I was wanting to get Satellite radio for my GTA. I noticed that there are two different companies out there, XM and Sirius. Has anybody had any experience with either one? I want to get a radio that has the XM built into it so I don't have to get the little channel changer thing seperate. Also, where do you guys mount the antenna's on these cars? Sirius has an antenna with adhesive, and XM is magnetic. I don't like the idea of adhsive or a magnet on my paint, but can you put the adhesive antenna on the top of the back glass? Can I mount it upside down on the inside of the glass? They are kind of big and bulky and I wouldn't want for a thief to see that I have expensive stuff in my car anyways. Thanks for any info! Matt

 

the main diff. between sirius and xm are as follows.

xm- 2 satalites/more terestrial repeter towers

sirius- 3 satalites/less repeater towers

xm-100 cd quality channels

sirius-same

xm-limited commercials mostly telling you about programming and promotions.

sirius- "comercial free"

xm-9.99 a month

sirius-12.99 a month

xm- premium station (playboy, extra 2.99 a month)

sirius- no premium, but has NPR (if you dig public radio)

As far as the ant. go you both company's have various ant. availible. XM has a glass mount ant. that looks similar to a cell phone ant. That would be my choice for our cars. As for the others they require a six inch ground plane for proper reception. The best place for this is right in the middle of the roof, infront of the hatch.

Both sirius and xm's basic dome ant. use adhesive not magnets to adhere to the vehicle. Sony makes and xm ant, that uses a magnetic mount. Hope this helps, I work for a retailer as an installer so I go to a ton of trainings on how to mount, the tuner boxes and ant. and about the services of both. Later Jered

 

From what I have learned from this board, and talking to people. Sirius is a little better. A trucker friend of mine has Xm and says sometimes he has trouble getting a signal.

 

I have heard mixed responses from people with both of them, I know sirius doesnt like tunnels or parking garages. Xm seems to have dead spots much similar to cell phones, going down a major freeway and for no particular reason you will loose signal then a half mile later your at full strenth.

 

Car and Driver did a comparison on the two a while back. The article is very informative. Click Here