Sirius XM vs the "other guys"

[satkinsn]

I have Sirius in two cars, my Venza which I use around town, and a Chrysler van which we use for trips from Knoxville down to FL, usually a 12 hr drive (with stops for the dogs and gas and eating. WIll keep Sirius for the van, but dropping for the Venza. Seems it's always dropping out or gets "spotty" and for $240 per year, gotta be something cheaper., Looking at Spotify to Bluetooth between my smartphone and the Venza. Does anyone know how much data is burned using streamers like Spotify???? Not as concerned with sound quality in a car as I am about cost of using the streaming source

You're paying way too much. It takes a little effort, but the only way to deal with SiriusXM is to call in advance of your rollover. When you call, one of the automated options is to cancel. Use that. You'll be connected with a real live human being who can cut your bill substantially. I've done this for seven years now - it's literally the only way to renew S/XM that makes sense.

FWIW, I have the select package in two of our three cars, and pay with tax about $28 for five months, which works out to $67 a year. My car carries the all-access package, which includes internet streaming, and that's about $50 every five months - I might be able to do marginally better signing up for a year, but this gives me everything for about $120 a year.

If I were you - and assuming you're not coming up on a renewal - I'd call the cancellation line and explain that while you like the service, the price is just too high. See what they'll do for you.

s.

 

[+48V]

Spotify has a Extreme platform now? Thought all they has was free and Premium....

"Extreme" (320 kbps) is simply a sound quality setting available to Premium subscribers.

 

[tnmike1]

You're paying way too much. It takes a little effort, but the only way to deal with SiriusXM is to call in advance of your rollover. When you call, one of the automated options is to cancel. Use that. You'll be connected with a real live human being who can cut your bill substantially. I've done this for seven years now - it's literally the only way to renew S/XM that makes sense.

FWIW, I have the select package in two of our three cars, and pay with tax about $28 for five months, which works out to $67 a year. My car carries the all-access package, which includes internet streaming, and that's about $50 every five months - I might be able to do marginally better signing up for a year, but this gives me everything for about $120 a year.

If I were you - and assuming you're not coming up on a renewal - I'd call the cancellation line and explain that while you like the service, the price is just too high. See what they'll do for you.

s.

I'm up for renewal in March, so will follow your advice. Thanks for the tip. Did the same with Xfinity and they cut a deal too

 

[+48V]

Does anyone know how much data is burned using streamers like Spotify????

You're welcome.....

 

[tnmike1]

You're paying way too much. It takes a little effort, but the only way to deal with SiriusXM is to call in advance of your rollover. When you call, one of the automated options is to cancel. Use that. You'll be connected with a real live human being who can cut your bill substantially. I've done this for seven years now - it's literally the only way to renew S/XM that makes sense.

FWIW, I have the select package in two of our three cars, and pay with tax about $28 for five months, which works out to $67 a year. My car carries the all-access package, which includes internet streaming, and that's about $50 every five months - I might be able to do marginally better signing up for a year, but this gives me everything for about $120 a year.

If I were you - and assuming you're not coming up on a renewal - I'd call the cancellation line and explain that while you like the service, the price is just too high. See what they'll do for you.

s.

Many thanks for the input. Called them today and had a $265 bill for two cars reduced to $94; and as you told me one of the cars renews every five months.

 

[Mamrak1]

You never pay what Sirius XM asks for renewal. Everything is negotiable and they know that. Once you mention that you want to disconnect then they will deal for the most part. If you get someone from India, always ask to be transferred to a US agent.

The Indians stick right to the script and won't budge on price. The US agents are more flexible and will work with you.

I did drop my home radio from what I was purchasing from them. Now I get renewals constantly. Don't be fooled into thinking that Sirius will not budge on price. Someone has to pay Howard Stern's salary!

 

[Wildcat]

I gave SiriusXM another spin for two months when I picked up the current car I have, which has XM built in. I was an early adopter of XM when it came out, and its music channels were beyond compare. But one by one, they started killing off the channels I liked, or changed the ones that they kept, which I did not like. Then once Sirius took over, the channels got really dumbed down, and then they took the axe to all of the great on-air and programming talent they had, one of which is an acquaintance of mine. This free trial did nothing but confirm how dumbed down the programming has become on some of their channels. The only one I listened to at length was Symphony Hall. They totally ruined Chrome, destroyed it. The 50s and 60s channel have a small fraction of the depth of programming they had during the XM days.

Sad, really. XM was a winner, until they got Siriused.

