Anyone else running XM thru a decent 2 ch system?


I got XM about 18 months ago (one of the first 5,000!) and I have grown totally addicted to it. The subscription price for the service is $10.00/mo. I would give up both my cable TV at home and my A/C in my car before XM.

As far as sound quality goes, it is a notch below CD's, but very acceptable on the music channels (more bandwidth is allocated to them), especially if run through tubes.

I am using the SkyFi (~$200.00) unit, with a car cradle (self explanatory) a "boombox" cradle, which makes it totally portable, and a home cradle, which bummed me out at first as it has a line level mini-plug out.

I found a supplier for sterling silver twisted pair mini --> RCA interconnects, which should help over the one-step-up-from-basic cable I have now.

While some here would poo-poo the idea of digitally delivered radio, let me say this. The content is stunning, in both breadth and quality. I have it on nearly all the time - car, house, work. I have found that it has really altered my listening habits. I am buying fewer CD's, but the ones I am buying are titles really good stuff that I would have likely never heard of before becoming an raving XM fanatic.

If anyone is interested in augmenting their system with what is basically the ultimate content device, get the SkyFi, by Delphi. It is the best suited for connection to a home system, and can go anywhere.

If you are into discovering new music on a daily basis, you are in for a treat.
grahamndodder
YES!

I too upgraded the cable to a gold-plated variety, which did make an improvement. I agree, aside from the stray sunflares every now and then, the sound is great!

However, my measure of a stereo system's worth has always hinged not on what you hear but what you don't hear; I'm talking about background "blackness" the total absence of sound during musical pauses. Unfortunately my little XM receiver has a constant hum (or whir maybe) which, late at night, when I have the sound turned down to its lowest setting, is very perceptible during these pauses, we're talking ten to fifteen feet away!.

So, yes it's very cool, but at least for me, not when you're trying to listen to music "quietly".

Party On!

The Viking
Sounds like you have a connection issue with the stereo mini-jack to rca stereo pair. I don't have that problem. Why do you?
I subscribed for a while and liked it a lot. The frequency of commercials seems to be escalating so I discontinued.
That little gizmo the size of a small palm pilot is all their is to the receiver?
Yes. There is a wall-wart power supply and a small, but effective remote. Neat, eh? The only channel I listen to that has commercials (just a few) is "Beyond Jazz". The other jazz and classical channels have NO commercials. I don't listen to any of the pop channels so maybe commercials would be an issue.