Help choosing a new receiver with Sirius Satellite radio

[Spooled-up]

I am in the market for a new receiver for the truck. I want Sirius Satellite radio and I'm leaning towards the Kenwood Excelon . KDC-X679. I'm in the $250 - $350 price range. I've been on Crutchfield, and they include the installation kit with wiring harness and antenna adaptor. They also have the full 2 year factory warranty which other websites don't have. Apparently if you buy from some of these websites, even though the product is brand new, if they're not a factory authorized dealer, the warranty is not valid.



Does anyone have any suggestions on what to look for? I don't know much about signal to noise ratio, etc... Clarion looks good too, but I've only had Kenwood in the past.



Any suggestions?



Thanks.

 

[Helohauler]

The problem I have with all the aftermarkets I've bought is that there is no functioning clock unless the unit is ON.

What a PITA!

 

[Spooled-up]

Here's a quote from the link above:



Display Illumination/Clock Display: When the unit is in Standby mode, the face/button illumination is "keyed". In addition, while the unit is in Standby mode, the Clock Display can be turned on or off using the display control button (clock must be selected for lower text display). When the Clock Display is turned on and the unit is in Standby mode, the Clock Display is also "keyed". Pressing and holding the Source (SRC) button turns the unit off completely.



I just looked on e-bay. I can get the kdc-x979 for less money, but no installation kit, and probably no warranty. It's supposedly new in the box and the seller is an e-bay "titanium" seller. Hmmm, what to do?

 

[Matt400]

Another Option

How about going with a PnP (Plug-n-Play) unit like one of these



They are a lot less money and you can move them to other places like another auto, boat, travel trailer, work boom box or home that way your subscription is not tied to just the truck. All you do is get cradles for locations you want to listen.



If you get one with the industry wide AMPS pattern the cradle that the PnP snaps into will bolt right to many common cellular brackets like this one



These units are packed with way more features than another head unit.



For the best sound reproduction I recommend hardwiring the cradle to your factory head unit using one of these as long as you have a “mode” button on your head unit this adapter just plugs into the back of your OEM deck.

 

[Spooled-up]

Matt

Would the mode button on the factory stereo support the direct wiring box you posted above? I would have to hard wire it as I don't want to use an fm station to broadcast the sirius to.

 

[Matt400]

Would the mode button on the factory stereo support the direct wiring box you posted above? I would have to hard wire it as I don't want to use an fm station to broadcast the sirius to.

Yes that is how I did mine and it works so well I ordered another one for the wifes PT Cruiser cuz I am not impressed with the FM transmitter function on the PnP she uses.



OE decks that have a mode function allow you to switch to a CD changer that plugs in the back. The PIE adapter plugs into that same port.