I'm having an intermittent problem with my radio. Sometimes when I start my car I do not get sound from XM Radio. All I hear is crackling. I know the XM Radio is getting a signal because the radio channel logo, artist name, and song title appear on the PCM display. If I change stations this information.

I bought the factory Sirius from Metro Toyota. I did not know how to install it so I paid a radio installer place to do it. It is staticy now.

It almost sounds like when you have the sound turned up too loud on Windows and your sound loud on the speakers. That static sort of sound when it just gets too much signal. I called the place that installed it and of course they blamed it on the cable that connects the Sirius unit to the sterio. They also installed a different antenna than the once that came with it. The one that came with it was just HUGE.

They installed a small one on the dash. WOuld that matter? It does not sound like it is cutting out from lack of signal. But it could be.I'm not an expert.

Siriusxm Internet Radio Crackle

Any ideas what it could be? I don't think this is an antenna problem. If you're recieving the digital signal with the antenna it'll play. It might skip and break up like a cell phone signal, but won't be staticy. Sounds like the signal is overdriven or something.

I keep waiting for someone with the OEM Sirius system to reply, perhaps the amperage rating or something is different for it than for the XM unit. The thing is this, if it's installed at all it's hard to install incorrectly---the plug goes into the radio and that's it.the rest is all cosmetic. If there are any 'gain' controls on the control unit for the Sirius unit it might help to turn those down--you'd have to find where that is mounted to check it. Hi guys, Here is how mine went. I have a 2006 Prius, package 8 (?) with JBL sound sytem. The guy came to my house and installed Sirius.

The boxes that the unit came in said 'Toyota' and 'Sirius.' The installer is an installer for Toyota. The boxes have mailing labels which state that they were mailed to the guy's Toyota dealership. So, my point is, I believe the unit installed in my car was OEM Toyota Sirius equipment. I just had it installed on Friday.

Give me the week to listen some more and describe it better. But as of right now, Sirius as a whole sounds like Internet radio. Very unimpressed. I went to a friend's hous and listened to his home Sirius system, and it too sounded the same--warbly at times, like low bandwidth internet radio.

As far as the static goes, on mine, it's weird--it's only 'really' noticable on the talk or news stations. BBC World News. I think the music channels are ok. However, this static on the news channels was NOT on my friend's home system when listening to the same channels. Like I said, give me a few days to drive around, and I will report back. By the way, he did install the unit under the amp (under the passenger seat). It just slides underneath it.

Not bolted down or anything, just tightly fits there. He also installed the 'big' antenna, on the inside if the rear window. Yes, I said 'inside.'

I wasn't too happy with this idea, but I figured it was bigger so therefore would get a better signal (?), and I also liked the idea of not having a wire going out to the roof. I'll take a pic or two and post 'em later. Peace out for now!

Click to expand.Actually, the smaller antennas do work better. They are a new and improved design. Yes, the sound quality either XM or Sirius isn't the best. The talk channels are really bad sometimes.

The music channel tend to be much better though. Satellite radio can sometimes sound like a lowbit rate MP3 and sometimes better. It all depends on the particular channel you are listening to as they do vary the bandwidth.

In anycase no one should be getting 'static' at least on a regular basis. My XM2GO radio sometime has a little 'static' when it loses the signal, but I don't think that is 'real static' just the way the radio is trying to fill in the missing data. I've never heard a Sirius radio do this. As was stated above the signal is digital so its all or nothing. Anyway keep us posted!

Oh, a great place for Sirius specific information is. I'm going in Friday and have him test another antenna.

From my research I really don't think that is the problem. Maybe I can record something and post it. I'll have to find a device for that. It is hard to explain. Under The Cork Tree Download. When I first heard it I thought my spearks somehow came loose. It kinda has that rattle sound where the speakers are not screwed down tight and the sound vibrations are making them rattle. THe louder it gets the louder the rattle gets.

The sound is fine from every other source, radio, cd, iPod though the AUX. Even when I crank it up it works fine, just not from Sirius.

Okay, here's where my Sirius install has lead me. To recap: I have a 2006 Prius, package 8 (?) with JBL sound sytem and AUX input. I had Sirius installed last week.

