Customer Reviews

Delphi SA10004 XM Radio SkyFi Home Adapter Kit

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

XM Radio and the Delphi equipment for the most part live up to the rave reviews:

=marvelous on long road trips, no need to fear moving out of range just when you've found something engaging
=sound quality generally equal to FM
=wide, wide variety of programming

But, I do have a tip and a concern. The tip: if you plan on using the home stereo adapter, spend the $20 for a Monster cable to connect to your amp or receiver! It took me two trips to the retailer to get this resolved. It's especially disappointing since big bucks have been invested in the technology and programming and in the last few feet the signal quality is degraded to an unlistenable level -- and you've got to believe that the "adapter kit" is a pretty high margin item for Delphi. Had they maintained the quality of the product maybe Mr. Johnson would have been happier.

The concern: I hope XM takes advantage of the opportunity to take radio programming to some new and creative places. There's quite a variety here, but much of it tends to become a choice about preferred "wallpaper" music. It doesn't look like we're ever going to get anything creative from commercial radio, and XM has vastly greater resources than Public Radio if they want to use them.

My system works great (now) and there's a lot of potential here. It's worth getting now and we'll look forward to more from XM.

Listening to good music or news, commercial free, is impossible unless you go on the internet. But, if you're in an office environment, and want to listen to the music or news, then you eat up the broadband....which employers and systems administrators don't like. With this radio receiver and home adapter kit, I can listen to any kind of music, live television news broadcasting such as FOX News and CNN, etc. without using any broadband at all. I've configured my receiver and adapter kit with my notebook computer, speaker system, and my Sound Blaster Extigy. The reception and sound quality are magnificent. I plan on buying the car adapter kit so I can transfer my radio receiver (Delphi SKYFi XM Radio Receiver) from my office to my car when I have a need to. If I take my car on a business trip or if I take a vacation, I have access to 100 channels of commercial free music and live television news programming. The sound quality, the selection of channels - various types of music, comedy, news, weather, etc. makes this a MUST. It's small, sleek looking, yet powerful. The "icing on the cake" is the unit's sleekness, quality, portability and cost. The antenna needs to be pointed towards a window. A long antenna cord will come in hand for some users who aren't very close to a window. I don't know what the reception would be like if a person was in a windowless office. You will also need to have a monthly subscription to XM Radio at 9.95 per month. You can activate your service online in less than 5 minutes. My advice is this: "Quit wasting time...go get one"

I just bought the Delphi SkyHi/XM Radio setup for my home stereo and I love it! It was fast and easy to hook up to my stereo, and I get better reception than with my fm antenna. There is a feature on the remote control that enlarges the song information so I can read it from the sofa. Nice. I have my stereo near an east facing window and haven't yet experimented with different locations around the house. But I can tell you that the reception doesn't change when I lower my miniblinds. Even if your stereo isn't near a window, the antenna cord is very long. That's just the hardware side. The programming is great! I'm still in the phase where I can't decide which station to listen to because there's so much! The only drawbacks at the moment is, even thought there's a ton of programming, they don't get the Dr. Demento Show, or a couple other talk shows that I listen to regularly on my drive home from work. But, I'm so excited that I just bought the car setup so I can listen on trips.

I recently rented a Cadillac from Avis and was able to listen to XM at no charge. My wife and I really enjoyed it and decided the home kit option was something we were very interested in as we don't spend long periods of time in our cars.

I was reluctant at first because of worries regarding the antenna not being in a south-facing window. My stereo system is in a built-in entertainment wall and does not allow for the antenna to be pointed at a south facing window. After reading that many others have had success with the antenna in less than ideal areas, I decided I would give it a try. My house is 2 years old, one story brick with a normal pitched roof consisting of plywood decking and dimensional fiberglass shingles. It has 10 foot flat and tray ceilings.

After hooking up the cables to my surround sound receiver and placing the antenna on the top of the stack of stereo components, I pointed the antenna generally to the south and toward the ceiling at about 45 degrees. I plugged the SkyFi in and immediately was getting two bars on the signal strength indicator. I do not have terrestrial repeaters in my area, so I am relying solely on the satellite. After a few quick adjustments I was getting 3 bars or it bounced between 3 and 2 bars.

I was very happy to have it work, and it is not even close to sitting in a south-facing window. After getting a strong signal and hearing the sample channels loud and clear, I activated the subscription online. I timed it and it took 12 minutes before the tuner updated and began receiving all channels. I was pretty impressed it activated that quickly.

I picked XM over Sirius because I had a chance to hear it in the Avis rental car and I trust Delphi equipment. Overall, I am very happy with the SkyFi, the home kit, and the XM service.

I purchased the SKYFi system for my car a month ago, and have turned right around and gone back to get the home adapter kit. It's sleek, cool, and easy-to-use ... and I can move it from my car to my house with ease. The sound is awesome, reception is great, and I'm happy as can be with the choices on XM Radio. It's almost worth the price of admission just for the "Fred" alternative rock channel, and the other 99 are just an extra-added bonus in my book.

I understand that Delphi will be introducing a boombox-style device that also fits the standard SKYFi receiver unit, so it'll be even more utilitarian.

If you love good music both at home and in the car, then you've got to get this.

This device makes the ten bucks a month for XM radio the best value going.

Now I listen to XM in every room of the house: I had a few advent wireless speakers laying around gathering dust. I love hearing the comedy channel while doing chores, and ofen drift off to sleep listening to classic radio shows like 'The Shadow' and 'Burns and Allen'. I also love CNET radio (fer geeks), and there are so many great music stations I can't begin to list them. The sound and reception is great, and the device is a pleasure to use. The display is awesome, the buttons are well laid out and easy to use (even in the dark; I have the unit on my nightstand; it has a thoughtful auto-turn off feature).

I find myself glancing at my regular radio now to see what song's playing - no such luck. Only on XM!

HINT: The SkiFi radio fits perfectly in cases made for the GameBoy Advanced -- pick up one of those nice padded cases so you won't ruin the the thing by droppnig it while you're toting back and forth from the car. I already dropped mine once, carrying my toddler with arms full -- took the fall though, just had to pop a dial back on, good as new.

Get this... really.....it's cool!

This little gadget is just great. Small, portable, affordable, and delivers great sound (also has a very handy remote control). While in a car, I flipped a few times between FM and XM, and you just can't compare the quality... the difference hits you immediately.

It is so small that you can just put it in your pocket and move between the car and home or office with a total ease. I travel a lot, and now have my XM radio (with all the presets) anywhere I go, rental cars, hotels, etc. Very highly recommended, you just can't go wrong with this one.

Great portable satellite radio unit. Sounds great in the house, in the car, anywhere you want to use it. We have the car adaptor, home adaptor and the boombox. They all work great. No one should be without this technical marvel.

Looked all over for this unit for my dated Skyfi init -should have shopped Amazon first. Everything as advertised -worked perfectly out of the box.

XM is awesome. And the ability to use the same unit in your home is even more awesome. 100 channels - commercial free. Plugs right into my receiver. No more FM radio nonsense.

Go for it