XM radio who has it in their boat?

[PEARCE]

I was wondering why the sound quality was so bad. We have it in the truck and at times it's like nails on a chalkboard bad. I would never consider it for the boat because of the poor sound quality at high volume. I'll stick with the ipod or Pandora.

 

[OperationROL]

We have Sirius and use it all the time. For me there is an added advantage of being able to go boating and still catch the Cowboys game, F1 or Nascar race. We activate the radio in the boat for 6 months. I will say each year we always have an issue of when they activate it. They usually do it too early and we pay for tunes we can listen to in April. Besides that we love it.

 

[TechRider]

same as @OperationROL

 

[Zarrella]

I have it in all of my vehicles so it only seemed right to add it to the boat

 

[David Analog]

I was wondering why the sound quality was so bad. We have it in the truck and at times it's like nails on a chalkboard bad. I would never consider it for the boat because of the poor sound quality at high volume. I'll stick with the ipod or Pandora.

If it is like "nails on a chalkboard", that is entirely something else going on. It's just very compressed with a more limited bandwidth than a CD for example. They only have so much bandwidth and they are streaming what seems like a zillion channels.
For those who are not particularly critical of their download file quality, they may not notice a difference.

 

[PEARCE]

Well, it's not as bad as nails on a chalkboard. It's just not as high quality audio as the ipod or even FM radio. I do have a noisy truck and I have upgraded the sound system to compensate for the noise, but I still need to turn up the volume more listening to XM compared to other sources. Like you David, a lot of the time it's on in the background because of the kids in the back seat and my wife and I are usually talking. However, when I want to rock out without anybody with me I usually plug in the ipod or a cd. I've been in many high end cars equipped and playing satellite radio and to my ears the sound just isn't as bright.

 

[Julian]

Never noticed a quality issue, but I'm not allowed to crank the tunes either....unless I'm alone. And when I am alone I've not noticed a fidelity issue.....that maybe due to too many concerts? Lol

 

[David Analog]

Well, it's not as bad as nails on a chalkboard. It's just not as high quality audio as the ipod or even FM radio. I do have a noisy truck and I have upgraded the sound system to compensate for the noise, but I still need to turn up the volume more listening to XM compared to other sources. Like you David, a lot of the time it's on in the background because of the kids in the back seat and my wife and I are usually talking. However, when I want to rock out without anybody with me I usually plug in the ipod or a cd. I've been in many high end cars equipped and playing satellite radio and to my ears the sound just isn't as bright.

I'd much rather listen to XM than standard FM. Zero interference when on the move. A compressed format usually sounds louder....it just doesn't have the bandwidth and dynamic contrast. So there must be something specific to your unit if it's that bad.
I have XM distributed whole house, pool, etc. and as mentioned previously on all vehicles. As a constant companion, at a moderate level, and when not in the frame of mind to listen critically, I really enjoy it. While I listen mostly to Classic Rock, there is Jazz station (Watercolors) that has the most amazing artist mix. One of the few venues that really focuses on making great studio recordings. Again, as long as the level is moderate, it sounds good.
However, I do have HD FM in both in-house zones and it is pretty good audio quality. Both good tuners, huge antenna in the attic, and stationary.

 

[Evil Sports]

I use one of these in my boat, easy to deal with ,XM Snap radio

 

[justason]

I bought an XM Onyx portable radio and a house and portable car/boat kit. So when it isn't in the boat, it is connected to our home stereo. It gets lots of used between the two! Bought a lifetime subscription (which they don't sell anymore!)

Hi julian. does your original radio in the boat come with Sirius ? I was wiring up my docking station last night into the existing system, the antenna that came with the boat does not work with the dock (isnt recognized by the dock). I'm not sure if its a compatibility statement or if the wire to the current antenna is broke.

anyone seen this? These antenna's are passive and nothing should need to be powered.. When I plug in a spare antenna I have everything works fine.

 

[Julian]

Hi julian. does your original radio in the boat come with Sirius ? I was wiring up my docking station last night into the existing system, the antenna that came with the boat does not work with the dock (isnt recognized by the dock). I'm not sure if its a compatibility statement or if the wire to the current antenna is broke.

anyone seen this? These antenna's are passive and nothing should need to be powered.. When I plug in a spare antenna I have everything works fine.

No my original stereo (nor the replacement) has XM, but both have Aux in, so I just have an aux in plug and simply plug into that...from the XM, or IPOD or Phone....but for the most part it is just XM. Although one of the times out last year we had a teen on board who wanted us to listen to his music, and he connected his phone to the new HU (Clarion) with Bluetooth....came through ok.

 

[Tbonz]

I stream pandora through my iphone to my clarion HU. Works great unitl my phone overheats from sitting in the sun...

Ditto, XM in my area is spotty but streaming pandora through my phone works great!

 

[cane.mba]

I actually just subscribed to XM/Sirius for the boat. $9.99 a month for base music stations and no contract. Totally worth it for me because the FM stations in Atlanta are crap, and I get tired of playing DJ with an iPod/ipad/iPhone. I have the bone stock audio set up though, and don't play music loud enough to disturb anyone else. I haven't had any issues with the quality, at least not any I would notice.

 

[David Analog]

To put the XM/Sirius sound quality issue in perspective....
It's a compressed format with limited bandwidth. It doesn't sound as good as HD radio and certainly not as good as a CD.
You may not notice the limitations on a moderate system, on a Bose table radio, or when underway with tons of wind and motor noise, or at a low listening level. Many people don't hear a difference when using Bluetooth or low quality internet downloads so they are likely to be satisfied with satellite radio.
I have four XM subscriptions including whole house distribution, RV, car and SUV. I absolutely enjoy it and won't give it up. I just don't use it for critical listening, on better gear, when it's quiet, and I'm listening loud.