The guy came to my house and installed Sirius. He works for a Toyota dealership, and has been for 17 years. The Sirius installed in my car was all OEM equipment. The boxes that the unit came in said 'Toyota' and 'Sirius.' They also said something like 'Cam/Sol/TC'. More on this later.

Sirius as a whole sounds like Internet radio. Very unimpressed. I went to a friend's house and listened to his home Sirius system, and it too sounded the same--warbly at times, like low bandwidth internet radio. As far as the static goes, on mine, it's weird--it's only 'really' noticable on the talk or news stations--BBC World News. It is on all the channels, though. However, this 'static' on the news channels was NOT on my friend's home system when listening to the same channels.

By the way, he did install the unit under the amp (under the passenger seat). It just slides underneath it. Not bolted down or anything, just tightly fits there. He also installed the 'big' antenna, on the inside if the rear window. Yes, I said 'inside.'

I wasn't too happy with this idea, but I figured it was bigger so therefore would get a better signal (?), and I also liked the idea of not having a wire going out to the roof. I also had my windows tinted BEFORE I installed Sirius. The tint in non-metallic. According to Sirius, the window tint place, and the installer, the window tint is NOT an issue. The 'static' sound is really distortion.

It sounds to me as if the Sirius box that was installed is putting out too 'hot' of a signal. It's overloading the speaker. It sounds like the Sirius rceiver need to be adjusted, however, there is no adjustments.

So, today I went back to the installer. We changed the antenna--no luck.

We put an antenna on the roof, outside--no luck. We used the 'small' antenna, on the roof, on the dashboard, on the rear window--no luck. We changed the Sirius receiver--no luck. We changed the cable from the Sirius receiver to the amp--no luck. We wired it directly from the Sirius receiver to the head unit in the dashboard--no luck. We called Sirius and had them 'refresh' my signal--no luck.

We were stumped. I had him uninstall everything, and he gave me a full refund ($640). Sirius was free for the first three months, so I didn't pay for anything. This weekend I am going to get my friend's plug-and-play unit and try that in my car. I think the distortion will be gone. I think the problem is either: (1), the Sirius receiver he installed was NOT for the Prius. Does anyone know if there is a OEM Sirius unit designed just for the Prius?

If so, I'm sure that unit would have lower output. My Toyota guy said no, that they were all teh same Toyota Sirius receiver, but they came with different lengthsof cable for the different models (Camry, Solara, Scion TC). (2), or maybe that new AUX input. The entire time I was dealing with this, I did have an iPod plugged in the AUX input. Most of the times it was off, but it was plugged in. And, the iPod sounds fine in the AUX input (as does the FM, AM and CD).

I'll report back again and let y'all know if the plug and play has the distortion on it. The programming on Sirius is fantastic, plus they have Howard Stern (which I wanted to hear), but the distorted signal was driving me insane. Plus, after listening to my friend's home Sirius unit, the sound quality is shit.

It is perhaps Satellite Radio's dirty little secret! In my opinion, Sirius satellite radio sounds like weak internet radio, at best. I am going to miss Sirius. I was looking forward to it. Perhaps I'll get it again in a year or so when the quality picks up. Anyway, there's my report.

Sorry I couldn't figure out the Sirius distorted problem. Anyone else here have a 2006 Prius with OEM Sirius in it?

If so, I'm wondering if your receiver is some sort of Sirius Prius unit? Hope this helps some. I've currently got a little plug-n-play Sirius unit.

About as cheap as they come. With a wired FM modulator (good for the sirius unit only- no ipod input here. But hey, it was only $20). The newer, smaller antenna. I was looking for the MFD integration and steering wheel controls of the factory unit, but these posts are definitely making me rethink. (Plus, I was wrong about the $199 price- it's actually $299 for parts from the dealer- and I can get the new SoundLNQ for that).

The only time I have a real complaint about Sirius is on the talk channels- there are definitely some times I get a little speaker chatter there, but after several months, I'm pretty much used to it. Sirius NEVER sounds as good as a CD or the ipod, but it's a bit better than standard FM stations. While I LOVE good sound, I've compromised in view of the content I love (on Sirius). If you're looking for CD-quality sound from the satellite, I'm not sure it's available. Anyone getting those kind of results? Click to expand.I've heard internet radio that sound better than Sirius. And I too get the 'static' more on the talk stations.

