Wondering if anyone currently uses XM radio as a source played on thier Outlaw gear and how the quality is. Same with MP3 or other compressed audio formats.

I plan on moving into a house soon(currently in a condo with paper walls, so no audio equipment for me until the move)and have been browsing these forums for a while creating a "wish-list" for the new house. I have a budget for an Outlaw seperates setup with maybe Paradigm or Axiom speakers and maybe later a HDTV. I did some hard thinking about the day-to-use of this future audio/HT setup and also my listening habits and I'm starting to second quess myself.

I decided I'm not the type to shut myself into a dimmed room for an hour and listen to a single CD while staring at the wall. In fact, since subscribing to XM radio a little over a year ago, I have not played a single CD at home. I basicly listen to XM all the time around the house (sort of how some people always run the TV as "background noise" while cooking, reading, whatever...).

Now I have to ask myself, Is it worth spending this much money on seperates & high quality speakers just to end up playing "close to CD quality" sources? Would I be just as better off with a deparment-store setup if I'm mostly going to be listening to XM or burned "mix" CDs? Or are the benfits of quility audio equipment apparent even when the audio source is less-than audiophile quality? Thoughts?

I did some tinkering with streaming Internet radio a couple years ago with the Model 950 and thought it was a very nice combination. I haven't heard XM to know how it sounds, but would expect it to offer less compression than streaming audio. If all that you are doing is listening to XM in stereo, the RR2150 stereo receiver (due out around the end of the year) and some Axiom or Paradigms would be a good combination. If you expect to add an HDTV later and use the system for TV watching and as a home theater, the 950 and an amp would have you all ready.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

The better your reproduction hardware, the better a good quality source will sound.

I've connected XM radio to my 950 setup -- though I ordinarily use it in my office -- and was quite pleased with the sound.

Yes, you could get by with less, but then you'd want to upgrade later anyway. Especially if you get into a house.

The 950 will give you excellent performance right now with the XM Radio and also offer lots of room for expansion later.

[This message has been edited by boblinds (edited July 20, 2004).]

Boblinds, the main reason this question came up is because a poster on an XM radio BBS said that a higher end audio system will tend to magnify the flaws in the XM stream.

First off, do you notice the XM flaws either at the office or at home?

If so, would you say that the flaws are more apparent when played through the 950? (I assume your office system isn't high-caliber)

As you may know, the quality of the XM stream differs depending on channel and often varies by song even on the same channel. When you said you were "quite pleased", do you remember which channel(s) you were listening to? Thanks for your advice.

I am curious about the measurable quality of the digital signal for music from satellite and the D/A conversion of the signal by the set top box. Are there differences between boxes in terms of quality? Is there a way to convert the signal through a separate D/A converter? Would it even matter? I get DirecTV and the quality is nice but nowhere near through my CD/pre-pro/amp system. I am grateful for any replies.