XM or Sirius
 

Hello All,
Just wanted to see what peoples thoughts were in regard to Sirius or XM? Did a search but didn't find too much, just a message from 2003. I'm planning to install this in my car and like the XM receivers better but curious as to what people think about the service. I just ordered the Aux Mod mentioned in a couple of other threads. I'm planning to have the receiver part installed in the sunglass holder rather than the ashtray as I use that for change. Anyone installed it there yet?

Thanks,
Stephan

I have the Kenwood Sirius system in mine and i installed the display unit in my sunglass holder (My Oakley's are too big for it so i put it to use). I am happy with it there and when i am not listening to it or get out of the car, you can just push it back up and no one knows it is there. I think it is a good place. you'll probably like it too.

Thanks for the reply.. I'm quite curious to see how it looks.. Do you have any pictures?

i don't have a camera with me but i am about to run to my brother's house and he has one so i will get some up shortly.

Cool.. Really be interested to see how it looks

The camera sucks but these should give you a good idea of how it looks. Just some different angles and one of the sunglass holder closed to let you see that there is no trace of a display unit and to show that it will close all the way. (i've never uploaded any pictures so i hope this works.) :)

Looks nice.. exactly what I was looking for

glad to help. i put it there because of lack of options to put it elsewhere.

Looks like you didn't have to cut anything out. My local installer mentioned that one possibility was to cut off the actual visor part and fast the radio to the part that actually moves up and down.

i just drilled a hole in the very back behind the sunglass holder so it wouldn't be visible to anyone. But to get it to stay i simply used double sided molding tape. no screws or anything

I also have Sirius (an older model) and haven't been able to use it until reading your post. How do you power the Kenwood? Does it hook up to the antenna? Any and all advice would be appreciated.

-Scott

It is a lot easier than i thought. I didn't want to spend $100+ for my local installer to do so i learned how to do it myself. I'm not exactly sure what you are asking so i will just give the complete install process to get it some power.

First you need to connect the battery wire to a fuse that has continous power, i used the HORN fuse under the hood. Then connect the accessory wire, turn on lead i think is what it is called, to the ACC fuse inside the cabin. And i grounded it to a bolt that is holding down the Gear Shifter, it was just easier right there.

you then need to take the radio head unit out and unplug the factory antenna and plug the FM Modulator into directly into it. The modulator has another wire running with the "male" antenna plug in. Plug the factory antenna wire into the "female" wire of the two.

I then ran the thick cable (looks like a big version of S-Video cable) down the middle console and into the trunk where i mounted the tuner. And i mounted the antenna in the inside of the car right at the rear window.

If you need pictures or anything, just let me know and i will be glad to help.

I have the XM Roady 2 installed in the ashtray - I went XM because of the better reciever sizes that XM offers and they look to be carrying college football (at least PAC 10... and I'm crossing my fingers for the Big XII). If you look around, there's a thread on here that has my install...

DANGIT! i just decided to check Sirius's and XM's websites and see what sports channels they offer and all sirius offers for Football is NFL. I checked XM and they have an ACC channel. i am now thinking i should have gone with XM. CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP

Rock on!
 

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Pictures would be great when you get the chance. I've got a friend that used to install audio systems in Texas so he will understand it better than me. If you could email the pics to this addy: smdaniel@c17load.com Thanks again!

i will take some pictures probably tomorrow and e-mail them to you. just let me know what all you want, like the entire instal or just connecting power to the Modulator.

Re: Pics
 

I'm guessing pics for the entire install would be tricky since I don't want you to pull out the radio just to take the pic. If you could take pics of whatever is visible and if something is hidden, just send me a pic of where I need to look :)

Thanks again.

Will you be participating in Rotary Engine Tail of the Dragon Challenge the weekend of the 11th?

I will do everything i can. and no i will not be there, i think i am fairly close to it but i will be watching the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech game at Death Valley that saturday night. i would have loved to go but i have other priotities. if you are in the clemson/anderson area, let me know though.

Outstanding ingenuity to put it there.
Almost looks like sunglass cubby was designed to fit for Sat radio!
Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Does not seem like Maza 05 SAT radio option will be backward compatible so I'll be copying your good idea.
Tx. BJ

Ok... looks like I was wrong on the College Football deal. It was up in the air until about a week ago, when about the top 20 football schools (outside of the ACC and most of the PAC10) inked a deal with Sirius. As a result, my wife got a Sirius receiver as a wedding present, and on our way to Austin this last weekend, we were able to catch several games, including the horns. Other than hardware SIZE, I can't see where XM is better than Sirius. The Sirius receivers scroll, have more options when it comes to tuning in, and they have all the major sports (CFB, NFL, NBA), and better classic rock stations. Other than that, they're both pretty comparable, except that Sirius likes to say 'Sirius' as many times as they can when you're listening to a station - not that big of a deal, just an odd observation...

I'm in the Sirius camp, but so long as we take the Missus' car on the weekends, I should be alright - the musical content of the two is about the same. That and I already put a lot of effort into making my Roady2 hide out in the ash tray and look pimp for me to go messing with it for a quite a while.

Link to press release: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040831/nytu029a_1.html