Question: Opinions on XM Radio?

[psimms]

I am in a billing dispute with XM right now. I renewed for $77 . At the end of renewal a XM Rep. called and asked if I wanted to renew again. Told him NO to cancel service because I did not use it that much. Thought that ended XM. NOT SO they kept the service connected than and are trying to collect additional $43.90 because I did not cancel service in accordance with THEIR agreement.

I have had telephone conversations and many emails about this issue. They keep insisting I owe them more money and they will turn the matter over to a collection agency. This matter reeks of extortion so I filed a complaint with the BBB in Washington, DC. The BBB said it will take at least 30 days before I head from them on this complaint. That was about one week ago.

BBB rates XM as UNACCEPTABLE.

 

[Patrick]

BBB rates XM as UNACCEPTABLE.

Really?

I heard a news report this morning that Federal regulators have given approval for XM and Sirius radio to merge. This, I don't think, bodes well for consumers, as it means there won't be any real competition in the marketplace for this kind of service.

 

[hotshotzny]

my wife and i have been debating this for the past month and a half, we have about a 2 minute commute to work, she only listens to the top 20 on 20, i prefer country music, the country music stations on xm SUCK! i see no reason to keep it, sure there are times that i like to see whats on the 80's or 90's channels but usually so we can laugh and think "holy mackeral.... we actually listened to this crap!" But the ones i do love are the comedy stations..... those i will miss

 

[Pseudomind]

I have no desire for it, XM radio, I just prefer to use the 12 disk CD player set to random play. The other option I would consider is some type of flash player connection option. e.g. Ipod type player.

 

[Cosworth1]

I get lots of drop out in my neck of the woods upstate NY....Will not renew my subscription when it expires...

 

[napacruzerC5]

We did not renew the XM for our 2007. Last March, however, on our week long road trip I tuned in a XM station and had it all week long. Perhaps a trial period to suck you in? Enjoyed the free time but didn't listen to it again once we got home.

 

[2009cybergray]

Am I the only one here that thinks the GM XM Radios lack dynamic range? I don't know if it is the receiver itself or caused by XM's compression. It is not just my 07 Corvette, my son-in-laws 07 Silverado sounds the same way. I renewed XM for one year after the 3 month trial but found I did not use it much because of the sound quality. FM, CD's and iPods sound much better to me (I wish they would get all of the bugs out of the iPod adapter and release it).

Save The Wave,
John

I just started listening to XM also (new car) for the 3 month trial. It does not sound nearly as good as CD or even FM.
It lacks highs and sounds terrible to me!
I have the NAV system and asked my friends who have the service. One has an Acura TL and he states the same thing, XM does not sound as good as FM or CD.

Pity because the choices are good, just the sound quality is terrible. I will not be subscribing after the 3 month trial!

 

[Bonnell]

whatever you can listen to on cd,new or old,will be found on satellite radio.
If you prefer listening to 50 minutes of commercials and 10 minutes of music,keep the local stations.
Whatever talk you like,is on satellite
sports-satellite,etc etc.For 12.50 a month,I have piece of mind and 0 commercials from coast to coast.Small price to pay!

I agree. I have it in my vette, Denali and in the house. I like the music stations, I have grown to enjoy the comedy channels and I can get SEC football. I don't pay $12.50/mth for each because there is a heavy discount if you add other radios to the original contract.

One real problem that I have with broadcast radio is that the 'personalities' tend to think that we are listening to them and not music.

If I want talk radio I will tune in to talk radio.

 

[Bioscache2]

I have it and can't live without it. I also have multiple radios so I only pay 6.99 a month. The biggest reason I got it is I like very specific music when I drive and you can't get that everywhere, plus with me moving around constantly, not having to learn new channels is a plus. For those with bad quality something must not be right in your set up as it's supposed to be cd quality, better then FM/AM, and it is (based on the amount of data they put out in the signal). There are no commercials on the music channels and only commercials on sport events because there is with the normal broadcast. Also XM carries some nice extra features like putting in songs or artists that the radio will search for in the background and alert you when they are on. Also my model has a 30 min memory on it, so I can pause the radio to take a call or concentrate and then resume without losing anything. I can also rewind and here a song again if I want, quite a few times actually. It is a personal choice but for me I will never be without it.

 

[dkrhardy.]

I too have XM and love it. If it sounds crappy on your unit, I bet you have a Bose system. IMHO any Bose system I've had sounds bad. I have the base system on my '07 with an add-on XM (not one of those funky ones that transmits over FM), it is hardwired into and plays through the FM circuits of the radio.
I love all music channels and late nights on the way home from ..... I listen to the OLD radio detective/horror/mystery shows.
I thought I'd hate XM until I bought DW (Darling Wife) a new SUV and got HOOKED on the stuff. Now we are multiple car discount!
My $.02
Regards,
Don

 

[jbeidl]

I too have XM and love it. If it sounds crappy on your unit, I bet you have a Bose system. IMHO any Bose system I've had sounds bad. I have the base system on my '07 with an add-on XM (not one of those funky ones that transmits over FM), it is hardwired into and plays through the FM circuits of the radio.
I love all music channels and late nights on the way home from ..... I listen to the OLD radio detective/horror/mystery shows.
I thought I'd hate XM until I bought DW (Darling Wife) a new SUV and got HOOKED on the stuff. Now we are multiple car discount!
My $.02
Regards,
Don

It might be the non-GM XM Receiver that gives you the good sound.

My Silverado and Corvette both have the Bose system. My 2 son-in-laws have Silverados with base audio.

CD's and FM sound fine in all four of the above vehicles. XM lacks both low's and highs, no dynamic range at all. Maybe it is the GM XM receivers that are the problem. I never listened to XM on any other brand of receiver.

Save The Wave,
John

 

[twiget]

I've been listining to XM for almost 4 years in 3 vehicles so far, a Colorado, a 3-series BMW (installed a Pioneer head unit), and my 'Vette. Other than the fact that the signal can be poor some times up here in the Pacific North West, I have no complaints about the sound. Of course, no one has ever accused me of being an audiophile either.

Jason

 

[hotshotzny]

it just expired in my wifes hummer and we had said we were not going to re-new it when it did.... and now i miss it......

 

[jester]

We've had XM for a few years now. First on the Buick LaCrosse and now on the Saturn Aura XR. My wife loves it. I could probably get along without it, although I do listen to it sometimes on my comupter at work. We travel between Minneapolis and Chicago occassionally, so being able to get instant traffic and weather for both locations is a plus.

 

[hardnoks]

I'll take SATELLITE RADIO over regular radio any day all day.I have both XM and SIRIUS.Sirius is better,but XM will do.