwards Channel, if you like him.

That might be the dealbreaker. My wife listens to NPR on commutes in the AM and PM as well as like to listen to "This American Life". Where did you hear the XM announcement rumor? Also, where did you hear about SIRIUS raising rates?

The XM announcement rumor was given by the President of XM on Opie and Anthony's Show. Apparently, something very big, although like I said, it is all speculation at this point. The part about Sirius raising rates, I think it was on some sort of press release, although I can't find it. Sirius stockholders are very concerned about seeing a return on all of the company's investments, namely Martha Stewart for 27 million, Stern for 500 million, etc. Take it all with a grain of salt, but I would expect a formal announcement within a few weeks. Also, Stern will be moving to a 4 day work week in a few months. Sirius told him to keep his 5 day week for now because of their big holiday push, trying to get subscribers.

I still can't beleive they padi him .5Billion dollars! What a bad business investment. I could care less about Stern and scared that SIRIUS could go under with deals like that. Then XM would have ALL the channels

bad deal? Short memories.. XM had a HUGE advantage over Sirius little more than 1.5 years ago when the Stern deal was announced. A measley 700,000 Sirius subscribers. Today Sirius is creeping up on 4 million vs. XM's 6 million! Sirius HAD to sign Stern it was a make or break deal for them,something Mel Karmazin (ex-Viacom CEO) was smart enought to figure it out.

perfectlap.....good explanation. That's why I don't claim to have an MBA.

I've got both, XM in my Boxster and 996, Sirius in my Pacifica - it came with a free one year subscription...I really prefer XM - first off, I'm not a huge talk radio fan - my interests are more for the music part. XM's musical programming seems to be more diverse - for example, I can listen to the 70's channel on Sirius and hear songs repeated 2 or 3 times a day - much like commercial radio - on XM, songs seem to repeat 2 or 3 times a week. Also, in the year that we've had Sirius, I can recall 5 separate days when the service was completely out while they were "updating the system" - which is what flashed on our receiver. That may have to do with too little money for technology after paying Howard...When the free subscription is up on the Pacifica, I plan to rip it out and put in XM.

Perfectlap, but you're forgetting how many subscribers XM had around the same time frame Howard Stern made his announcement to go to Sirius. XM at the time of Stern's announcement: 2.1 Million Subscribers. Sirius at the time of Stern's announcement: 700,000 Subscribers. XM now: 6 million Subscribers. Sirius now: 3.3 million Subscribers. XM Math: 6 million - 2.1 million = 3.9 Million Added Subscribers since Stern's Announcement. Sirius Math: 3.3 million - 700,000 = 2.6 Million Added Subscribers since Stern's Announcement. As you can see, XM STILL got more subscribers than Sirius, despite Stern's announcement. In fact, in 2005, when Howard made his big "push", XM added 2.7 million subs, and Sirius added 2.1 million subs.

oh yeah you are right, but the question isn't which is the leader, clearly XM. But Stern was a VITAL shot in the arm for Sirius. Back before The Stern DEAL was announced XM was trouncing Sirius in the subscriber momentum department by a country mile. Sirius was ripe for a take over which will happen at some point (two services providing virtualy identical programming will not last forever) and it will cost XM MUCH more money to buy SIrius and its 4 million subscribers now then it would have when Sirius only had 700,000 listeners, back when the take over/merger rumors were growing louder PRE-STERN . Crazy how much things can change in a only a year. Its a new tech economy at work here. You snooze you lose. The Stern $500 million isn't being paid in cash or all up front, (although Stern did flip $200 million in stock recently... NICE ) and the rewards to shareholders once there is a merger will have made the $500 milion a drop in the bucket. That deal could be worth Billions if subscriber growth in both brands continues at this pace. Whether Satellite radio will pay off in the long run is another story. But the big whigs at Sirius weren't looking at the short term cost of paying Stern such a vast sum but instead were looking down the road. Someday all cars will come with one brand of Satellite radio installed and they may already be paying for it as a cable Tv bundle.

I picked SIRIUS over XM and I am happy. A few words of caution though-- 1. Some of their desirable programing is only temporay (e.g. E Street (Springsteen Radio). 2. Howard Stern is not working Fridays. This was not disclosed when they advertised it. 3. Sound quality is less than what I expected. For some reason it absolutely does not sound as "dynamic" as regular FM or CD's for that matter, at least in out neck of the woods (Massachusetts). Still, from what I can tell, SIRIUS has more to offer than XM.

Agreed, I have heard bits and pieces about the specifics of Stern's deal perfectlap. Sirius would have almost certainly been assimilated into XM at this point if they had not made a big push for a high profile target like Stern. Unfortunately for Sirius, I don't think they are getting as many subscribers from Stern as they had hoped, which is represented in the numbers above. A good portion of their subs, much like XM, have come from subscriptions being activated in new automobiles sold. Heh, and as for the question at hand, "Which is the Better Service", I guess it is up to personal preference. I'm an Opie & Anthony fan myself (XM Channel 202), so my choice is obvious. Being a former Stern listener from the early 90's, he just hasn't delivered anything innovative or interesting enough for me to keep with him. I've been listening to O&A for almost 1.5 years, and I can't imagine a better show on the radio. To each his own, though.

