I have XM in my car and must say that I'm pretty happy with sound quality. I don't think the placement of the antenna should affect sound quality though. Either you're getting a signal or you're not.

 

Yeah, I have XM in my IS that I just picked up 2 weeks ago. I'm ok with the sound - subjectively, it ranges from slightly worse than FM to on par with.

Anyone also feel that most XM stations have a lower volume than the FM stations for the same volume number?

Still, I like XM's no commercials (too bad can't avoid all DJs...) and variety - I digg the XM Chill station a lot.

I'm thinking about signing up for XM after my trial period if I can get the $77/per year deal.

 

+2 - WarHummer is exactly right. As an example, listen to a song on a pressed CD or a MP3 file of at least 192 Kbs, and then the same song on XM [Sat] - one can clearly here the compression.

So, as someone said: GI-GO - but at least the play list is fantastic

 

And coming from Mark Levinson himself, I couldn't have said it any better

 

My XM sounds better than FM.
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality

 

Bump, okay guys Id like some more feedback on this! Does XM sound better than FM???? Lesser than MP3? Better than AM. I dont want to drop 300 bucks on something I end up hating more than FM...

 

XM sound quality is MUCH better than FM/AM, not to mention the tremendous channel selection. I'm not an MP3 guy, so you'd have to get some additional feedback on that, but my guess would be that XM doesn't sound as good as your MP3 player.

 

Two important things: 1) proper installation of antenna, 2) sound quality is dependent on original source material.

I have the antenna mounted as per Lexus standards and have had no problems with quality or strength of signal after one year of ownership. I think some who mount the antenna inside compromise the signal strength under some conditions.

I listen to a lot of 60's and 70's music, and you can hear the quality of the original recording. So don't expect it to sound better than the original recording. But if I listen to new age jazz on Watercolors (station 71) which has new contemporary recordings the quality is excellent, about the same as a CD.

XM = CD in overall quality, imo. And XM > FM > AM

Personally, I'll never own another car without satellite radio. I even got a free Delphi Roady XT XM radio for my other car (the price was right!), and it also delivers excellent sound, about like a CD. It depends on installing it correctly. One of the features on some of the XM radios is the ability to have Stock quotes and Sports scores scroll across the screen. Lexus' XM system doesn't have this function, unfortunately.