We received the Tivoli Audio Model Satellite as a gift and it arrived today… I activated it just before dinner and have been enjoying it immensely since. The radio is pretty small and got a “wow thats actually pretty handsome” from my wife – so well done Tivoli! Since we live in NYC, it was a touch tricky getting a good signal with the antenna, but we have that resolved for the time by moving it closer to the window. I’ll probably have to spring for an antenna with a much longer cable so we can connect it to the stereo and still get the same reception. That’s a small glitch, though obviously critical in the whole thing. We face East and are close to the river… There’s no satellite in range, but we are getting a decent terrestrial connection
Sound is rich and warm directly from the radio even in mono which is how it’s setup currently. With headphones, I am very pleased… a touch more volume would not kill me, but perhaps I should look at it more like personal protection that I can’t totally blast myself out. The remote is a slim Bose-like credit card, which are my least favorite as I have larger hands, but I’ll get it programmed into my Harmony soon enough.
Activation of the service was pretty painless, though I’d say I had a rookie guy on the phone. Not sure if that’s a Friday night thing or just holiday season. Steps to listening… attach antenna, plug it in, turn it on and call in with your SID. All told, it took between 5 and 10 minutes to be listening which is really not bad at all.
My wife noticed how great it is to be able to just look up and see who you are listening to and I agree that’s a great feature. Selection is another killer feature. We almost never listen to the radio unless we are renting a car and then it’s reluctantly if the iPod is low on juice or just to listen to the local jazz station since the selection here is pretty weak and filled with commercials. No more…
We’ve listened to some Elvis (13), Kids Stuff (11) and then found our way around the dial through some Jazz Standards (75) followed by Chill (64), a station I will be listening to in heavy rotation. I’ve also been checking out the Reggae (30) and Hip Hop stations and really like Back Spin (43) and Eminem’s Shade 45 (45). There’s much more to check out, including live broadcasting of sports, weather and news. I’ll be able to listen to the Eagles play when they don’t air on TV – like this weekend again!! We’ll probably also be looking into some NPR.. amongst many many other choices.
While I did not previously appreciate the cool factor, I have to say I really dig it. I can see immediately adding this to any future car we might buy. I noticed that Sirius offers free streaming access to everything for subscribers which is very cool for when you might be away from your radio.
Highly Recommended!
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