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2018 Sirius XM adapter


Dwake

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Their standard rates are tipoff.  If you get something XM related and register it online pretty soon you'll get lots of special offers. I keep a separate account for the boat and usually end up paying $29.95 for the 6 Summer months,  then quit, then start again in the Spring.  Cars are on a separate account for 12 months.  They will negotiate.

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3 hours ago, G Spot said:

@IXFE I wonder if you could put the puck in the bottom of the port side bow cup holder and run the wire to the amp board. I don't think that would be hard if you pull the speaker.

I'm curious of ya'lls experience with XM? I haven't been impressed with the sound quality in my vehicles so have never kept the subscription going past the free period. Does it sound good in the boat or are you using it for special programing (i.e., sports/talk radio)?

is your car unit an integrated receiver or does it plug up to a 3.5MM AUX-In? There is a significant difference in SQ between the SXV300 and those using a 3.5. 

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9 minutes ago, MLA said:

is your car unit an integrated receiver or does it plug up to a 3.5MM AUX-In? There is a significant difference in SQ between the SXV300 and those using a 3.5. 

xm sounds like arse.  It is certainly worse than a strong FM signal.  

But we are on remote lakes without good data connections (in some cases zero bars) and the strong signal and varied content of sat radio is desirable notwithstanding the crap SQ.  But the SQ is crap.

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47 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

xm sounds like arse.  It is certainly worse than a strong FM signal.  

But we are on remote lakes without good data connections (in some cases zero bars) and the strong signal and varied content of sat radio is desirable notwithstanding the crap SQ.  But the SQ is crap.

Well, if the bench mark is a strong FM or store bought uncompressed CD, then everything sounds like crap. 

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1 hour ago, MLA said:

is your car unit an integrated receiver or does it plug up to a 3.5MM AUX-In? There is a significant difference in SQ between the SXV300 and those using a 3.5. 

Integrated with the radio. It sounded very tinny in my 2017 yukon while everything else sounded great.

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1 hour ago, shawndoggy said:

xm sounds like arse.  It is certainly worse than a strong FM signal.  

But we are on remote lakes without good data connections (in some cases zero bars) and the strong signal and varied content of sat radio is desirable notwithstanding the crap SQ.  But the SQ is crap.

Weird, our experience has been the opposite.  Both the wife and I have it in our vehicles and have had no issues with SQ, we are not audiophiles but I know the difference between good and arse.  It definitely sounds better than the FM signals around here (lots of mountains).  I am in a '14 F150 with the sony upgrade and the wife is in a '18 Grand Cherokee with the upgraded system.  Both of our vehicles get signal in the garage, somewhat spotty but works so the OB compartment would probably work well.  

We've considered installing xm in the boat but have always used Spotify.  Some of our lakes have steep cliffs and mountains and xm signal isn't always reliable.  

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25 minutes ago, ID AX said:

Weird, our experience has been the opposite.  Both the wife and I have it in our vehicles and have had no issues with SQ, we are not audiophiles but I know the difference between good and arse.  It definitely sounds better than the FM signals around here (lots of mountains).  I am in a '14 F150 with the sony upgrade and the wife is in a '18 Grand Cherokee with the upgraded system.  Both of our vehicles get signal in the garage, somewhat spotty but works so the OB compartment would probably work well.  

We've considered installing xm in the boat but have always used Spotify.  Some of our lakes have steep cliffs and mountains and xm signal isn't always reliable.  

Is it better or worse than streaming spotify (compressed) via BT (lossy)?  On my (non-sony-but-running-aftermarket-amps-speakers-and-sub) 2014 F150 the SQ out of the factory HU between sirius and streaming bt is very noticeable to anyone with ears.

The sat radio bandwidth is effectively 96kps MP3 (I think I read they use AAC, not MP3, but same dif for these purposes). 

Look I'm not a CD only guy or a rip-everything-to-lossless person.  I'll confess I can't hear much difference (if at all) between 160kps and 320, but as you start dropping below 128 it's definitely noticeable even to my tin ear.  STRONG FM (not a staticy in-n-out signal) is better than sat radio any day.  HD radio, if you have it in your area, even more so.  If you can't hear the difference, my bet is that it's the dynamic range of the stereo you are listening on, not the quality of the signal.

Edited by shawndoggy
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11 hours ago, IXFE said:

@dalt1 I dug up a few pics to show what I was referring to. These are from my 2018 23 LSV so your boat is identical. 

Pic 1 - amp board unscrewed and leaned over

Pic 2 - this is exactly what you need to buy. It’s $30 and incl 3 months free. Notice the green arrow I drew. This is the connection to the black box. The antenna cord super long but on the 2018 you’re probably gonna have to drill a hole in your fiberglass to get it up on top in front of the windshield (assuming you want to mount it there). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NJTO4CY/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_LbQaCbQ6T4977

Pic 3 - I zoomed in on Pic one to show you where the sat receiver plugs in to the black box

Pic 4 - another pic of the connection point from a different angle. 

I bet you could do the entire install in 30 mins or less. I hope this helps. 

2E120A66-5888-47E2-B2BB-43ED1411E0FC.jpeg

902EA9C4-7BE0-4490-BD84-D7F006D74DE9.jpeg

20A51E8A-46E3-4EF9-9106-547F8A485038.jpeg

3FCA08C4-8B0E-4D04-9B20-75083F1E10D9.jpeg

Thanks for all this. Think I will do it. I have cell reception issues on a couple lake I use and this is an easy fix as I don't keep any music loaded on my phone. I did Pandora offline last year for like $4.99 a month and that loads your 3 most used recent channels to your phone for offline.

