First off, thanks to all who responded to my color question, as it relates to age. As for the IRR choice, it's not equipped with satellite radio!? The dealer, who claims to be an audiophile states, no problem. His suggested solution is to download the Sirius App on my phone and play it through the system. He went on to say, the quality through the IPhone App is superior to the Sirius radio through the Meridian.

Opinions and comments appreciated...

 

This is probably true as long as you have sufficient bandwidth to stream. Bluetooth audio generally sounds better than satellite radio.

The key reason I say probably is because I don't know if the Sirius XM streaming app streams at a higher bitrate than the satellite service. i.e. the bluetooth is better than the satellite link, but I don't know about whether the bottleneck is really Sirius XM content quality.

 

I can confirm that streaming my iTunes library through Bluetooth sounds far superior than the Sirius XM radio in the car. I don't know about their streaming service having never tried it.

 

I just quickly tested this in my truck - which has an excellent audio system - and the Sirius XM app streaming via bluetooth does indeed sound much better than the live satellite feed. I'll try again later and report back if a longer listen to the two sources leads to a different conclusion but the early verdict is a win for the app via Bluetooth.

 

Sirius/XM is an option - I gather you're looking at a car on the lot that doesn't have it? From what I understand it's tough to install after the fact, so you'do be stuck with streaming, or a USB device with your library. It also has memory for 10 CDs, so I've ripped those in case of a music emergency.

 

I can - having subscribed two weeks ago - and it kinda s#%^s. My wife and I were actually surprised how awful it sounded (as much as I adore, and prefer, the sound of the exhaust, there are times - and I anticipate on longer journeys - I want the option of SIRIUS radio; other times CD's...which I still listen to often). When we switched to my wife's iPhone - or my iPad - the sound quality improved dramatically. *That was my/our initial impressions.

*Having said all that, there were some tunes (channels) which sounded better than others (real jazz was usually better than classic rock I found - two of my favorites) but I think I need to do further listening to come to a more definitive conclusion.

 

Swajames,

Thanks for the report on the Sirius/XM app. May try that via Bluetooth if it's better than the sat radio, which is horrible. I haven't been pleased with it in the last 5-6 cars, all with good audio systems. I have been very pleased with any Bluetooth source on my 380w Meridian.

 

It's well worth a try, Foosh. I took a longer listen on the way home from a trip out this afternoon and I still found the SiriusXM app streamed to the audio system to be better than the live satellite feed.

Also of note - I had the SiriusXM iOS app streaming quality set to "Normal" and it was still better than the live satellite feed. There's also a "high" and "maximum" setting for streaming which I will also try.

 

I have a lifetime Sirius account, offered back when they first recruited Howard Stern. The selection of music is very limited in my opinion. I did not transfer my lifetime account (transferable only 3 times) to the Jaguar after the free trial. You will be better off streaming your phone with Apps such as Slacker, Iheartradio and Pandora for free.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...-users-136597/

 

Just to keep the thread updated, I played around a little more with streaming with the SiriusXM app and tried it with the stream quality set to both high and maximum. It's very good - much, much better than the live satellite feed. On a par with Spotify/Rdio etc running at their higher bit rate settings.

 

Great news. I'm guessing that's the only way Sirius/XM will survive and that sat radios will soon disappear from cars. Even Ford Fiestas and Chevy Sonics generally have the capability to stream from Bluetooth these days.

The only reason for having a sat radio is if you're in a remote location with no 3 or 4G signal.

 

Also keep in mind that the streaming services use your mobile data, so if you don't have an unlimited data plan with your carrier, you can easily burn through your data allotment. The higher the bitrate, or quality, the more data being transferred as well.

 

FYI: Standard annual renewal rate for Sirius now appears to be $230. Threaten to cancel and you can get it lowered to $33/6mos. For that kind of savings, I'm more than willing to make a call every 6 months.

 

I've been doing this for the past 6 years for 2 cars at the same time. 5 months for $25. i feel bad for whoever pays full price

 

Most recent promo was $60 for 12 months so that you don't have to all every 6 months.