Well, finally got around to getting the Pioneer FM modulated setup installed. Wish I had done it the day service came out. If you've got a rear windshield (and the TL/CL folks do), I'd stick with the whip antenna glass mounted. It SOUNDS better than FM with a much cleaner signal. Makes you realize how crappy many of your local stations are. Greenville SC has no tall buildings and I've had ZERO problems with signals dropping .

PROGRAMMING - why I bought it in the first place. Outstanding. There are commercials on most channels, but much less than local stations (you know - 21 mins out of every 60 blasting out car stealership ads ). I finally get real jazz & blues during my 35 minute commute (actually, 6 stations total I think). Not to mention The Sporting News & enough other sports radio to satisfy my daily fix. I haven't even gotten to all the other channels yet.....unsigned artists & college/indi music along with some other stuff Plus the coolest thing - I no longer have to tolerate every morning talk show team (John Boy & Billy, et al ) Oh, plus you finally get artist & title info - cool huh?

Highly recommended! Damn - as if the 'Vette wasn't enough incentive to go driving...... :P

 

the public demands pics?
I want it but dont wanna change the stock 6cd in dash..
will it fit in that stupid coin bullsh()t that non navi owners have?

 

Whats the deal with the FM modulator? With that crap you loose the digital quality. Digital quality is supposed to be one of the biggest selling points.
Do all the stations play commercials? The only reason i would consider XM is to be without commercials and digital quality (like direct tv).

 

don't have digital cam right now (umm, another idea for my wish list?) but I just had 'em mount the receiver in the floor behind the passenger seat. The ashtray on a C5 is directly beneath the climate controls and I am just currently redneck engineering by velcro'ing the remote to the front of it. It's about the thickness & size of a removable faceplate and there is a DIN adapter for permament mounting. That depends on how long I keep this oil leaking biatch :P

It probably would sound a little better plugged into an aux jack or run through an XM head but it sounds damned good modulated. At least the best FM you've ever heard, but cleaner and with better definition. Of course, a Z06 isn't exactly an ideal listening environment anyway For music that is........ So, not a big deal for me right now. If I were in a CL/TL with a lower noise floor and higher quality interior, then I might notice.

 

forgot - XM has 21 commercial free stations I think. The rest are half of typical commercial radio (8 mins/ hour vs. 16 - 22 mins). Sirius advertises that they will be completely commercial free when/IF they ever roll out service. They apparently had some leadership problems or something and really delayed their intro to next February. http://www.siriusradio.com Giving up such a lead to XM, I'm not sure they'll make it. Read somewhere that XM needs about 4 million customers to remain profitable. If everyone jumps on XM early, Sirius gonna be screwed. Plus Sirius has only FoMoCo Group, BMW and Porsche as OEM deals ( actually, Porsche will offer both). XM got GM - much bigger numbers. Don't know what Honda/Acura, MB, VW/Audi, etc. are going to offer yet.

Sorry for the novel. I wanted sat radio and XM was the only one available. So I got it (short version)

 

ummm ... I'm in doubt. how do you get better sound if you still listen via FM modulator especially at lower frequency band. I would find a way to directly connect the signal to an aftermarket amp to get the best sound quality.

 

You can get XM capatible heads( Sony, Pioneer, Alpine & Kenwood) which I assume will allow great S/N ratios. Stock Delco system I have doesn't have an aux input so I went with the FM modulated route. It does sound better than local FM which I assume is from lack of background static. The dynamic range obviously is limited by FM bandwidth and your tuner. Again, in my car, dynamic range is pretty much a waste of time, so the FM solution works well for me. $0.02