Pros: Built-in FM transmitter, lots of options for hook-up, Well thought out design. Excellent satellite reception.
Cons: Transmitter sound quality not so good, inadequate transmission freq selection, XM service is disappointing.
The Bottom Line: Listen to the available stations first before buying. Use the optional in-line FM transmitter or direct input to your radio over the built in transmitter for better sound quality.
pjwlk's Full Review: Delphi SKYFi2 SA10101 XM Radio Receiver
I was pretty excited about getting satellite radio and getting away from commercials. I bought this unit used on ebay and saved over $100. I'm glad I did because now I'm going to sell it (because of the service not the receiver).
First the good: The unit is unbelievable for satellite reception. I went under a concrete bridge that was about 200' wide (more like a tunnel) without losing reception! Outstanding in my books for the world of satellite.
The display is bright and very easy to read and can be set to four different display modes.
There are a number of ways to tune in stations and the detented dial makes flipping through channels very very easy. (I wouldn't buy one without a dial.) The only issue I have with the dial is if you turn the it too slow, the unit gets confused on which direction you are trying to scroll and jumps around a bit.
It was very easy to get my receiver activated on-line and my unit was up and running in about a 1/2 hour.
Now the bad: The reason getting out of XM is because of the service and not the radio. I have only found 1 station (XM boneyard) that comes close to my tastes for a good rock mix and zero stations that fulfill my need for Jazz. There seems to be a real trend of what I call middle-of-the-road tracks being played on most stations. I will say this though, my son has XM and really likes the Hip-hop and similar stations.
I live in the Greater Toronto Area and have found that there is an inadequate selection of frequencies to use for the internal FM transmitter. On my 60 Km drive though the GTA I've found that all of the 8 frequencies are used somewhere on my trip and that I had to keeping changing the transmission frequency to avoid interference. You'll have to shell out another $30 to get the in-line FM transmitter which disconnects the car antenna whilst you listen to XM.
No commercials doesn't mean no talk! I am quite annoyed that I'm paying for music and still hearing someone talking on some of the stations. As far as I'm concerned, the radio's display provides all the information I need from the station about the music I'm listening to. Any chatter XM feels it needs to provide should be limited to the talk and comedy channels. NO-talk is one of the reason I went to satellite to begin with.
"Digital Quality" doesn't mean "CD Quality"! The sound qualilty of the XM service varies quite widely between stations but for the money you're paying I think it should be better. The sound qualilty from the radio itself through the internal FM transmitter leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion and has a hollow sound to it. Thank god I have an equalizer on my car radio, I don't think I could take it without. I'm told the In-line FM transmitter is better but I haven't tried it.
The power cord is too way too short.
It's absolutely ridiculous that the car and home kits are $70. They should be half that price. The optional In-line transmitter is around $30 but still requires you to have the $70 car kit first. The radio should come with power cable and a cradle for your car so it's ready to use with the built-in transmitter.
Large display shows channel number, channel name, artist name, song title, and channel category Plug-and-play connectivity works great with home kit, ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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