I have owned a Siruis radio boombox since Sirius radio began . The sound of the original ( Emerson ) box is very good considering all they supplied you with was a volume knob . 8 D cell batteries is good for one day on the boat with the volume at 3/4 .The second design boombox does not sound as good as original boombox but will still get the attention of the local police department if played after hours . If only Sirius would poll their customers for design implementations ???
I have never owned an apple airplay but can base my opinion of where I beleive a few things can be improved upon with an already reliable product . Things I would add to the box . 1 - capability of ciggarette lighter 12 volt adapter . 2 - The ability to separate the speakers from the main unit . 3 - a built in hard drive with recording capability so if the receiver head unit was being used somewhere else , the unit could still be utilized . 4 - Weatherproofing