Satellite Ready Receivers

[Bill_Bright]

Hi folks - new to here, been around 1/2 century - 35+ years into electronics of all sorts.

Stepping into my decennial upgrade cycle and looking at mid to high-end HT receivers - I noted many now are coming pre-config'ed as XM Ready. A quick look at the rear of one of those amps shows what looks like a female mini-USB connector labeled XM Antenna. This looks to me as thought the XM module is internal and the antenna connection is just that, an antenna connection - meaning I can't just hook up a Sirius antennae and get Sirius.

Since I managed to pick up some Sirius stock early on, I would rather have Sirius than XM.

Looking around for other vendors of mid-to-upper end makers, I can't find any Sirius Ready.

Here are my concerns/questions:

I don't like it that XM seems to have a corner on the integrated satellite market. This:

limits options,
forces buyers to pay for possibly unneeded or unwanted features,
looks like a monopolistic tactic on XM's part - not just a smart business ploy.
​

If I want Sirius, this forces me to buy a Sirius receiver - yet another box with its power and cabling requirements.

Is the quality of Denon's internal XM module better than the typical external XM module - noting that I would expect Denon's to be better simply because that's what you expect when you pay for Denon.
​

 

[jcPanny]

XM-Ready

I have XM in both cars and at home and I enjoy it. I also have an XM-ready Yamaha receiver, but don't take advantage of this feature because it would constitute a severate receiver and an extra charge each month.

Concerning the $50 XM adapter, I believe it contains an XM tuner in addition to an antenna. There are able to achieve this by reduction in the size of their electronics to provide a single chip XM tuner. The mini-usb cable provides a digital connection to the XM signal and allows the recievers remote to control the XM tuner. Since XM has more subscribers than Sirius (and it is better ), it was intrigated into mass market receivers first.

Also, I think that the Antenna signal strength will be the limiting factor in the quality of XM playback regaurdless of whether you have a Denon or Yamaha receiver.

Your best bet right now is a stand alon Sirius receiver. Polk makes a high end one for XM and there is probably something similar out for Sirius.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Thanks for your reply JC. You said your Yamaha is XM ready but would require a separate receiver - that seems different from the Denon line where it seems the receiver is included in the internal module as it specifically says all that is needed is an optional "antenna" - and of course, a paid subscription.

I fear you are right however, in that if I want a new Denon and Sirius, an external receiver will be needed.

Thanks again.

Anyone heard of a Sirius Ready receiver? Or one that offers both Sirius and XM? Or better yet, just a "Satellite Ready" HT receiver with a smart interface that automatically detects which service, and then configures for it?

 

[zumbo]

Is it needed? My cable has Music Choice. 40 cd quality channels. Is Sirius and XM that much better?

 

[Bill_Bright]

Is it needed? My cable has Music Choice. 40 cd quality channels. Is Sirius and XM that much better?

That's a good question - I don't know. Of course the satellite providers offer many more channels so you have a better chance of finding one or two that you actually like. But I would be able to hear the difference, I don't know.

 

[zumbo]

Well, I don't have news or sports. They are all music. Most genres are covered. Still, like tv, they can't play what you want all the time. We pretty much leave ours on Adult Alternative. The sound quality is as good or better than cd with a digital conection.(IMO)

http://www.timewarnercable.com/austin/products/cable/music.html

I don't get 842-846.

 

[sokrman14]

I know for a fact that Sirius has high end equipment that look like a component instead of a simple docking station. They are better quality because more room for better D/A converters. There are not yet any sirius ready AV receivers yet though, but just like car radios, they will most likely be able to do both in the near future. I think it was actually a law that made the companies do that. I believe the Tivoli model is the high end one by sirius.

 

[Fl_Gulfer]

You better stick with Music Choice. Directv switched to XM and there is as may commercials on XM as FM. Alot of business have complained too D* about this problem. Since they run the music in there buildings and now they have to deal with these idiots talking. They are all asking for Music Choice back. I hate it also because MC had a Blues channel and XM mixes theirs with Jazz. They charge that much money and don't have seperate Blues and Jazz channels. And if you have kids..... I wouldn't let my children listen to XM with all the cussing on the talkshow channels. Guess XM is for the teenagers.

 

[MUDSHARK]

I had not noticed any commercials at least on the rock stations of XM via Directv. The language in the music as well as the DJ's on Squid (the heavy metal channel) is most offensive, I will agree and not suitable for children. The many classic rock channels, hits, deep tracks, progressive do not seem to have this problem.

However, the signal is very compressed making the quality quite poor.

