Delphi SA50000 XM SKYFi Radio Receiver
By: Delphi Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 7
More Information
 On: 2005-12-02
Satellite Radio Good. If you spend much time in the car I would almost say it is a must have. The channel variety, super clear reception. Gotta love it.
Delphi Bad. The first Skyfi I received did not work at all. The replacement worked for a while but now the tuning knob functions erratically. It will skip stations and if you land on a station for more than a few seconds it will automatically change the channel. The volume knob on the boom box no longer works as intended. No matter which way you turn it the volume goes down. If it wasnt for my remote control both the receiver and boom box would be completely worthless. Speaking of the remote control. The clip mounted to the back of the remote control is inserted under the battery cover. Occasionally when trying to clip the remote to something the clip will pop off and take the battery cover and sometimes the battery with it. What a heap of junk.
I will never purchase anything from Delphi again. If that means I have to switch satellite providers so be it.
On: 2005-12-01
Satellite Radio Good. If you spend much time in the car I would almost say it is a must have. The channel variety, super clear reception. Gotta love it.
Delphi Bad. The first Skyfi I received did not work at all. The replacement worked for a while but now the tuning knob functions erratically. It will skip stations and if you land on a station for more than a few seconds it will automatically change the channel. The volume knob on the boom box no longer works as intended. No matter which way you turn it the volume goes down. If it wasnt for my remote control both the receiver and boom box would be completely worthless. Speaking of the remote control. The clip mounted to the back of the remote control is inserted under the battery cover. Occasionally when trying to clip the remote to something the clip will pop off and take the battery cover and sometimes the battery with it. What a heap of junk.
I will never purchase anything from Delphi again. If that means I have to switch satellite providers so be it.
 On: 2005-11-06
Xm radio, although pricy, offers so much more than standard radio. With non-stop music, news, sports and comedy, there is something new to listen to everyday. On the road or in the home, the xm radio SKYFI is easy to use. The car adapter offered for the SKYFI plays through a tape deck, so there isnt any interference that is common with adapters that play through an unused radio frequency. The boom box style home audio system plays loud clear digital sound, and the SKYFI plugs right into it. The boom box can run on batteries so it can go anywhere in the world and play clear audio.
Xm radios musical variety literally offers something for everyone. From mainstream to underground, Christian to Urban, and Rock to Classical, there are too many to list. The music channels are commercial free, and there are very few repeated songs. With that fact alone, you hear something new everyday. There are sixty-seven music channels, which play a certain type of music, so there isnt overlapping. The music channels also have special programs that play a certain artist or sound. The xm radio receiver also displays the name of the song and artist name, so waiting until the end to find out who is the artist is not nessesary. Xm radio is also available online, so when an xm radio account in activated, the radio is available at a desktop or laptop. Many music channels on xm are uncensored as well.
The non-music channels offered by xm radio are mostly nationally syndicated broadcast stations such as Fox News, CNN, ABC news, ESPN, Fox Sports Radio, and C-SPAN. These stations are not operated by xm radio so they have commercials. Xm radio also offers non-stop weather channels for every major city in the continental United States. Xm radio also broadcasts every single Major League Baseball game, from opening day to the World Series. There are also family oriented channels, uncensored comedy channels, and talk radio channels. Compare this variety to standard FM AM radio, and there is a clear line between them.
Standard radio has nothing xm radio offers and besides being free there is no reason to keep listening to it. Standard radio plays generic music and there isnt any variety. Standard radio looses clarity if the listener is too far from the radio station. After listening to a FM radio station for a few hours, every song on their rotation has been played. The news stations on AM radio are sometimes very static, and mostly local. All of standard radio is censored, which can be rather bland after awhile.
If an alternative is need from standard radio, xm radio is the only choice. The variety of music alone puts itself above the competition. Easy to use, fun to listen to, xm radio has clear upper hand on the radio industry. Standard radio does not have nearly anything xm radio offers, so the decision to purchase one should be rather simply. Xm radio continues to grow in listeners, and its no mystery why, it is clearly the best way to listen to the radio.
by: willow_moon On: 2005-06-29
I live in Bermuda and with the aiming advice it gets full signal strength and the sound is really good.
On: 2005-06-28
I live in Bermuda and with the aiming advice it gets full signal strength and the sound is really good.
