Satellite Radio with Class

*******Update
It's been a few years now and this unit still kicks! Rock On!

I have been pondering the purchase of a satellite radio for almost a year now (styling was questionable for me), but once I saw the new Delphi XM SKYFi2, I was hooked. I bought it right away and found out that you need to buy either a home adapter kit or a car adapter kit in order to use the device, as it has no stereo phone jacks or power supply; and it doesn't use batteries.

So, I bought the home adapter kit which comes with a small powered cradle and a small satellite dish (about 3" by 4" in black). It also comes with the power adapter and a mini phone jack to RCA stereo adapter (you can plug in your own headphones instead of the RCA adapter).

Set up was fairly easy for me, but will depend on your circumstances. For example, the Satellite dish must point south to work. So ask yourself if your stereo is next to a south facing window. My stereo is in the middle of my living room, so I got a snake to run the satellite cable under my carpet. The satellite cable is pretty long, about 14 feet; so it just made it across. If I didn't have a carpet, I would have to run it across the ceiling or something! I got lucky. So just plug in the RCA adapter and hook it up to any AUX connectors in back of your stereo; plug in the power adapter and turn it on!

Next, if your satellite is pointed correctly, you will here actual XM demo broadcasting. If you cycle through the channels you will be presented with your Delphi XM ID#. You can register online or call XM. I registered thru the web at XMradio.com. This process was fast, less than 10 minutes (credit card required). Once that was completed it took about 45 minutes for my Delphi box to start receiving all the channels. Overall, the operation was smooth, the only two things that caught me by surprise was the satellite needs to be next to a south facing window and waiting 45 minutes felt like 45 hours!

Style
This is a small and sleek unit that is light weight and very portable. I never liked the older version as I only saw it with its dim amber light and cheap looking dial. When I first saw the new Delphi XM SKYFi2 unit working at Circuit city I bought it immediately. The difference is that it has a bright whitish\blue lighting scheme that makes this device look serious. Also, the dial was changed to shiny chrome and all the preset buttons are backlit, which makes it look more appealing.

Features
This device can record up to 30 minutes of music and you can pause it as well (for up to 30 minutes). This feature works great if you get a phone call so you don't miss a beat.

You have 30 presets divided into 3 groups A.B and C. This is handy as my wife's presets are under A and mine are under B.

It has a stock ticker and sports ticker, which tells me game times of only the teams I select. And it has a stock ticker of only the symbols you choose from a list of about 9,000.

It has a full function remote with power and presets, a handy device.

It has an FM modulator that (with the car adapter) will allow you to listen to XM through your existing radio using no wires. I don't use this feature, but I hear if you are traveling state to state frequently you might want to hard wire the XM radio to your car stereo as the FM signal will eventually overlap as you travel and cause static.


XM service
So far I have heard only a few drop outs, but only on a cloudy day. The drop outs last a sec or so at a time. Nothing major, but weather does play a part. There is no static, you just hear no sound. On a sunny day reception is terrific; I would say CD quality.

Home adapter
This adapter set me back about $50. There is no way around this as the base unit has only an adapter interface on it. This must be plugged into a Car or home adapter to get power, satellite connectivity and an audio output line. I actually had to return the first Home Adapter Kit I bought because the left channel was giving me awful static. I thought it was the way satellite was! I exchanged it on a hunch, and was pleased the new one worked flawlessly. So it turns out the adapter quality played a factor here!

Car adapter
Never bought one, but you have to have it to power up and attach the satellite connection to your Delphi. The audio can go through the FM modulator or hard wire connection.

Sound quality
I can't give you a sample but I can't complain. From a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being best), I give it a 7 1/2)

If you are on the fence, get this device. Its hot. And it's the reason I didn't choose Sirius, cause their devices look terrible. I have to enjoy the way it looks and feels to be happy with this luxury item!

PS don't forget you have to buy the car or home adapter and pay $12.95 a month to XM to make this device useful, otherwise, it's a paper weight!