Is it true you cannot add XM or Sirius to a Navigation-equipped Lexus?
09-19-03, 04:35 PM
#1
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Is it true you cannot add XM or Sirius to a Navigation-equipped Lexus?
I just signed up for Sirius satellite service, so in my efforts to learn more about it I now visit the SiriusBackstage, ClubXM and XMFan forums.
A GS300 owner wanted to know how to put satellite service in his car, so I suggested he check out CL for more info. Then another post appears, saying:
"Any Toyota and Lexus cars that comes with a navigation system, you can not install satellite radio in it!
The only way to to it is to replace the entire system or use Blitzsafe or PIE BUT check to see if it's available for the car FIRST!".
Well, I have not replied yet, but that sure seems a bit too absolute to be true. Especially with all the Plug and Play units that you can use with an FM modulator or cassette interface. I can't see why that would not work in any car, Nav-equipped or not. Of course the dash of any newer Lex with Nav might not look as pretty with a Kenwood or Audiovox satellite unit hanging off the side, but I don't think that's his point.
Are there any known issues with adding satellite service to a Nav-equipped Lex?
A GS300 owner wanted to know how to put satellite service in his car, so I suggested he check out CL for more info. Then another post appears, saying:
"Any Toyota and Lexus cars that comes with a navigation system, you can not install satellite radio in it!
The only way to to it is to replace the entire system or use Blitzsafe or PIE BUT check to see if it's available for the car FIRST!".
Well, I have not replied yet, but that sure seems a bit too absolute to be true. Especially with all the Plug and Play units that you can use with an FM modulator or cassette interface. I can't see why that would not work in any car, Nav-equipped or not. Of course the dash of any newer Lex with Nav might not look as pretty with a Kenwood or Audiovox satellite unit hanging off the side, but I don't think that's his point.
Are there any known issues with adding satellite service to a Nav-equipped Lex?
Last edited by PERRYinLA; 09-19-03 at 04:36 PM.
09-19-03, 06:31 PM
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I've got a 2002 SC430 with the Mark Levinson & Nav and I installed a Sirius unit with the FM modulator and it works just fine. Many of the other SC guys have the same setup.
09-22-03, 05:24 AM
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Re: Is it true you cannot add XM or Sirius to a Navigation-equipped Lexus?
Originally posted by PERRYinLA
Then another post appears, saying:
"Any Toyota and Lexus cars that comes with a navigation system, you can not install satellite radio in it!
The only way to to it is to replace the entire system or use Blitzsafe or PIE BUT check to see if it's available for the car FIRST!".
Then another post appears, saying:
"Any Toyota and Lexus cars that comes with a navigation system, you can not install satellite radio in it!
The only way to to it is to replace the entire system or use Blitzsafe or PIE BUT check to see if it's available for the car FIRST!".
I think you took that statement too literally. We meant that if you wanted the best sound quality, you need to inject the sat feed directly into the "aux input" of the HU. That cannot be done on the later model (1997?? and up) because no one sells a working kit yet (see my posts for the trouble I have with the Blitzsafe model).
Sure, if you want to take the low fidelity approach (RF Modulator) or noisy, cables tangled around your feet approach (cassette feed), you can do that too. But after paying all that money for the sat feed, why would you want to?
Tom
09-22-03, 09:03 AM
#4
Racer
Thread Starter
Thank you , Phu- that's 'zactly what I was looking for!
Tom- Thank you as well. Your points are well-taken, but they can apply to many cars, not just Lexotas. And what that has to do with NAV is still not explained. You can see the whole discussion on www.SiriusBackstage.com. The original question on the thread from the GS owner asked what his Sirius options would be for his car, including the possibility of a Plug-n-Play RF unit. The response I quoted was a bit too absolute for my tastes, and seemed more a deterrent than anything else. So I quoted what Phu said to provide a bit of balance.
As informative as SiriusBackstage, ClubXM and XMFan forums are, any car owner looking for satellite install advice is better off checking his respective car forum instead. CL to the rescue once again!
Tom- Thank you as well. Your points are well-taken, but they can apply to many cars, not just Lexotas. And what that has to do with NAV is still not explained. You can see the whole discussion on www.SiriusBackstage.com. The original question on the thread from the GS owner asked what his Sirius options would be for his car, including the possibility of a Plug-n-Play RF unit. The response I quoted was a bit too absolute for my tastes, and seemed more a deterrent than anything else. So I quoted what Phu said to provide a bit of balance.