 On: 2005-01-25
If youre busy you may find yourself walking back and forth to look at the little amber display to see who the artist / song is. I ended up aiming a cheap video camera toward the display and patching it through to a 20" LCD panel so I can see this information from most any distance. Other problems are not enough presets (only 20). Customer service isnt very good. As for the programming, its a good value for 10 bucks per month (NOTE: PRICE HAS GONE UP!). I dont care how some of the channels - ones I WANT to like - are programmed, but theres always something else playing. There are only so many characters available to see on the display, meaning that some song titles are abbreviated or clipped off entirely. You only get 20 ft of antenna cord, which is hardly enough but they will SELL you extensions, of course. Overall the sound quality is very impressive. If you get the kit for your car you will be in for a real treat.
On: 2005-01-24
If youre busy you may find yourself walking back and forth to look at the little amber display to see who the artist / song is. I ended up aiming a cheap video camera toward the display and patching it through to a 20" LCD panel so I can see this information from most any distance. Other problems are not enough presets (only 20). Customer service isnt very good. As for the programming, its a good value for 10 bucks per month (NOTE: PRICE HAS GONE UP!). I dont care how some of the channels - ones I WANT to like - are programmed, but theres always something else playing. There are only so many characters available to see on the display, meaning that some song titles are abbreviated or clipped off entirely. You only get 20 ft of antenna cord, which is hardly enough but they will SELL you extensions, of course. Overall the sound quality is very impressive. If you get the kit for your car you will be in for a real treat.
 On: 2005-01-17
I was researching recently on which satellite radio system I should get. I came across two choices: XM radio or Sirius Satellite radio. XM offers 130 channels while Sirius offered something like 110 channels. XM was also 9.99 while Sirius was 12.95. By comparing I decided to get the XM Delphi because of the number of channels and for the monthly price. So far its been awesome, music is crystal clear and is everything people made it to be. The only reason why Im not giving it 5 stars is because it isnt 100% commercial free. I would say its in the range of 95% commercial free. It has any genre your looking for, including 12 news channels (MSNBC, NBC, ABC, BBC etc...), 3 Comedy Channels, and Automated Weather Channels.
I purchased the home kit simply because my home theatre system is fully compatible. So far no problems I highly recommend this product. If you are planning on purchasing this product, the activation might be a little complicated. If you activate over the Internet its 9.99 or over the phone for 14.99. Technical support is very poor for this product, however rarely will it glitch or have a problem.
On: 2004-12-13
XM Radio, what can I say it was the first and still remains number one in sales and stock for Satellite radio! And those baseball fans out there, XM will have EACH and EVERY MLB game starting from the spring training up to to the world series! It doesnt matter if youre a Dodgers fan living in NYC or your local market does not play your team (there are no blackouts where they block the game), youll hear your team!
Did I mention XM has FOUR channels with Christmas songs? One with tradational, another with contemporary, another with country and the last (my favorite) is songs like the Chipmonks, Muppets, Barney, (you know all those non-tradational songs we all love).
Ever listen to the radio and say "hey whats the name of that song?" Well no more doing that with this receiver as it displays the song title and singer! Plus you can hit the memory button and itll store it for you!
Me I have the SA5000 SKyFi with the Delphi SA1001 Boombox. XM has a VERY strong signal (stronger than any other), so much that I have the antenna on top of the table in my bedroom (signal must go through walls, and part of another house) to reach me. Now thats strong! Weather does not effect the signal, and it does not fade like AM/FM radios. You either get the signal (again Ill bet you will) or you dont. Just be sure to face the antenna south (if youre using it in the house).
What I like about XM is the upcoming MLB (trust me youll hear more about this as spring comes), and the receiver allows you to keep 20 channels. Theres a Decades (I enjoy the 80s), country, hits, christian, rock, urban, jazz&blues, Lifestyle, latin, world, classical, kids, news (has all the news like FOX, CNN, CNN Headline, MSBNC, CNBC, BBC), sports, comedy (3 comedy one of them has funny talk shows), talk/entertainment (Rollye James, Art Bell/George Noorey, Alan Colmes, Mike Medved, Bruce Williams, MIke Gallalgher), Traffic Weather, Special Events and Premium (Playboy and Opie and Anthony).
And did I mention that with XM youll be hard pressed (or have to listen 24/7 for days on end) to ever hear a repeat song!!
Whats real good is that you can listen to your tunes/show and scroll through and then go to whatever channel and see whats currently playing, PLUS with the weather you can either scroll or tune to the weather channel you want (have all the major cities) and see the curren temp., conditions and any road or emergencies as in traffic, etc. XM is the only one that has this!