Everything for XM is followed six months later for Sirius(Especially with the recent surge in subscriptions). I'm actually considering a home tuner for Sirius, myself. So far only Kenwood and Sirius make them.

With all the upcoming changes in home theatre I would counsel patience in buying a high-end receiver (Blu-ray/HDMI 1.3, 2tc...). If a new receiver is an immediate necessity consider used as a stop-gap on e-bay, for instance.

 

[jcPanny]

XM "Antenna"

Thanks for your reply JC. You said your Yamaha is XM ready but would require a separate receiver - that seems different from the Denon line where it seems the receiver is included in the internal module as it specifically says all that is needed is an optional "antenna" - and of course, a paid subscription.

Bill,
Denon, Yamaha, and any other XM-ready receiver use the same "antenna adapter". What I implied in my above post is that this is not a simple antena and contains some XM specific electronics. This limits the amount of electronics that have to be added to the XM-ready receivers. You noted that the "antenna adapter" has a digital mini-usb connection. A simple antenna would have an analog coax type connection and would cost less then $50.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Bill,
Denon, Yamaha, and any other XM-ready receiver use the same "antenna adapter". What I implied in my above post is that this is not a simple antena and contains some XM specific electronics. This limits the amount of electronics that have to be added to the XM-ready receivers. You noted that the "antenna adapter" has a digital mini-usb connection. A simple antenna would have an analog coax type connection and would cost less then $50.

Thanks JC - since I am waiting for HDMI 1.3, I'll wait a bit for a Sirius Ready receiver too - hopefully I won't have to wait too long - my ears are not getting any younger.

 

[xhibit#4]

Hi folks - new to here, been around 1/2 century - 35+ years into electronics of all sorts.

Stepping into my decennial upgrade cycle and looking at mid to high-end HT receivers - I noted many now are coming pre-config'ed as XM Ready. A quick look at the rear of one of those amps shows what looks like a female mini-USB connector labeled XM Antenna. This looks to me as thought the XM module is internal and the antenna connection is just that, an antenna connection - meaning I can't just hook up a Sirius antennae and get Sirius.

Since I managed to pick up some Sirius stock early on, I would rather have Sirius than XM.

Looking around for other vendors of mid-to-upper end makers, I can't find any Sirius Ready.

Here are my concerns/questions:

I don't like it that XM seems to have a corner on the integrated satellite market. This:

limits options,
forces buyers to pay for possibly unneeded or unwanted features,
looks like a monopolistic tactic on XM's part - not just a smart business ploy.
​

If I want Sirius, this forces me to buy a Sirius receiver - yet another box with its power and cabling requirements.

Is the quality of Denon's internal XM module better than the typical external XM module - noting that I would expect Denon's to be better simply because that's what you expect when you pay for Denon.
​

Bill,
Try looking at the JVC RX-D702B. This has been out for some time. There should be a 902 coming out at some point.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Thanks - I'll check it out. Hopfully, the 902 will support HDMI 2.

 

[jbo247]

jvc for you bill

here is the link for the jvc as previous poster stated
http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL027461&pathId=5&page=1
has hdmi and sirius (i prefer sirius over xm as well )

 

[Bill_Bright]

I saw that - and then I saw where "JVC's flagship receiver", costing $2500 does not!

What's up with that?

exhibit#4 - I got zero hits on JVC 902 reciever - is that the right model number?

 

[mattlewis]

i'd like to bump this back to the top.

does anyone know for sure if the D702 is in fact Sirius ready? does anyone have one, and be willing to talk to me about it? is all i need a subscription and an antennae? does the unit have a sirius recognized serial # i can use to call sirius and get a subscription?

the wording is kind of ambigious to me, instead of saying "Sirius ready, etc", it says it has:

"SIRIUS Input and SIRIUS Control on Remote"

to me that means it has a sirius input for me to input a seperate Sirius pnp unit into, and then it can be controlled by this unit.

which would be completely useless, since you still have to have a head unit, home kit, etc.

 

[jcPanny]

Sirius receiver

I have seen a couple sirius set-top box type receivers similar to the Polk unit that is available for XM. You should be able to use a digital output from the box and a good universal remote to accomplish the same level of control as you would with a receiver with XM or Siruis built in.

 

[mattlewis]

I have seen a couple sirius set-top box type receivers similar to the Polk unit that is available for XM. You should be able to use a digital output from the box and a good universal remote to accomplish the same level of control as you would with a receiver with XM or Siruis built in.

exactly, but then i have to spend an extra $300.


anyway, i got word from OneCall, that all you need is this receiver, an antennae and a subscription.