Questions regarding Sirius XM.
I am so sick of commercials on the radio, as well as hearing the same 80 songs over & over & over again.
All of my Daily rides have Sirius XM capability, and I've been looking into it a bit, but I have a few questions for those who have experience with it, such as:
1. Are there really no ads? I'd be pretty PO'd if I bought into the marketing on their website that says "ad-free", only to hear even more commercials. (Remember when cable TV had no commercials?)
2. Does the coverage "go south" in bad weather, much like satellite TV/internet does during heavy clouds/storms?
3. Is the coverage truly nationwide?
4. Has pricing been stable, or has it been going up over time?
5. Anyone ever paid attention to the quality of the audio? I like jazz, but as a self-proclaimed "recovering audio-fool", I have a hard time listening to it when it's compressed/MP3 "quality" (note the sarcasm there).
I'm sure there are more, but this is all I can think of at the moment.
Thanks!
Jim
1. No adds on any of the channels I listen to. However....... if you listen to any NFL or NCAA football games they do black out (just go silent or have a canned voice saying programming will return after the break) during TV time outs and other time outs. I've never tried MLB.
2. Never had any weather related issues with a black out. The only time I ever experienced a issues is in heavily treed areas, and in tunnels. If a drive thru is on the north side of a building, it may get spotty. Just another of many reasons why I hate a drive thru. Sometimes you catch a dead area, but it never lasts long.
3. Yes. Not only is it nationwide, I have a mobile unit (kinda like a boombox, but smaller) and it worked out of the country. It's worked in France, England and Israel. I'm taking it to the Caribbean this summer, so we'll see.
4. This one is tricky. As others have said, auto renew is a cluster. You're going to have to call before the contract period ends. I pay the $6 a month + tax deal, but you do have to make the phone call. It's a PIA, but worth it. To their credit, they do send an e-mail a couple of months prior.
5. This depends on the equipment. I had it on a aftermarket stereo and it sounded like it was in a can. I hated it. On my OE stereo and my "boombox" it sounds great. Having said that, I'm losing my hearing, so I'm not the best to judge.
I'll also add that they give you access to the Sirius/XM app. I use that as much as the car unit. I have a Bluetooth amp in my Duster and listen to it in there. You can listen on your computer, or any bluetooth speaker. The best part is there are a lot of exclusive app only channels. If you're in a bluetooth enabled car, you can listen in any car with the app. You can use the app on several phones. The subscription is on my car, but my wife listens via the app in her 300.
Someone mentioned channel 25 and 26, I gotta tell you, I listen to those two a lot myself. Sometimes they get into a rut of playing way to much of any given band, but there's always another channel to find something. They do have DJ's on some of the channels. That's no problem for me, I don't think they're obnoxious or anything.
On the whole, I'm very happy with it. It's worth what I pay and the app alone is worth the cost. My only true complaint is that yearly phone call. It's not really bad, it's just the fact I need to do it.