xm or sirus ????

[Icon]

how do i go about getting satlite radio? and is it sirus or xm??

[A4 - Oh Snap]

mine came pre-installed. I got XM. It seems as if Sirius comes more on the 3.0 A4's. I'm sure you can always get the Satellite radio installed after you get the car, but I bet it would be cheaper if you got it with the car because you can finance it all together.

[04USportDolphin]

serius has better programming i think. i wish i coudl get it but i got alpine HU

[pkancel]

I checked into it after having it installed in my gf's Jeep. I got her Sirius and it is great, so I contacted Audi, Sirius and Crutchfield.

Since my car is an 03 and didnt come with an XM or Sirius ready stereo, we have a few options. 1. Replace the stereo with an 04 ready unit. Probably very costly.

2. Use existing stereo and get the FM modulator, then the controller and a few other small pieces such as antenna. Problem with an FM modulator is that this reduces the quality of the sound. Not bad, but not as good as direct. Some CD changers used to be set up this way when the stereo wasnt set up for CD control.

3. Swap out the OE Audi stereo with aftermarket that is XM or Sirius ready, but if you have the premium stereo like I have, then you lose the 6 disc in dash.

So far I havent done any of them.

[bbaudi382]

aftermarket

[Jon_Rhea]

I was wondering about this too. Which one gets better reception and such?? I woudl say as far as the music goes, they both play about the same thing right??

[pkancel]

I did some comparisons because my neighbor has XM. Sirius has more commercial free stations right now, but they both keep up with each other pretty quickly.

My neighbor has been happy with his XM and both have great reception but occassionally you find a bad spot where it will cut out for 1/2 a second. Any time you get in a garage at your home, the mall, under long bridges or tunnels etc , you lose reception entirely. In other words, dont plan on going down to your garage late at night and listening to your favorite station. Will have to back the car out enough to get the antenna closer to outside.

[Jon_Rhea]

so is it really worth the investment if it cuts off everytime you drive under something??

[SoCalAgentMSK]

Originally posted by Jon_Rhea
so is it really worth the investment if it cuts off everytime you drive under something??

It doesn't cut out everytime you go under something. The system works two ways. It will use the satellite signal when it has reception and if it cannot find the satellite it switches to ground based transmitters without interrupting service.

XM - $9.99/mo
Sirius - $12/mo

From what I've heard XM has more stations with comercials but WAY more subscribers than Sirius. I had Sirius with a rental for 30 days and loved it. Listend to the unedited comedy channel for the entire 4 hour drive out to Vegas and it never cut out once.

DISCLAIMER!!!! - I have stock in both companies

[pkancel]

Yeah, didnt mean to mislead anyone, especially since Socalagent has stock in both:) It doesnt cut out every time I go under a normal bridge. Has to be like a parking garage, a long tunnel bridge, something you might do occassionally. Normal driving daily doesnt have any problems, just every so often. I say this depending on how much time you are on your car.

My career has me traveling by road or by plane about every week. When by road I take the car with Sirius to enjoy the music, comedy channels, sports, etc and never listen to CDs or local radio.

[Icon]

well hands down Sirus! i sell both of them. i was just wondering if i contact the dealer to program it or sirus?? i pretty sure i have it pre installed. but if not how would i check???

[pkancel]

go to www.sirius.com and click on activate. 100% of it should work online, but I had to call after 30 min to their customer service and then seconds later it was working.

Call the dealer and ask them if your car is 100% ready to activate. As long as a control unit exist, which is separate from the radio itself, then all you need to do is activate. Just make sure the car is outdoors and not covered by garage or carport at the time.

[JetBlue]

You probably want to compare the type of music that you listen to the most. This is where I have heard the biggest difference. The number of stations is pretty comparable, but the selection is very different. I have XM and I enjoy it, but I have heard that Sirius has better alternative programming. XM has added stations with different play lists to gain parity recently.

The reception is based on Southern exposure of the antenna. I have reception in my garage and most parking structures (probably ground based transmitters), but have lost reception when driving next to large cliffs. This is the same with both systems and the loss was only for a second or two.

MO