I'm not afraid of the install, I completely gutted my 12 VLX and installed a killer EXILE system. I miss that stereo the most of anything from my old boat.

Edited by dalt1
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On 12/1/2018 at 3:05 AM, dalt1 said:

I was just wondering what it would take to hook up Sirius on my 18 LSV?  So this is all I need and it’s plug and play after subscribing? It is compatible with the black box in my boat?

My plug on the medallion viper box was already hanging out, so it was super easy for me.  Just plugged it in and then pulled antenna through the flip cushion in bow and just set it next to the gps antenna.  Eventually the antenna cable might pinch from opening and closing the  flip back cushion in the bow but I hardly use that flip door anyway .  I did it all with power off, at battery switch.  Turned it on and there was the xm channel 0 broadcasting.  Make sure you are outside so you get reception.  

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  • 5 months later...
On 12/1/2018 at 9:00 AM, IXFE said:

@dalt1 I dug up a few pics to show what I was referring to. These are from my 2018 23 LSV so your boat is identical. 

Pic 1 - amp board unscrewed and leaned over

Pic 2 - this is exactly what you need to buy. It’s $30 and incl 3 months free. Notice the green arrow I drew. This is the connection to the black box. The antenna cord super long but on the 2018 you’re probably gonna have to drill a hole in your fiberglass to get it up on top in front of the windshield (assuming you want to mount it there). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NJTO4CY/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_LbQaCbQ6T4977

Pic 3 - I zoomed in on Pic one to show you where the sat receiver plugs in to the black box

Pic 4 - another pic of the connection point from a different angle. 

I bet you could do the entire install in 30 mins or less. I hope this helps. 

2E120A66-5888-47E2-B2BB-43ED1411E0FC.jpeg

902EA9C4-7BE0-4490-BD84-D7F006D74DE9.jpeg

20A51E8A-46E3-4EF9-9106-547F8A485038.jpeg

3FCA08C4-8B0E-4D04-9B20-75083F1E10D9.jpeg

Installed it yesterday. If I had to do it again I could do it in 10 minutes. Including getting tools. (Phillips impact screw driver, Zip ties, Side cutters to cut excess ends off zip ties)

Remove 2 screws closest to front of boat on amp board. Lean board forward to snag Sirius plug from black box, Plug new receiver in, plug antenna into it and Zip tie receiver to wire loom above amp board, Zip tie antenna to upper left area of storage compartment, screw amp board back in.

Could possibly do without pulling amp board back now that I know where wire was located.

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3 hours ago, dalt1 said:

Installed it yesterday. If I had to do it again I could do it in 10 minutes. Including getting tools. (Phillips impact screw driver, Zip ties, Side cutters to cut excess ends off zip ties)

Remove 2 screws closest to front of boat on amp board. Lean board forward to snag Sirius plug from black box, Plug new receiver in, plug antenna into it and Zip tie receiver to wire loom above amp board, Zip tie antenna to upper left area of storage compartment, screw amp board back in.

Could possibly do without pulling amp board back now that I know where wire was located.

Where did you place the antenna on your boat

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I did the same on my 15 LSV. I pulled the antenna up front. I zip tied it to the wires above the front left cup holders. Works great. 

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On 5/12/2019 at 12:20 PM, phinz said:

Where did you place the antenna on your boat

As far up and to the left of the storage compartment the amps are in. Zip tied to a zip tie anchor that was stuck to the fiberglass.

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  • 8 months later...

Hi...my understanding is the satellite receiver has the ID so you would have to transfer that back and forth. This would also require that both head units be compatible with the sat receiver. Some vehicles such as Chrysler have a Can Bus and the radio runs through it. That would not be easily switched since the radio is communicating over the bus and it has the vehicle VIN tied to it.

order pcb

Edited by TateStiroh
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On 5/13/2019 at 4:08 PM, dalt1 said:

As far up and to the left of the storage compartment the amps are in. Zip tied to a zip tie anchor that was stuck to the fiberglass.

 

On 5/12/2019 at 12:20 PM, phinz said:

Where did you place the antenna on your boat

I have since mounted it outside that area and will get a pic soon.

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On 5/12/2019 at 12:20 PM, phinz said:

Where did you place the antenna on your boat

 

On 5/13/2019 at 4:08 PM, dalt1 said:

As far up and to the left of the storage compartment the amps are in. Zip tied to a zip tie anchor that was stuck to the fiberglass.

 

16 hours ago, dalt1 said:

 

I have since mounted it outside that area and will get a pic soon.

Mounted here as I figured if I ever wanted to get rid of it (I Won't) I could just buy a new SeaDek pad and cover the hole. It works better here than under the fiberglass but it was not too bad underneath.image.thumb.png.8e252465d8bd0c74ed35f254ebbc365d.png

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Just now, dalt1 said:

 

 

Mounted here as I figured if I ever wanted to get rid of it (I Won't) I could just buy a new SeaDek pad and cover the hole. It works better here than under the fiberglass but it was not too bad underneath.image.thumb.png.8e252465d8bd0c74ed35f254ebbc365d.png

Also, never had anyone accidentally cover it with an arm like the Speed GPS  12" towards the starboard side.

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  • 3 months later...

We bought a 2013 Response TXi.  Thought because it had the Sirius logo with was all set like in a Chevrolet Vehicle!!…..

The Radio, a Rockford fosgate RFX-MR5BB,  only scrolls checking Sirius and I get no channels for a Radio ID.

After  reading thru this forum am I correct in thinking an adapter is necessary - so could the previous owner possibly never had Sirius

....if this is the case then we need to buy the Sirius unit to plug in??

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With aftermarket stereos, the SAT logo just means the unit is compatible to play SAT, once the proper receiver and antenna are connected and the service is activated. 

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