Customer Reviews

XACT COMMUNICATIONS XTR3CK Sirius Satellite Plug + Play Receiver and Vehicle Kit

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The pros:
Price - I got the receiver with home kit bundled together for approx $80 at Sam's Club.
Simple - this thing is quite easy to set up.
Pre sets - setting pre-set channels is very easy on this unit. I didn't read the instructions on how to do this ... and I was still able to figure this out ... it was that easy. If I'm not mistaken, you can pre-set up to 30 channels.

The cons:
Display - on sunny day, it can sometimes be difficult to see the display if you have the unit sitting on your dashboard.
Tuner - the rotary dial is very easy and intuitive to use (works like an old time radio) but as another reviewer stated, it's a pain in the rear end to go from a low numbered channel to a high numbered channel manually. Solution? Use the pre-sets!

Summary - I've had this thing set up for about three months now and haven't had any problems. Sound is good - if you use the built in FM transmitter, be sure to choose a channel that is truly not being used. The factory preset is to 88.1FM ... even if there is an existing weak signal on this frequency in your area, choose something else. Once I figured out this 'trick,' sound quality improved dramatically and is now crystal clear.

I bought mine 1/8/06 (Bestbuy, $29.95 on sale) and also bought the home kit at the same time ($49.95). Got home, went to the Sirius website, signed up for service and had the sweet sounds of their programming in my home all within 30 minutes.

I opted to utilize the built-in FM transmitter to link to my home theater receiver, and was satisfied with the sound quality. I got lucky with my antenna placement because the window closest to my stereo faces North-West, exactly where it needs to be for reception at my Florida location.

Running the antenna in my car was a bit of a pain, but it was worth the hour I spent installing it. Again, I use the FM link to listen in my car.

As for user features, I must confess to being one of those lazy people that learns a few favorite channels, then uses the remote to directly access them. Over time I may actually read the manual and program the pre-sets.

Overall, I'm very satisfied. The unit fits in my shirt pocket, and I use it every day. I don't understand some of the complaints from the other owners. All I know is that I wanted a cheap unit to listen to Howard in my car & home, and the XTR3CK with the XS052 home kit got it done for $80.00. The bonus of all the rest of the great Sirius music & programming lets me easily justify the monthly subscription.

Super easy to install and use. I was set up with Sirius within 5 minutes of plugging it in.

The kit includes everything you need to do a self-install. Comes with suction cups as well as adhesives for optional unit mounting. The antenna is magnetic and it comes with a weatherguard for any exposed wires. It also has a built in FM transmitter selectable from 87.9 to 107.9 FM MHz range to avoid interference.

Also, the display text flips with a click of a button so you can mount it upsidedown.

I would definately recommend this for its ease-of-use and a low cost.

Our local warehouse club was closing these little units out, with a great price of less than $30 for the radio, car kit and home kit, plus a remote. It was too good of a price to ignore.

I picked up one of the units, and got it installed in less than 10 minutes. I got the service activated, and it worked quite well.... for about 24 hours. After the first day, the radio would completely lose its memory of all station presets and revert to the standard non-subscriber channel of 184.

Well... this wouldn't work, so I took the unit back and exchanged it for a second unit of the same kind. After installation, I was quite happy that everything seemed to be working.... until the next day, when again the unit completely lost its mind and lost all preset frequencies and would revert to channel 184 everytime I would turn off the car.

Now, let me say, that for the 24 hours the unit worked, it seemed quite good. The built in FM transmitter easily could be heard over local noise, and the signal was clear and clean.

However, given that there was obviously a problem, I tried to call the manufacturer, XACT. Well.... they do have an 800 number, but there is nothing but pre-recorded help messages. You can't get to an operator, and there is no live customer service!! In other words, no support.

So, this second one went back to the store, and I've picked up a completely different unit, the InV. It seems OK so far, but the FM transmitter in this new unit is weak, and even using the FM extender antenna, works marginally. I would only recommend an installation if you can directly feed audio into your car's stereo system.

Well, there's my two cents.... nice radio, but poor construction and no customer service from the manufacturer. You'd be best to find something else.

Well, For those who have had bad luck with the unit, I hope after writing this review, their gremlins don't come to haunt me.

I have owned the unit for a week. Not long I know. I purchased the home kit at the same time as the car unit.

First, The unit is easy to use and the buttons have a very positive actuation point. Not sloppy. Sound quality through the FM tuner to the car stereo is ample for most of us. Directions for use could be better but, like most electronics......... there just seems to be something lost in translation. The car antenna is good and I have not had any dropped signals. As for the home antenna, it should be positioned outside or to the south side of the house near a window seems to work better.

Overall, for the price, a good entry level unit into satellite radio.

The dial on the side, to scroll through the channels at first, I liked. Then, it became cumbersome to flip through 40 channels to get to the kids Disney channel from NPR News. That's what presets are for! The credit card size remote is a cool gadget best left for home use out of the car.

Actually set up the home unit first to actuate the subscription. Yes, this is a subscription service. If you don't know that prior to purchasing ANY radio of this type you shouldn't likely be driving!

I most likely will upgrade to a boom box in the summer.

I did a head to head compaarison with the Sirius Sportster.
The Xact Visor is an inexpensive unit,and is now available at Wal-Mart for $29.00 but has some great qualities.
First in the car,the visor was better at reception than the other unit,and this is with the antenna sitting on the dash only,you will always get some dropouts when going under a bridge,etc but this is normal.
Second,I purchased the boom box for the visor,it is a nice unit itself,and it is sitting in the middle of the living room,with the antenna attached to the back of the box,and working great.
Another Big difference i found is the FM Transmitter,in the Visor it is Awesome,and strong.
In the car it helps overcome interference where the other unit does not.
In the house,i can turn on the Stereo,in the living room,and the radio in the kitchen,and the boom box in the bedroom,and they all pick up the signal from the Xact sitting in the Living room.
Wanted to share my experience from a direct comparison...

I recently bought this as a gift for my roomate as an inexpensive way for him to join the Sirius family. Basically so he could listen to Howard Stern. I myself have the Starmate which I would also recommend. The Starmate actually has a few more features such as the ability to Pause and Record (briefly - 44 minutes). This receiver does not have that ability but all in all after showing my roomate how to use it and testing it out a few times myself, I find it very useful, very effective, and a great value. Signal is NO different than the more expensive models, you get the same content, and stories of over heating are a myth. I'd buy it and I'd reccommend it.

I purchased this receiver to use exclusively in my car so I would not have to keep rotating my Sportster unit from the home docking station to my car several times a day. I have been frustrated in the reception with the XACT unit. The signal is not as strong and when I pass a driver with a satelitte radio their signal overpowers mine. These our problems I never had with the Sportster. Considering I'm paying for a 2nd subscription to use this unit it is disappointing that I am not able to enjoy it fully.

I had purchased from the Sirius website a sv1 Sirius radio but could not get it to perform to my satisfaction. I looked around for another radio and found the Xact Radio. It does perform much better than the Sirius SV1 when it comes to the amount of static you hear and I don't have to change FM frequency's all the time trying to get rid of static. Problem solved!

I got one of these little wonders to put in the car, and it does what it's supposed to do: Bring the best radio on radio into my car! I've noticed very few dropouts with this, unless you're parked under a bridge or something like that, you should get a strong signal.
I do, however, highly recommend that you use the audio out to a line in on your car stereo, it's much better quality and the volume is much higher than using the FM transmitter, but if that's the only way you can connect, it works well enough :)
I don't listen to terrestrial radio any more thanks to this!