Sirius radio quality vs redbook cd player

I had Sirius in my last car which I traded in 11-11. From 2007-2010 the quality was OK for the car - not great but not too bad either. In 2010 or maybe early 2011 they did a channel re-org and added more channels. This seems to have increased the amount of compression used, and the Sirius became virtually unlistenable, even casually. Sustained vocal, guitar and piano notes would actually wobble a bit in pitch, and there was a lot of distortion. It sounded a lot like a cheap cassette deck. Both my car radio and the home unit I bought gave similar results.

I didn't do Sirius in my new car and cancelled service on the home radio I had.

Have had SiriusXM since I bought my car earlier this year. I've never noticed the inferior sound; but that might be because I'm always singing along with the music in the car. My expectations for quality sound in the car were never high. Whereas with my home system, I'm glued to my listening chair and focused on every nuance of the music coming through the speakers. I love both listening experiences!

I have a Kenwood DT-7000, which is a stand alone home only Sirius Tuner. I am running the toslink, (the only digital out it has) to a Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC. The sound is really quite enjoyable.

It's not as good as MOG or Pandora, (through a Squeezebox Duet) or my Olive 04HD all running through the same DAC, but I still enjoy the sound.

I don't use it as much now with all the internet choices, but it still comes in handy.

"05-14-12: Gz3827

Also, if you have never subscribed to Sirius before, be aware that they are a nightmare to deal with if you decide to cancel (at least that was my experience and also the experience of a close friend).
Gz3827 (Answers | This Thread)"

No comment on the sound quality but I couldn't agree more with Gz3827. Several years ago I had gotten this for my mom, after a few years she said she didn't really use it that much anymore and I should cancel it. The day after I did they took it upon themselves to sign me up for a life time membership and then immediately sent me to a collection agency. Luckily I had documentation of everything and the collection agency was pretty cool (I imagine it wasn't the first time this happened) nonetheless I would NEVER do any business with this company.

Cheers,
Wes

Just returned from an errand in the car and focused on the quality of the SiriusXM and have to say it was pretty good. I don't think it would be fair to place all the blame on the signal. Surely, the car audio system has to be partly responsible. That said, I am not disputing the earlier comments about the low quality signal as heard on a high end system.