As informative as SiriusBackstage, ClubXM and XMFan forums are, any car owner looking for satellite install advice is better off checking his respective car forum instead. CL to the rescue once again!
Last edited by PERRYinLA; 09-22-03 at 09:12 AM.
09-22-03, 11:50 AM
#5
Tom:
"But after paying all that money for the sat feed, why would you want to?"
After living with Sirius for almost a year and a half now, I can emphatically say that - even though I agree with you about the sound quality issues, and I've used the aux input approach in my own car - it is ABSOLUTELY worth having Sirius or XM even with the FM modulator - the programming (content, variety, DJs) is vastly superior to anything currently on FM, and still sounds better than regular FM even with the modulator. The reception is more predictable in that it doesn't suffer from multipath, fade, gain problems, noise bursts, etc.
It is clean FM. So anyone that doesn't want to go thru the pain of creating another aux input where there isn't one already can get sound quality that's at least as good as anything FM has to offer, and programming that leaves commercial FM in the dust.
My $.02.
"But after paying all that money for the sat feed, why would you want to?"
After living with Sirius for almost a year and a half now, I can emphatically say that - even though I agree with you about the sound quality issues, and I've used the aux input approach in my own car - it is ABSOLUTELY worth having Sirius or XM even with the FM modulator - the programming (content, variety, DJs) is vastly superior to anything currently on FM, and still sounds better than regular FM even with the modulator. The reception is more predictable in that it doesn't suffer from multipath, fade, gain problems, noise bursts, etc.
It is clean FM. So anyone that doesn't want to go thru the pain of creating another aux input where there isn't one already can get sound quality that's at least as good as anything FM has to offer, and programming that leaves commercial FM in the dust.
My $.02.
09-22-03, 12:23 PM
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Originally posted by engin_ear
Tom:
"But after paying all that money for the sat feed, why would you want to?"
After living with Sirius for almost a year and a half now, I can emphatically say that - even though I agree with you about the sound quality issues, and I've used the aux input approach in my own car - it is ABSOLUTELY worth having Sirius or XM even with the FM modulator - the programming (content, variety, DJs) is vastly superior to anything currently on FM, and still sounds better than regular FM even with the modulator. The reception is more predictable in that it doesn't suffer from multipath, fade, gain problems, noise bursts, etc.
It is clean FM. So anyone that doesn't want to go thru the pain of creating another aux input where there isn't one already can get sound quality that's at least as good as anything FM has to offer, and programming that leaves commercial FM in the dust.
My $.02.
Tom:
"But after paying all that money for the sat feed, why would you want to?"
After living with Sirius for almost a year and a half now, I can emphatically say that - even though I agree with you about the sound quality issues, and I've used the aux input approach in my own car - it is ABSOLUTELY worth having Sirius or XM even with the FM modulator - the programming (content, variety, DJs) is vastly superior to anything currently on FM, and still sounds better than regular FM even with the modulator. The reception is more predictable in that it doesn't suffer from multipath, fade, gain problems, noise bursts, etc.
It is clean FM. So anyone that doesn't want to go thru the pain of creating another aux input where there isn't one already can get sound quality that's at least as good as anything FM has to offer, and programming that leaves commercial FM in the dust.
My $.02.
09-22-03, 04:21 PM
#7
The navigation system itself does not prevent you from installing the FM modulator. It is the type of sound system installed with the NAV unit - specifically the Mark Levinson system on which the antenna inputs are very different (at least on the LS430 - I can't speak for any other Lexus model). See my post on this website under "XM Installation" Forum, topic: "Lexus LS 430 Trouble" for a little more info and a picture of the antenna inputs on the back of the tuner box. If you can find antenna adapters that plug into this connector then you should be able to install an FM modulator.
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10-06-03, 02:00 PM
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Re: cant install XM
Heard there is about to be a new wireless option for XM that will help install XM in cars with the Nav system. Anyone know more about this?
10-06-03, 02:40 PM
#10
I'm going to guess that it will "broadcast" at a very low power on an FM channel. I don't see any other wireless way of accessing your existing radio and its controls. If this is the case, then it will not only be modulated audio, but will have extra added noise as well. Watch out for the quality. Please post more info if you get any more details.
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