That's funny because I think XM is Sirius ly concerned about their competitior's momentum. As a proportion of new subscribers, Sirius's growth percentage of that new business has grown since the Stern deal like like AOL was signing up new ISP users back in the mid 90's. A straight up arrow. I went into a local Best Buy last month and you couldn't find a Sirius tuner. SOLD OUT! Kind of a good problem to have I suppose and I'm sure it affected the subscriptions numbers for January. Personally I don't know that I would wager that XM will be on top two years from now. Would you?

Yes, XM added more subscribers than Sirius AND in a given time period (assuming your numbers are correct), but you cannot measure growth like that (and how happy Sirius is with the Stern deal). You have to look at the % increase of new subscribers relative to your previous aggregate subscriptions. If you do that, the % increase in business growth for Sirius is much greater than that of XM. Comparing subscriptions vs. subscriptions is a moot point in relative to actual business growth. Yes, XM generated more subscriptions than Sirius (3.9M vs. 2.6M), but XM was three times the size of Sirius prior. With that said, the % increase will inevitably be larger because of the smaller size of the company. Who knows if Sirius will be able to sustain these numbers? But from the looks of it, Stern hasn�t done too bad a job at all for them. (note: I don�t know ****e about XM and Sirius until reading this thread 2 minutes ago) If you look at the growth curve and if Sirius continues to grow at this pace (which is a possibility or it might to begin to cap off, but so will XM), Sirius will slowly but surely surpass XM in the near future... Sound investment? We�ll see� It�s all about sustaining long term growth

Well, if I'm going to take an investors look at both companies, here is my mindset: 1) XM has VASTLY superior technology compared to Sirius. This issue is not even debateable, it is simply a fact. When looking to the future at XM's newest truly portable units, the Pioneer Inno and Samsung Helix, even Sirius' new S 50 unit feels completely outdated. XM has had a completely portable unit for over a year now, while Sirius has yet to come to market with one. Wit h even the new S 50 from Sirius, you have to sit at your computer and record material through the docking station, and then take it with you if you want to listen to it. In addition, you can only record 20 programs, and they can only be a maximum of 2 hours long. With an XM unit, you can keep it on you, walk around a park, get in your car, go to a Starbucks, and never lose a signal, all the while listening to live programming. The newest XM units allow 50 hours of programming, direct integration with Napster (so you can one-click on a song you like and download it later on your computer), MP3 capabilities, and no external antenna necessary. 2) XM is also implementing a new card technology in their newest units. A subscriber is now able to take their card out of the XM receiver in their home, put it in their car, then dock it in their office, and only pay for one subscription. Sirius does not have this type of technology. 3) XM is more dedicated to providing better service than Sirius. XM is still investing a lot of money in repeaters, all over major parts of the country, so subscribers do not lose a signal when travelling in tunnels, going around large buildings, and even in everyday drives. Both XM and Sirius provide listening on the web, so I would consider them equal in that regard. But, XM has also recently signed up with a major cable company, enabling XM channels on your television, for free. 3a) Taking personal experience into account here, our family has two Sirius subscriptions, and fhree XM subscriptions. Driving in the same general area, namely all over the tri-state area, I can tell you that XM has a considerable advantage in signal strength. Both Sirius units lose signals even on an open road, while I have NEVER, I repeat NEVER had an issue like that with an XM unit. 4) XM currently has almost 2x as many subscribers as Sirius. As I described above, even with Stern's big push to Sirius, XM STILL added more subscribers than Sirius in the same timeframe. Yes, the percentage increase isn't as much, but in a subscription-based service, I don't consider this as important a factor. Satellite radios have both stepped into the market limelight around the same time, which is the reason I lean toward the added subscriptions over the percentage increases. 5) As a business, I feel that XM has more wisely spent their investment dollars when compared to Sirius. Taking into account all I've talked about in my previous posts, obviously. I'd rather not repeat it all. 6) Consider stock prices of both companies. XM is hovering around $25.00 a share, while Sirius is hovering around $5.00 a share. Now, I wish I could write more, but I've spent a lot of time today talking about this! Feel free to comment on what I've wrote so far and i'll do my best to respond.

Sirius will be at 4 million by the end of February vs. XM's 6 Million and who knows what the next few months will bring when all of the Stern people have gotten their delayed units and subscribed. So at $5 a share they are yield nearly 50% of the satellite radio business? vs. XM's $25? You may want to take that into account when considering which is a more desireable stock to own as an investor. As for the lag in tech. at Sirius. That's nothing that a further injection of shareholder investment can't rectify by licensed manufacturers like Pioneer, Sony etc. They have a stake in this as well. The card idea to avoid multiple subscriptions sounds good for XM but Sirius can easily match with new pricing schemes. The subscription holder only needs to tell Sirius all of their devices "ID" numbers and they'll get one bill without Sirius having to spend a dime on this new card subcription card technology. I'm not sure that Satellite radio is a "portable" technology. FM radio is free and I personally don't know many people that listen to FM radio on a walkman device. Its mostly CD players and MP3's nowadays, especially with podcasting catching on. Satellite radio is the domain of cars, homes and office desks. that type of Technology isn't as important to those consumers. The better move for portability by Sirius or XM for that matter would be to do a deal with a cell phone provider to stream the Satellite signal. This would be a very easy arrangement that would make money for everyone without having to dump millions into R&D for yet another device for a consumer to carry around. Blackberry, Ipod, Cell Phone, PDA, Satellite radio too? I think its obvious that XM and Satellite radio need to integrate and not come up with new stand alone devices.