Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners XM Radio

I use my Tao XM2Go at home (home dock) and in the car (car dock via cassette adapter). I definitely like the XM content. However, I'm not sure if it's worth going to any trouble worrying about better DACs like those from Cirrus. (I actually sold Cirrus in a previous life). Most of what I've listened is barely what I'd call "CD quality".

OK Dennis,
You talked me into it, I just ordered my new Polk xrt 12 to go with my Hi End Stereo setup. When will this end.

I had XM pre-installed into the new Acura MDX I bought last month. We were given a 3 month trial, so I figured what the heck, I'll give it a try. In only three weeks I fell in love with stations like "The Bone Yard", "XMU" and "The Loft". I got to hear songs I loved that I haven't heard on commercial radio in years and discovered some new tunes. I wanted to keep it, but the final decision belonged to my wife, ordinarily very frugal about electronics, because she drove the car more. To my surprise, she wants it too! The NYC radio market is practically forcing us in to it, anyway. It was just announced that our only modern rock station, 92.3 KROCK will be changing formats after Howard Stern leaves and become all-talk. I can't believe the country's largest market doesn't even have its own rock station.

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The NYC radio market is practically forcing us in to it

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Imagine living in a bit of a valley in NH!! There ARE couple of classic rock stations with good reception, but I'll be damned if they don't self-promote between every single song or two and have 8-minute commercial breaks. There's only one single radio station I like... an independant (die, ClearChannel, die!) station out of the north Boston area (WXRV 92.5 - The River) that I like and my reception varies unless I'm heading towards Boston.

As far as I'm concerned, with the incredibly short playlists, endless commercials and morning shock-jock idiot wannabees, radio is dead..... having committed slow suicide by being greedy. Hey we all know it's a business, but when you get so greedy that you put your profits that far ahead of the customer and service, you deserve to go the way of the horse and buggy.

I have enormous resect for the old-school DJs like Jack... who kept many of us entertained our whole lives. But it's not the same anymore, and there's better alternatives now.

XM or Sirius... take your pick. But when you get used to it, there's no listening to FM anymore.

I installed my Polk unit, but I'll need a day or to before I can do a serious comparison between the sound quality of this unit vs. the portable Roady2.

I have the XM in my new 2005 Acura RL 5.1 DVD Audio Bose (sorry) system. Sounds really pretty good! Love XM.

Yeah, my MDX came with the Bose speakers too. My wife shot me one of those "Don't start" looks when the salesman said the package came with "premium Bose speakers". For what I paid, couldn't they give us some Pioneer speakers at least?

At least you have a couple of classic rock stations - that format burned out in the NY area a while ago - rock legend 102.7 became some lame gossipy/pop culture radio station and we only have 104.3 for classic rock and they seem to play the Theme to CSI, er I'm sorry The Who, every other song. I love the Who, but give me some variety on the way home. I not anti-corporation by ANY means - but I agree that corporation ownership has ruined radio. It is no longer uncommon to go through all my 8 presets and hit all commercials. I am looking straight at you Clear Channel.

If you ever were held hostage by "Scott and Todd" or "The Z Morning Zoo with Elvis Duran" during your morning commute, I'd bet you'd appreciate NH even more!

Bose car systems are better than most factory-installed systems I've heard. No need to apologize.

Guys, how IS the quality of XM or Sirius? Is it a noticeable improvement over good quality FM?

I ask because I have DirecTV and actually listen to the music channels sometimes. I am excited that they will begin offering XM programming later this year. However, to my ear in my room, I don't think that the current music channels sound anything like "near CD quality". The service still costs too much for my lifestyle. Perhaps I just don't hate ClearBanal enough yet.

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I have enormous resect for the old-school DJs like Jack... who kept many of us entertained our whole lives. But it's not the same anymore, and there's better alternatives now.

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I participate in an email group that is largely made up of jocks I used to work with in Hartford, CT, those who studied broadcasting with them at the University of Hartford, and friends. Many of them, like me, are no longer in the business, finding their services no longer needed. But, some are still jocking at small stations that are bucking the trends in smaller markets (Madison, WI) , and some are working in major markets.

We just lost one of our real pros, Steven Capen, to lung cancer. He achieved great success in San Francisco, Boston, and New York. He replaced Howard Stern at one station in NY, and though Steven was hardly a "shock jock," he was a zany, fun guy and Howard cited him as a major influence. I worked with him in Cleveland and Hartford.

In this group, there has been a lot of celebration over the failure of a packaged format called, ironically (and disgustingly) "JACK." The "JACK" station in NY (WCBS, I think) has really dropped in the ratings since switching to this format, making all my cohorts VERY happy.

I barely listen to radio at all. In my car, I tune in a local station, that is licensed to a nearby high school, but is privately owned, and plays old stuff from the 30s and 40s. No commercials, and the "jocks" comprise high school students, and elderly volunteers. Most all of them are awful, but I don't mind in the least since I get so much great old music, with minimal interruption.

I think I would love XM or Sirius radio, but in my current situation, I spend so little time in my car, it would not be a frugal investment. At home, I DO listen to the music channels that my TV cable company offers. I like that a lot.