Antex XM3000 First Impressions

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. Being a guy, I'm all about the toys - but spending money on radio (which the old man in me says should be free ) has always kept me from investing in a receiver for one of the satellite radio providers. Not that I think paying for the ability to hear music unedited and commercial free is a bad investment - to the contrary, it makes perfect sense to me. Unfortunately it does NOT make perfect sense to my wife - and therein lays the rub. Dejected, I was relegated to catching a moment or two of commercial free radio when in a friend's car. Unfortunately for me, my only friend with satellite is a big fan of bluegrass (not that there is anything wrong with that) so I never really got a chance to explore the myriad of stations available.

When I received word that I would be reviewing the Antex TriplePlay XM-3000 receiver I thought, "WhooHoo! Score, baby!" finally, a chance to play with satellite radio and perhaps convince both of us that the benefits outweighed the costs. Now, the purpose of this review is to evaluate the hardware, not XM radio as a whole - so this is the last I will speak of the service. I'll leave it up to each of you to decide if the monthly charge is worth the return.

Custom Installers Rejoice

It quickly became apparent to me that this unit is geared for the custom install market. As I was setting up and testing the unit, I had no idea what the price was. Once I learned that the unit cost $1999, I was taken aback. Clearly, the average user could purchase three individual XM units for less. From an installer's perspective however, this unit is a dream. Installation is easy and quick, the unit is setup to be controlled by a Creston or similar system out of the box, and it is easy enough to operate that even a technophobe could be walked through it over the phone. Therefore, this review is geared more toward the custom installer rather than the average consumer.

First Impressions

The box was surprisingly undamaged compared to my last few arrivals. Clint has informed me that I need to suck up to my delivery drivers more. Apparently, this will increase my ability to receive boxes undamaged and get some help lifting heavy objects into the house (more thoughts on this in an upcoming editorial.) Inside, I found the unit well paced and immobilized by foam at each side. The unit was centered in the box and seemed like it would be immune to all but the most egregious abuses.