Home > Consumer Reviews > Delphi SA10000 XM SKYFi Radio Receiver

I can't say enough about this system. For years, I have been disenchanted with commercial radio and the junk they play. If I wanted good music, I'd have to shell out a king's ransom for CDs. I had gotten to the point where I didn't even bother listening to music anymore; I'd just tune in NPR in the car and watch TV at home for entertainment.

I was skeptical about paying for satellite radio until I checked out the sample programming at www.xmradio.com. It took me about a day to realize I couldn't go another day without it. Now I listen to the radio all the time at home, and I've even hooked up the Home Adapter kit at work and listened through my computer's headphones. (It took a bit of doing to position the antenna for good reception in my office 'cube farm' inside a steel-and-concrete building, but I got it to work!) Now I can't wait to get the car adapter so I can take my stations with me on the road.

One of my favorite features on the Delphi SKYFi is that you can save Artist/Song Title information while listening if you hear something you really like. This has allowed me to discover several great new bands since I started listening to XM. I can confidently pick up new CDs of bands I'd never hear on commercial radio. It's like having a great college radio station!

Another great feature about the Delphi unit is that you take your one subscription with you wherever you go; there's no need to pay for an extra receiver, even though XM offers additional subs at a discount.

XM radio has a great fan following. Check out www.xmfan.com for a great online community of fans and fanatics. I learned a lot about antenna placement in poor-reception areas (XM at work!) from reading the message boards.

Quit stalling. Buy it. I promise you'll love it.

Forget the naysayers. This product was worth every penny, as well as the subscription fee.

I do not own a car, as I am legally blind. However, one does not need to own a car to enjoy XM radio. I live in the Coachella Valley in southern Central California, and quite frankly, the radio reception here bites, even on shortwave.

I also live in an stucco reinforced apartment, with NO WINDOWS at all in my bedroom.My Sky FI radio rests in the boombox docking station, and sits on top of my televison set. The antenna is simply clipped to the back of the boombox, and I do not use a single inch 0f it's 20 foot cable.

The radio works flawlessly.

All 121 channels.

No fading or digital artifacts.

The sign up process was quick and painless. I was up and running in under an hour.

Belive me, XM blows regular radio out of the water. My two favorite channels are 163 (Sonic Theater) and 164(Old Time Radio)

These 2 channels are well worth the subscription cost alone.

XM radio should side market this product to the visually impaired or blind as well. I could think of no greater a gift for someone blind, such as myself. An A PLUS!!!

I have had one of these units for myself and bought one for the girlfriend. These units provide pretty good reception (much better than FM) and are easy to use. My complaints would be that the display can be washed out in the sun light, and that it is a little oddly shaped for the car dash in some cars, and that there is a need for better filtering on the home unit power supply eliminating the chance for buzzing sounds. I purchased this unit for my girlfriend and she loves it and uses it every day with no complaints.

Review of both Sirius and XM radio:

I have had both of these services. Pluses for Sirius are better sound quality (more sharp clear and "open" music with less clipping distortion throughout the frequency range), and they used to be the only one of the two to offer commercial free music.

Negatives for Sirius. The repeats on Sirius are pretty bad at the moment. Not what one expects to hear after paying 12.99/month There is OutQ (look it up on the Sirius website), which is fine, but this agenda bleads into ALL of the other radio stations, so if you are a person of strict faith, you may want to avoid Sirius as the DJs and commedians seem to have an agenda to push, and can offend sensitive listeners. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS HORRIBLE! I was on hold the first time for 25 minutes waiting just to speak to someone before hanging up, wrote and email being "invited to call customer service to discuss my issues" and waited 45 minutes just to speak to a person the second time. Total process the second call was probably around an hour and ten minutes.

Pluses for XM radio:
Great customer service, Used them three times and haven't a complaint. Now with no commercials. Less repeats on the 80s station than the competition, and they have some other fun stations like Sonic Theater where they read books and act out drama. This service is only 9.99 versus 12.99 for Sirius. I beleive XM has more useful equipment. Less offensive and no personal agendas to push.

Minuses for XM Radio:
There is some audio clipping making the music sound a little "muddy" and tiny. The highs seem to be clipped. The audiophile will probably prefer Sirius. The talk on XM sounds a little like that computerized kids game of the 80s Simon. Kind of fake and robotish.

Conclusion:
You decide, I personally picked XM, then went to Sirius, and now I am back with XM. Listen to them in a store and ask friends about them. Good luck!

I purchased my XM Radio Skyfi system from Best Buy just before a cross country trip. My wife and I love it. However, after losing the signal a few times in the rain and then losing the signal for a few days after a heavy rain. I discovered that the magnetic antenna supplied with the system is "known" to be a problem. Best Buy techs know it. And Delphi, the suppliers of the system know it. When I called tech support at Delphi, I got a curt recommendation to seal the area of the antenna where the wire enters the antenna - then I wouldn't have any more problems. In other words, their problem was my problem. The Best Buy techs graciously told me if I got any kind of replacement antenna, they would replace my antenna at no charge. I couldn't find a replacement. The Delphi people need some customer service training. So, if you buy this system, save yourself some trouble and seal the area where the wire enters the antenna. If it weren't for the antenna problem, I'd give the system five stars.

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 generally listen to talk radio in the car along with a few CD's and I absolutely despise FM radio with all of the repetitive commercials and DJ's having meaningless "conversations" with people that call in requests. I love the concept of satellite radio. I like to hear different types of music depending on the occasion or mood I'm in. XM is like a jukebox in the house with something new and different on each channel. I am terrible with song names and groups so I especially like to be able to look up and see the info on the Delphi display.

I picked XM over Sirius because I had a chance to hear it in the Avis rental car and I trust Delphi equipment. Satellite radio IS rocket science, but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to enjoy all it has to offer. Overall, I am very happy with the SkyFi, the home kit, and the XM service.