Does anyone have any advice on after market radios....XM ready?

[Beauty]

I went looking locally and they are so expensive,

First there is the radio....the one that I liked was $300
Then the Pioneer Tuner for XM which was $149
Then the antenna which was $100
Then other parts and installation around $70

Okay now I know that I can go to ebay and get the same radio and tuner cheaper I think.

What I'm asking is does anyone have any experience or advice on which radio to get?

I want a CD player, MP3, XM etc......XM is a MUST so I'm expecting that the tuner is a must too.

Advice on how NOT to spend $700 dollars?

 

[Cricket2]

For your house or car or both?

Are you sure you want XM or would Sirius work too?

 

[gallaj0]

I have a Pioneer radio that has the Xm built in. It has all the regular bells and whistles, but just add on the antenna adn sign up, and yuor ready to sing along as you drive.

I think other brands of radio also have the Xm built in, so that may be one way to cut the cost right off the top.

 

[Beauty]

Just for my car. We have a Roady in there now and have the home kit for the Roady.

The reason we say XM is because we have had a subscription for over a year when we had a Tahoe with XM built in. We traded the Tahoe in on the Trailblazer which didn't have XM so we got the Roady but I'm terrified that in my town someone will end up breaking the window to steal it and I want something permanent so I don't have to argue with my son about taking it in and out of the car.

I suppose Sirius would be okay except for the fact that we will have XM for the house.

Galla,

You didn't have to have the Pinoeer Tuner?? All you had to have was the antenna? What model number do you have?

 

[Cricket2]

The other way around is almost always cheaper, but not always better.

XM tuners are fairly inexpensive add-ons to existing systems. Sometimes they can be clumsy at best, but form should follow function. The new roady2 is a decent choice for an add-on and it can work both in your house and in your car with your existing radio. It's right around $130 in a package deal with a free mail in voucher for the in-home kit.

JC

 

[Beauty]

Thats exactly what we got JC.....LOL!

I'm looking for something permanent though. It seems that since the Roady has the Tuner built in that there should be a radio out there that would too.

I will say that the antenna that they used for the Roady isn't impressive at all. I live on a fairly tree covered road and it goes out constantly.

They placed it on the inside at door level. I would have thought to place it outside towards the roof but I'm no radio installer so ?????

 

[Cricket2]

Originally posted by Beauty
The reason we say XM is because we have had a subscription for over a year when we had a Tahoe with XM built in. We traded the Tahoe in on the Trailblazer which didn't have XM so we got the Roady but I'm terrified that in my town someone will end up breaking the window to steal it and I want something permanent so I don't have to argue with my son about taking it in and out of the car.

Then it only makes sense to get a second XM unit because of the discount (I think they still have a multi unit discount)

You are sort of stuck with your situation into doing just what you stated in your first post. The antenna cost seems high, but you are right on with the rest.

JC

 

[Cricket2]

Originally posted by Beauty
They placed it on the inside at door level. I would have thought to place it outside towards the roof but I'm no radio installer so ?????

They are called "outside antennas" for a reason I'll give you 5 guesses why.

Also, to my knowlege, there are no existing car head units with the tuner built in because the subscriptions are tied into the tuners, not the head unit. Many times people choose to take the tuner with them when they sell the car so they don't have to goof with a subscription change over while not having to rip out the head unit and causing cosmetic damage to the dash.

 

[Beauty]

That makes perfect sense.

I think I'll scan ebay as I saw some much better deals on tuners than locally.......well I need to look at shipping though!!

I plan to keep this truck for a while! Its new so at least 4-5 more years so I think its worth the money!

Thanks so much JC!!!!!

Just out of curiosity sake, is Sirius better than XM? We really enjoyed the comedy channels and the weather channel on our 2 week trip in June. My son LOVES Radio Disney (so does his mom!)

 

[Cricket2]

The difference is really only in the programming and the hardware (I like the Sirius hardware better but the XM programming better). Quality wise, they are essentialy identical.

The new stock ticker on XM is sort of cool, but I'd never use it. Sirius has NFL.