Home > Consumer Reviews > Delphi SA10001 XM SKYFi Boombox

As others have noted:

PROS:

Decent sound, long antenna cord (20'), compact design, clean aesthetics.

CONS:

Flimsy volume control, antenna can't be attached without removing the battery compartment cover, and VERY ANNOYING high pitched hum that makes you think you're listening to AM radio. Unless you are willing to put up with this and need the portability, you're better off buying a home adpater and running the receiver through your home audio setup.

Okay, the boombox doesn't offer sound quality as good as that of a good home stereo system. That's not the point; it allows you to take the XM programming with you, where ever you go, and frankly, no other satellite product does that.

As to other reviewers' remarks about "digital artifacts" -- that's utter nonsense -- any such "artificats" certainly do not orginate with the boom box. I have the Sky Fi connected to my high-end stereo and the sound quality is superb -- not quite as good as CDs, but better than any other media. When I move the SkyFi unit to my boombox, I expect to get boombox quality sound, NOT home-stereo quality.

If I have a complaint it is that the antenna is a pain because it attaches to the back. It would be better placed on the top so the boombox would be able to receive signal regardless of orientation. This isn't a real problem, just a minor annoyance.

Delphi has done a great job of creating a true portable system -- car, home, and on the go -- and the boombox is an essential element of it.

I bought my first XM 3-4 months ago and love it. I enjoy having the cable news at my finger tips and endless static free music where ever I go. The first thing I noticed was that all the chatter from the local radio adds and DJs was gone. Ahhh! what a relief. My only frustration was that I couldn't take this format with me; my old boombox was burdened with the same old adds and limited format. I'm thrilled Delphi has brought this out; I the tunner, car kit and boom box yesterday. My Sony, though very good is going to ebay. I've traded up.

Delphi has solved the problem with a product that is very well engineered. The sound of this boom box is very full. The tunner is great; love the all the display info and options. The satellite antenna wire stores inside the base (in case you don't need to run it to a window .. which I haven't had to do yet .. maybe when we go out of town).

I'm very pleased.

Delphi must have made an attempt to improve this model. Neither unit I bought had the high-pitched noise described by previous Amazon reviewers. But both units I received do have an AC hum when using the power adapter, and both have another noise -- a repetitive, low-level clicking sound.

The noise isn't noticeable if the volume level is set above 6 or so, and if the boombox is placed a few feet from you. But if you listen at low volume with the unit close by, you might find the incessant click-click-click quite annoying. Classical music fans may find this unit completely unacceptable. At low volume during the quieter passages of classical music (XM channels 110, 112, and 113), the clicking sound actually breaks up the audio.

I unplugged all wireless devices in the house (they supposedly can cause interference with satellite radios), but that didn't solve the problem, even with the units placed well apart in different parts of the house. I suspect the clicking has more to do with the refreshing of the SkyFi 2 receiver's digital display than it does any external interference -- it does appear synchronized with the scrolling display when you have it set to scroll.

I understand the SkyFi 2 receiver is not to blame, and that the receiver works well with other home or car audio kits. So, apparently, it's the Delphi boombox.

And there's another overall audio weakness in the product. In spite of the sales talk about the beefy, dual-cone speakers, the units sound like cheapo drugstore boomboxes. Actually, they sound less like boomboxes and more like "woof" boxes. Besides bass being practically nonexistent, harmonics in the plastic cases (sometimes called "case resonance") create a lot of cheap-sounding, mid-range woofiness. That has the unfortunate effect of rendering some talk programming -- especially vintage recordings on the old-time radio channel and the comedy channel -- almost unintelligible in places.

(I did manage to improve this problem a little on one of our units by removing the pop-off speaker grille covers, and by lining the boombox's interior with peel-and-stick felt to deaden the woofy harmonics. I don't recommend anyone try this. Besides possibly voiding the warranty, there are electronic components inside that could cause a nasty shock or could easily be damaged, and there is a heat sink inside that felt must be kept well away from or smoke or fire may result.)

If this is the only experience you have with satellite radio, you'll go away thinking it sounds little or no better than local AM radio. But -- unless you're a classical music listener -- it's not completely bad. Just wait for some heavy discounting before buying one, and make sure that you're willing to put up with some noisiness, and audio quality that's a little cheap-sounding.

For the money -- especially the MSRP the unit originally sold for -- it should have been better.

Boombox is nice, light weight, easy to move around. We got an antenna error and discovered (after much frustration and no help from Delphi or other merchants) that you must have the batteries in the unit even when using the plug for power. This eliminated our antenna error. But once that problem was solved, we love the unit!