And you get a remote control that gives you FULL control of your radio, including the volume! Even has a mute button! The display is a orange/amber color.
Personally I enjoy listening either with the lights out or dimmed down as XM lights up and the information on the screen and buttons make it very calming and cool to watch while listening to my favorite shows!
You cant go wrong with this receiver! Nor will you find this price anywhere! Look around at your local stores or other online stores! Its basically for free!
On: 2004-12-12
XM Radio, what can I say it was the first and still remains number one in sales and stock for Satellite radio! And those baseball fans out there, XM will have EACH and EVERY MLB game starting from the spring training up to to the world series! It doesnt matter if youre a Dodgers fan living in NYC or your local market does not play your team (there are no blackouts where they block the game), youll hear your team!
Did I mention XM has FOUR channels with Christmas songs? One with tradational, another with contemporary, another with country and the last (my favorite) is songs like the Chipmonks, Muppets, Barney, (you know all those non-tradational songs we all love).
Ever listen to the radio and say "hey whats the name of that song?" Well no more doing that with this receiver as it displays the song title and singer! Plus you can hit the memory button and itll store it for you!
Me I have the SA5000 SKyFi with the Delphi SA1001 Boombox. XM has a VERY strong signal (stronger than any other), so much that I have the antenna on top of the table in my bedroom (signal must go through walls, and part of another house) to reach me. Now thats strong! Weather does not effect the signal, and it does not fade like AM/FM radios. You either get the signal (again Ill bet you will) or you dont. Just be sure to face the antenna south (if youre using it in the house).
What I like about XM is the upcoming MLB (trust me youll hear more about this as spring comes), and the receiver allows you to keep 20 channels. Theres a Decades (I enjoy the 80s), country, hits, christian, rock, urban, jazz&blues, Lifestyle, latin, world, classical, kids, news (has all the news like FOX, CNN, CNN Headline, MSBNC, CNBC, BBC), sports, comedy (3 comedy one of them has funny talk shows), talk/entertainment (Rollye James, Art Bell/George Noorey, Alan Colmes, Mike Medved, Bruce Williams, MIke Gallalgher), Traffic Weather, Special Events and Premium (Playboy and Opie and Anthony).
And did I mention that with XM youll be hard pressed (or have to listen 24/7 for days on end) to ever hear a repeat song!!
Whats real good is that you can listen to your tunes/show and scroll through and then go to whatever channel and see whats currently playing, PLUS with the weather you can either scroll or tune to the weather channel you want (have all the major cities) and see the curren temp., conditions and any road or emergencies as in traffic, etc. XM is the only one that has this!
And you get a remote control that gives you FULL control of your radio, including the volume! Even has a mute button! The display is a orange/amber color.
Personally I enjoy listening either with the lights out or dimmed down as XM lights up and the information on the screen and buttons make it very calming and cool to watch while listening to my favorite shows!
You cant go wrong with this receiver! Nor will you find this price anywhere! Look around at your local stores or other online stores! Its basically for free!
On: 2004-09-27
The SA50000 is well-worth the money. Its a bit bulky compared to the Roady 2 but you have to remember that the Roady is for car audio use only. The SA50000 can be installed on a boombox/indoor unit or in the car so you get both functions with this receiver. When you buy this receiver, there are no accessories included except the remote. Use a C2032 battery to power the remote. So before you head out and buy this, dont forget to buy the battery. I had to open one of my old motherboards and pulled out the battery. I dont think its mentioned on the packaging about what type of battery it uses. So Im saving you all a headache and telling you. Ok lets start off with the installation. I bought a Delphi Boombox to hook up the receiver. To actually review this product, I would have to review the boombox as well cos without a boombox or car adaptor, this receiver is useless. So...installing the receiver is quite easy on the boombox. The boombox has a cradle that catches the receiver. Be careful not to force the receiver into the cradle mount. Just slide the receiver into the cradle. The contact pins should catch the receiver in the cradle, and then lightly push the receiver forward. Push the receiver on the top-most part of the device. Push the receiver until it clicks. To unseat the receiver, just push it again and it will make a faint click. Pull the receiver off gently.