Maybe they use more compression on the talk stations then they use on the music stations. Since sound quality is less of an issue on talk than music. I know the satalite/digital cable companies do that.

You can tell they use less compression on the ABC, NBC etc.than on something like Discovery Science or Animal Planet. I think I'm going to keep it. If I had the oppurtinity to return it I might. I bought it through the mail and had a local guy install it. So no real way to pin it on one person. Howard Stern used to be on an AM station here the talk stations sound about as good as AM radio so I guess I'll live with it. I got my ipod for music.

So for $13 a month Howard better be as good as he says he will be. I've got the Starmate Replay PnP now. (I had the S50, but decided to give up after two bad car docks and too many firmware bugs.) The Starmate FM signal sounds awful.

The S50 sounded very good. I now have a cheap cassette adapter for the Starmate, and it has improved the sound. (I'm waiting for the VAIS A/V controllers.) In my old car, a '93 Probe, I had a Pioneer tuner/HU. The sound quality on music channels was awesome.

Just a step under CD quality. I wish I could move that system to my Prius and still have full functionality with steering wheel and MFD controls.

But I'm going off on a tangent. It seems to me there must be a problem within the integrated unit for you to get that kind of distortion. I know others on this forum have used the Factory Interactive SiriusPrius in their 2004/2005's, and the only complaint seems to be the 10 character limit of artist/title info. Have you found any kind of tech support number on the box or in the manual? Or can you find a manufacturer's name and look them up on the web?

So you just got a new satellite radio and it sounds awful? Way back in the last decade, satellite radios were able to push out a solid watt (or more) of FM signals. The problem was it pushed the signal not just to the radio in your car, but in others that were riding alongside you.

The FCC didn’t like that and severely limited the amount of power the internal FM transmitters could push out. Unfortunately in many cases, it’s insufficient and a lot of people return their Sirius or XM radios because the old car radio sounded so much better. Fortunately there are solutions. Using the headphone jack on your satellite radio, there are aftermarket FM transmitters that will boost your signal significantly right up to what it used to be several years ago. Many run off a DC power source, some run off a AA battery. Just be sure to turn off the satellite radio’s FM transmitter when using these aftermarket devices to avoid a duplicate signal. Be sure to buy one that is rated to push at least one watt or your signal may not be a lot better than without the transmitter.

These are also handy for transmitting your satellite radio within your home. A watt will transmit up to 50 feet as long as there aren’t many walls to go through. They can be found for less, but the output is going to be less than a watt and likely no better than what you may already be getting.

The is an excellent DC powered option for transmitting within your car. This transmitter has a few features that aren’t found in others. The transmitter is DC powered and comes with a second outlet to plug your phone or GPS into. I haven’t seen that on other transmitters and that’s what makes this one stand out from the others. It also features a digital display versus the manual switch found on many others. One other point worth checking is the frequencies that are available on your radio dial that does not have a radio station already transmitting to it. Bosch Wtl 6401 Manual Arts.

Most good transmitters will offer a variety of frequencies to use and will tell you up front. Here in the New York area, unused frequencies are difficult to find. There are a few at the top of the FM range. When transmitting to an already used frequency, you will get mixed results.

One watt competing with 50,000 watts is a losing battle so be sure it’s a vacant frequency before tuning the transmitter. For newer radios, there are kits available that are called the that will hardwire your satellite radio into the antenna port of your car radio. These are excellent and provide flawless reception.

The drawback of the FMDA25 is that you need to be sure that satellite radio is all that you will use. Unless your factory installed radio has a dual antenna port, you will render your car’s factory over the air (OTA) antenna useless. Some people prefer that, but if you want local news, you may need to rethink use of this hardwire solution. Also worth noting, if you only have a single power source in your car, consider the purchase of a handy. These splitters plug into your accessory outlet and will permit you to power multiple devices.

It’s like having 2-3 outlets in place. Just be sure that your car’s amp rating is not exceeded or you will blow a fuse and these can be painful to replace. MountGuys.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Disclosure: Some of the links in the article above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission.

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