Just gave up my free bootleg XM lifetime subscription!
 

I called XM today to cancel my 3-month trial subscription since I was already a Sirius lifetime member and it turns out that my XM number had never been registered. Which means if I didn't call them, I would be getting XM free for life! If I didn't already get Sirius for life without a monthly payment, I might be pissed about this. :tup: I still have to set up the car for Sirius now FTL!!

I would take sirius over xm any day.

So would I... so I'm not too bumed. Channels are much better and the sound quality is night and day (unless the problem there is Nissan's antenna).

I don;t listen to howard or any of the sirius specific or xm specific content, and they both sound the same to me, so it doesn't matter which one I get. I've got XM in the Z and Tahoe, and Sirius in the Bimmer. To me though, the XM does cut out more than the sirius.

My comparison may be unfair since I was using a separate Clarion sat receiver in my old car with the Sirius external antenna, but with Sirius, my sound quality was almost CD quality and when it did skip out (which was almost never) there was no static... Which there shouldn't be because the sound is digital. With XM in the Z, the sound is basically radio quality and goes out when a bird flies over. Also, when the music cuts out it is all staticy (which it shouldn't be).

The only sound quality comparison test I have ever seen between XM and Sirius rated XM slightly better. The XM satellites are lower on the horizon and this causes more cut-outs. Much of the programming is now the same on the two networks. Did you know that Sirius paid Howard Stern over 600 million dollars and it almost bankrupted them.

Yeah, that was stupid. I don't know who put XM over Sirius in sound quality, but they must of been payed off! I've had Sirius for 5 years and XM for 3 months and the difference is the same as comparing a CD to audio tape (if you're old enough to remember that). Now I'm not above believing that the crappy BOSE system is not at least partially to blame.

"Sirius claims to have superior sound quality thanks to their statistical multiplexing technology, which provides additional bandwidth across all SIRIUS streams. This is supposed to increase overall sound quality and resolution. There has been little feedback however, to verify whether or not this system really enhances sound quality to a noticeable degree".

Could be all smoke and mirrors. I couldn't find any objective information either way. I do know that Sirius' music channels are actually commercial free though.

Uh.....folks......Sirius bought XM in May 2008...so though they maintain separate operations for the moment they are one and the same company. It is my understanding they are presently trying to ascertain the best way to consolidate their individual assets and operations into a single entity so the extreme debt they both have accumulated while operating separately can be best addressed.

The channels are still different and they use separate satellites. The only thing they have in common is their debt.

My buddy has the same issue with his XM receiver.

Lucky bastards!!

Thanks I already knew that still you do not get all the channels sirius gets. Nor does xm.

Yeah, but there are only about 10 channels on each that the other doesn't have, and they aren't music. The music channels are all the same, just diff channel numbers, and, if you pay extra, you can get those sat specific channels of the other one.

OK...I see.

Well, I somehow still have XM in my car. I may have it for life?! Just for fun I decided to plug in my old Sirius receiver into my AUX imput to see if there is that much of a difference in SQ. It was not a perfect test since the Sirius was being run through my old Clarion Calypso receiver, but both were being run through the BOSE HU into the same speakers. I would give factory XM 3/10 and the Sirius plugged into the AUX input 5-6/10. Although both are still terrible due to the BOSE system, the Sirius is markedly better. I now can swap back and forth and actually hear the difference.

After hearing the difference, I decided to do a full install using some DIY guides from this site.

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1277067797

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1277067921

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1277067819

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1277067605

The receiver fits perfectly in the cubby. Not a mm more in the clearance department. I didn't even have to use screws. It just fits snuggly.