[NickChildress]

Okay, I thought I was going insane....I'm at week 3 with the Bullitt and loving almost every minute of it.

Granted, I hadn't been overwhelmed with the Shaker 500, but on a long trip over the Labor Day Weekend we had the chance to use Sirius a lot more than in the previous few weeks. In a word, I thought it was God-awful. I mean my Dodge pickup el cheapo radio sounds better. If you don't believe me, try listening to NPR on that....you'll think you're getting a short-wave radio distress call from Amelia Earhart over Manila....

I wanted to make sure I wasn't losing my mind or had a bum radio, so I did a Google search for "Sirius Radio Quality". Turns out you get more hits than you do with "Palin Pregnancy". Digital compression....yadda yadda yadda...bottom line, there are people out there with Bentleys and mega dollar sound systems that will tell you it blows.

Sooooo, what do the rest of you think? Does the content outweight the quality? Or am I just another hard-to-please whiner? Will the merger with XM maybe improve things? Thanks.

 

[bluebullitt2180.1]

I am ready to turn in my ears! They must SUCK! :smile: I have not ever had any problem with the sound quality of my Mach 460 (either car, well 2180's speakers are old and due replacement) or either of the Shaker 1000's or my Sirius radio (the one in the 08 B or the one I purchased for 2180.) I guess you could say I am a lucky one that thinks everything sounds good! There are many MANY here that swear by aftermarket stuff. :question:

 

[MechanicMarc]

There is ONE here that swears by aftermarket stuff. :question:

Well, Jeff, you are correct. I do swear by it. But i have my reasons...

At any rate, yes, the NPR and talk stations on Sirius blow (insert your favorite body part here), while the XM channels are very sound quality oriented. Thats why 2445 has both services installed. XM for the talk and comedy along with the great pop selections where Sirius shines in the alt rock and hip hop selections. It all has to do with how Sirius alocates the bandwith to each channel. When a music channel needs more to sound good, it pulls bandwith from the talk channels. XM does not do this. They just play it like it is.

As for why the dodge tuner sounded better, well, the lesser quality radio/speakers will show less flaws in sound quality than in a good, well engeneered system.

 

[Palerider]

~~~you'll think you're getting a short-wave radio distress call from Amelia Earhart over Manila~~QUOTE]
I think the Shaker 500 in general sucks. I would have got the Shaker 1000 but needed the trunk space so am stuck with the weak 500.

 

[BLKBULLITT#2215]

I don't usually chime into discussions like this, but I just drove 1400 miles listening to my Sirius through my Shaker 500 and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My listening tastes include 50's - 80's music, a little blue collar comedy, and the occsional trip to NASCAR and NFL channels. Maybe I'm just old and tone deaf, but I don't have issues with the sound system in my Bullitt. I also had a 2000 hardtop with a Mach 460, and I thought it was great, too.

 

[NickChildress]

Maybe I'M the guy who needs to trade his ears in. I've never thought of myself as an audophile, but Sirius was just so poor that I couldn't help noticing it. In order, I'd put the sound quality of various sources over the Shaker 500 as follows (from best to worst):

CD
FM radio
MP3
Sirius
AM radio

 

[BlackFink]

My Sirius sounds good on my Shaker 1000, the only thing is I have to turn up the volume to get the same sound out of it, as the the cd's do.

 

[Ron]

I put Dynamat extreme on the back deck lid (trying to stop a squeak) and replaced the rear speakers with drop in replacements while I was at it. The combo made a big diff in sound. The better quality speakers seemed to make the Shaker 500 front speakers come to life so I never bothered to replace the door speakers. I listened to Sirius for about 400 miles the other day and I was very satisfied with the sound. Even over rough pavement.

 

[screaming_pc]

I put Dynamat extreme on the back deck lid (trying to stop a squeak) and replaced the rear speakers with drop in replacements while I was at it. The combo made a big diff in sound. The better quality speakers seemed to make the Shaker 500 front speakers come to life so I never bothered to replace the door speakers. I listened to Sirius for about 400 miles the other day and I was very satisfied with the sound. Even over rough pavement.

What brand of speakers did you use for the deck lid replacements?

 

[Ron]

What brand of speakers did you use for the deck lid replacements?

Kenwood CF688s from Crutchfields at 69.95 per pair with the Ford wiring harness adapters.

 

[Dave and Julie]

I only listen to the rock stuff and Howard 100, but I have no issues. I've been listening to Sirius for over 5 years now and I've never had a problem with the quality of the sound. I can tell that the talk channels have limited bandwidth, but I don't care because I can still understand what they are saying.

 

[Big Stig]

I think that the Shaker 500 sounds pretty good. Someday I might upgrade the speakers with speakers from Crutchfield. The best car stereo I have had in a car recently was the Bose system in my 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix. The Monsoon stereo in my 2004 Grand Prix did not sound as good, but the Shaker 500 is better than that.

 

[Jester67]

Talk on Sirius sounds like talk on AM but that is OK because I am use to talk on AM

 

[HG3535]

I've had Sirius for years, in numerous vehicles and have never noticed had a problem.

 

[HG 6416]

I think it depends on the signal strength and channel. Sometimes Sirius is terrible other times it's ok. My new MKX has the THX 600W radio with 14 speakers. At first even the cd's sounded crappy but after adjusting the radio speaker selection they sound just like you're at a high quality theatre. Sirius. . .well like I said signal strength and channel.