 

[Respighi]

Just got back from a road trip. Listened to Sirius XM for hours in my wife's car. It was like nails on a black board. I was thinking, are we in a bad reception zone, is it this channel, can it really be this bad? I have listened to FM in the same car and it has a very nice stereo. I had to search here to see if it's just me. I can't believe how trashy it sounds.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Condorsat, you can sign up for a free trial like I did, you get 30 days and no CC needed either....

XM in our CTS has that same punchiness as well. Beats me why though... It sounds better than FM.

For me, Sirius/XM is not better than FM. Only in content. Big issue is not enough bandwidth. Fine for talk. Not so for music. My McIntosh MX 114, my HH Scott 312D, and my Sansui 4000 tuner section beat any satellite radio, all but a few handful of streaming stations (which I find superior to Sirius/XM). The Bose head unit in the CTS does not show it for what it really is. Listen to it at home, then report back. I can hear the artifacts.

 

[jdmccall]

I've yet to hear SXM deliver good sound. OK for background music. That's about it.

 

[silver faced]

I can tell you in my Silverado living up in the mountains of AZ with 2 stations available 4 intermittently , XM is a life saver. As far as sound i have a factory Bose system and i can not distinguish a difference between CD,XM,FM

 

[VinylDan1]

I like SiriusXM for the ability to keep driving without losing stations, but it's sound quality on some stations leaves much to be desired. Some stations aren't that bad though. I will say this, on my stereo streaming through the iPhone app over airplay sounds much better than my Sportster re-play radio does.

 

[illini]

Sirius XM is good for talk, and nothing else.

I disagree.

I've been listening to SiriusXM in my new Honda CR-V, especially the Spa and Real Jazz channels, and they sound great. The comedy channels also rock. Bluesville sounds great, too.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

A car audio system but few don't tell the truth. Foreground listening at home does. If you can't hear the codec artifacts, two problems are noted. Your gear is not revealing enough, or your ears can't hear. Nothing wrong if it does not. I can hear the difference. Which is why I don't pay for this service. And my gear is quality, but not the most revealing.

 

[Wildcat]

Pandora over Bluetooth sounded better in my car than SiriusXM. I know that XM's sound quality took a dive once Sirius got in there and changed things up. It never sounded 100% but on my last free go-round, I could not believe how poor it sounded...and this was over a stock factory system. It was so bad that I have no plans to get it for my Pioneer head unit. With 384GB of storage space, I can carry all the high-res tunes I want on the road...

 

[Mamrak1]

Sirius/XM had a monopoly when it came to paid audio for vehicles. That no longer applies these days. I just dropped my Sirius/XM service this past week. I am not in my car enough to justify their outrageous pricing. Yes, I would argue them down, but what pain in the ass! The sound quality was always poor for me. I tried writing to them about the bandwidth, but got the standard reply... Sorry Charlie.

I will be counting the days until I get a letter begging me to come back with one of their bad offers.

 

[illini]

A car audio system but few don't tell the truth.

I respect your feedback. I've got the ears and home equipment.

But I almost gave up on car audio a few years ago, as I rented cars frequently and all of the systems I encountered sounded like stool. All makes and models.

Then I bought my first Honda CR-V and I was surprised by the clarity of the stock sound system. With SiriusXM I can explore new music from genres I used to laugh at - New Age (Spa, Escape) - and also get reacclimated with Jazz and Blues.

Not to mention the Comedy channels.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

I get where you're coming from. I love the selection on Sirius/XM a lot, and the fact that it's available whereever you drive. I wish there was more bandwidth so I could enjoy listening to it better in a foreground application. With my broadcast background, I am sensitive to codec artifacts and can hear them pretty well.

 

[uofmtiger]

A car audio system but few don't tell the truth. Foreground listening at home does. If you can't hear the codec artifacts, two problems are noted. Your gear is not revealing enough, or your ears can't hear. Nothing wrong if it does not. I can hear the difference. Which is why I don't pay for this service. And my gear is quality, but not the most revealing.

I think that some sound systems are made to sound better with SiriusXM. My BMW actually sounded pretty good with SiriusXM. Not sure what they did to make it sound that way, though. In our Wrangler and Forester, it sounded pretty bad. The BMW had, by far, the best sound system, so I think it goes against the grain of thinking... better system being more revealing of flaws.

I have a year of it with my Wrangler, so I mainly listen to talk with it. However, nothing sounds good in the Jeep anyway, so if you want to listen to music, it is a huge compromise. I will probably upgrade some of the system, but it is fighting an uphill battle in this particular vehicle.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

I suspect the DSP implementation on car systems and their tuning to vehicles may be a factor. Some vehicles sound better with Sirius/XM than others.