Home > Consumer Reviews > Xact XTR1 Sirius Satellite Plug and Play Receiver

I purchased this unit on December 31st (from another retailer). I wasn't sure I would like Sirius and with the rebate it came to only $8. By February 6th (around) I noticed that the unit would go back on when I turned it off. On February 1th the unit stopped turning on and ceased operating completely.

I use it only at home with the home kit that it came with. I bought The Inspire Creative T3000 speakers from Amazon to attach to the unit.

The speakers are fine (sound great when attached to my Mac) but the unit itself wasn't able to play many of the channels in stereo. The sound sounded a little tiny at times.

Also-the lack of numbers on the remote or unit makes it somewhat cumbersome to change channels. You need to move a cursor along a number line that is displayed on the screen of the unit.

Do not waste your time, money and energy getting this product. I have returned 3 of these units in 2 months and getting a refund apparently isn't an option. There is nothing positive to say about this receiver. Wait, here's the positive, when the machine works(for the few days or weeks after you buy it), it works fine. The problem is with each day that you use this receiver, you are shortening your listening life of Sirius. I have subscribed with Sirius for over 2 months and have had a working receiver for less than a month of that time, due to this subpar XACT receiver.

I got two free XTR1s last November as part of the original Howard Stern Sirius promotion, with 1-yr prepaid subscriptions. The units have performed flawlessly since then, no problems with overheating at all. They do get a little warm to the touch, I'd recommend installing them with some airflow for cooling, that's all! The touchpad quality on the unit feels a little flimsy and if I were buying a new radio now, I'd probably pick a newer unit (actually, I did, as I've preordered an S-50 already!) However, that being said, audio quality on the radios is excellent, I mostly use a cassette player adapter rather the FM modulator.

I rate them a 4 for overall quality, but would recommend new buyers consider the newer models, unless they find a good deal on price on one of these.

Took the "plunge" into satellite radio recently. Purchased the Xact XTR1 universal kit with the home/vehicle docking cradle.

THE GOOD : Minimal problems with reception, very few complaints about signal. Antenna even works well enough (most times) sitting on the edge of dashboard inside the car. FM transmitter is very effective (once you manually find a good unused frequency).The Sirius service is great, wide variety of choices, looking forward to the NFL season.

THE BAD: Don't be fooled into thinking that you are going to easily swap back and forth from car to house with this universal setup, it's to much of a hassle. You'll need to consider a separate home unit, or perhaps the optional BoomBox for adventures outside the car. The design of the base unit, that the receiver must plug into, is awkward and only naturally lends itself to being stuck in the middle of the dash. It would have made much more sense to construct a unit with a rounded edges that would utilize one of your cup holders. I found a way to mount it that works OK, but yo may have to be creative depending on the cabin layout in your car.

THE UGLY : The display is fairly no frills when you compare it to offerings of other hardware manufacturers. Minimal presets for your favorites making driving and changing channels a bit dangerous if you are manually looking to change channels when driving. HOT, HOT,HOT - this thing heats up significantly after minimal usage which is a bit disturbing, but not a deal breaker in an of itself.

I am going to try the BoomBox unit for home use and small excursions. If that goes well I would consider giving the unit the receiver a 4th star as an overall solution.

Bought my unit in december when sirius.com had a good promo when you sign up for a year service. I primarily got it because of howard stern, different music than local channels, and NFL because i cant always watch the games on tv.
So to the problem point. I do like sirius radio, it could be better, but I do like the selection of channels, my favorite being Octane 20.
after i had the unit for a month it now comes up with a blank screen when i turn it on almost everytime i power up it does this. i have to turn it on and off 4 or 5 times to get it to stay. not sure if its a short, or is just screwy. many of my friends who bought it around the same time are having the same problems with thiers, im afraid to send back because it may take 3 months to get it back, thats a waste of almost 40 bucks. ill probably send it back closer to my year ending.

unit is very bulky, ive been meaning to mount it but its impossible, its been in my cup holder since december.

only a few presets, and its awkward to enter channels by number, its just stupid, find another unit or go with XM