Sirius Satellite Radio and Custom Interconnect

[pjdami]

I couldn't resist the urge today to purchase a Sirius Satellite tuner today at Best Buy. They have a deal going on right now, Kenwood portable tuner, home docking station, car docking station, and FM modulator for what comes out to $129 plus tax after the $50 rebate.

I know some of you use XM Sat radio and prefer it, but I've been reading mixed reviews about the two and this was a fantastic deal and Sirius doesn't have commercials (what some of the reviewers nagged a little about with the XM).

Ok. So I got everything hooked up but Arrgghhh!!! How have I become so spoiled with interconnects. The supplied IC from the tuner to my preamp is a miniplug on one end and then it splits to two RCAs. Although gold plated it is the el cheapo of el cheapos when it comes to ICs. The black super thin stuff.

Doesn't really sound bad per say... got a good satellite strength on the meter, set the tuner to max output gain, but I do notice that the output in terms of dbs is lower than like regular fm on my tuner or cds.

Would love to get a better IC for this. I wonder if Frank at Signal Cable can custom build me one or maybe I can build one myself. I looked at some Audioquest offerings but don't see a strange IC like this available..

Any other ideas?

thanks,
Paul

[dorokusai]

You mean something like this?

[Ceruleance]

Ratshack sells a gold plated mini to RCA converter, so you can just plug that in and run regular interconnects to your system. I think I paid like 5 bucks for mine.

[pjdami]

Yeah man!!

Exactly what I'm looking for. You da man! I'm going to check Circuit City and Best Buy websites for that.

Very cool. I'm digging satellite radio already. It does sound a little thin though. If the cable doesn't help I may just opt to get a dedicated house tuner with straight RCAs out.

Thanks man,

P.

[dorokusai]

I paid $12.50 for the one pictured above, used on Half.com

The adapter is available in male or female RCA terminations. I do not think that Frank makes those at this time, but you could give him a call. He outsources his Y-Adapters.

It is how I hook my computer up to the real gear :)

[pjdami]

Thanks C. for the tip as well. I like options :D

P.

[steveinaz]

Cool! I'm thinking about getting an XM tuner (when they make them high-end) and was wondering if anyone made these as well--thanks Doro.

[dorokusai]

I have had XM, Delphi, for over a year and really like it.

Steve - Cool, glad I could help. :)

[polkatese]

Paul and Mark,
Would you guys be able to do a quick review on the sound quality of either one? Specifically, if you can rate it, in terms of quality, given a full signal strength. A comparison of it, and where it stands, if I rank the rest as follows:

1. Hirez (i.e. SACD)
2. Redbook
3. DTV Music Channels
4. FM Broadcasts

Also, does it perform any kind of Dynamic compression/expander like FM stations?

Thanks, guys!

[pjdami]

Polkatese,

My initial impressions. Very clear with no static (unlike some FM stations that are hard to pull in). Biggest thing I noticed was the volume gain. I have to put my PT5's volume on -20 db to get the same volume (approximately) to FM or cd playback at -30 db. Very smooth sounding midrange and treble whereas cd playback is more detailed and anlalytical. I'm hoping the new interconnect helps me out here.

By the way, I did order the interconnect that Doro found for $29 plus shipping. I will report any differences when it comes in.

For $10 / month, just the cost of a couple of mixed drinks or a few beers, I think it is a good deal. If you pay for a year subscription to Sirius you get a month for free putting it in the same price range as XM's per month fee. I opted for the monthly subscription for now to see if I like it. I'm sure that I would have been happy with either one, XM or Sirius.

As per your rankings, I'm not sure to put it between 2 and 3 or 3 and 4 right now. Let's see how the new interconnect does.

Paul

[walk]

I don't know if this place does online business, they are local to me, but they have all kinds of cables and adapaters (and lots of other stuff). High quality stuff, fully shielded, etc.. and usually 1/2 to 1/4 the price of Monster Cable stuff at the chain stores.

http://www.electronicplus.com/

Looks like they have added online ordering. Their catalog isn't the most user-friendly, but I can vouch for their products. They know their shiznit, too. For instance, I needed a new AC/DC power supply for my old Atari video game system - they had it in stock. I bought a 24-foot A/V cable (3-RCA), Good Guys wanted $90 for the Monster, they had it for $35... works flawlessly, no loss, no noise.

http://www.electronicplus.com/content/products_audio.asp?lname=audio&maincat=aco&subcat=am1 That's audio cables/adapters.