Now, to activate. Its really a painless process. Make sure that the receiver is hooked up and seated properly in the boombox cradle. Ok, power-up the boombox and receiver. Just have your credit card ready, a pen, and a piece of paper. Once the receiver is powered-up, go to Radio ID channel. To switch channels, use the rotary dialer until it says Radio ID. It should give you the Radio ID number. Copy it and then activate it online. Activation fee via online is about $2.00 less than if you activate it over the phone. Once you get a message on the XMradio activation page, go back to your receiver and start looking for the channels, starting with channel 1,4,5,6,7, then 122. You can also use the number keys to switch channels. The ENTER key is that big button on the rotary dialers hub. If after activating it, you dont get any sound from the channels I mentioned, please dont blow a gasket. Give it like about 30 mins. for the satellite to update your receiver. After about 30 minutes, you should be getting most if not all 120 channels.
Now the remote...well one thing is missing on the remote and thats the MENU key thats found on the receiver. Maybe its somewhere on the remote but I havent found it yet. Remote is fairly straightforward operation. As for the boombox, it comes with an antenna. It has a 20 ft. cable. I suggest you put the antennae close to a window in your house. It says to look for the southern part of the house to get best results. I didnt bother looking for itcos how many people here in US know exactly where the south part of their house is? Anyways, get the antenna on an elevated position and turn it towards the window. The receiver has a function that will tell you the signal strength of the satellite waves and the terrestrial repeater waves. You can access this by going to MENU and then scroll down to Antenna Setup. If you see four-bars filled for satellite and three bars filled for terrestrial, then you are GOOD TO GO. The boombox packs a wallop! The sound is crisp, tight, and powerful. I have it at level 20 volume and its shaking my lounge. I dont know what the max volume is and I wont even try it. The boombox comes with a humongous sized power adapter to power your receiver and boombox. Overall, the SA50000 is a fantastic receiver, its easy to install, activate, and it gives a nice clear sound and signal. My suggestion is buy SA50000 and keep it for home use only. If you want to have a satellite radio for the car, I suggest you get the Roady 2.
On: 2004-09-26
The SA50000 is well-worth the money. Its a bit bulky compared to the Roady 2 but you have to remember that the Roady is for car audio use only. The SA50000 can be installed on a boombox/indoor unit or in the car so you get both functions with this receiver. When you buy this receiver, there are no accessories included except the remote. Use a C2032 battery to power the remote. So before you head out and buy this, dont forget to buy the battery. I had to open one of my old motherboards and pulled out the battery. I dont think its mentioned on the packaging about what type of battery it uses. So Im saving you all a headache and telling you. Ok lets start off with the installation. I bought a Delphi Boombox to hook up the receiver. To actually review this product, I would have to review the boombox as well cos without a boombox or car adaptor, this receiver is useless. So...installing the receiver is quite easy on the boombox. The boombox has a cradle that catches the receiver. Be careful not to force the receiver into the cradle mount. Just slide the receiver into the cradle. The contact pins should catch the receiver in the cradle, and then lightly push the receiver forward. Push the receiver on the top-most part of the device. Push the receiver until it clicks. To unseat the receiver, just push it again and it will make a faint click. Pull the receiver off gently.
Now, to activate. Its really a painless process. Make sure that the receiver is hooked up and seated properly in the boombox cradle. Ok, power-up the boombox and receiver. Just have your credit card ready, a pen, and a piece of paper. Once the receiver is powered-up, go to Radio ID channel. To switch channels, use the rotary dialer until it says Radio ID. It should give you the Radio ID number. Copy it and then activate it online. Activation fee via online is about $2.00 less than if you activate it over the phone. Once you get a message on the XMradio activation page, go back to your receiver and start looking for the channels, starting with channel 1,4,5,6,7, then 122. You can also use the number keys to switch channels. The ENTER key is that big button on the rotary dialers hub. If after activating it, you dont get any sound from the channels I mentioned, please dont blow a gasket. Give it like about 30 mins. for the satellite to update your receiver. After about 30 minutes, you should be getting most if not all 120 channels.
Now the remote...well one thing is missing on the remote and thats the MENU key thats found on the receiver. Maybe its somewhere on the remote but I havent found it yet. Remote is fairly straightforward operation. As for the boombox, it comes with an antenna. It has a 20 ft. cable. I suggest you put the antennae close to a window in your house. It says to look for the southern part of the house to get best results. I didnt bother looking for itcos how many people here in US know exactly where the south part of their house is? Anyways, get the antenna on an elevated position and turn it towards the window. The receiver has a function that will tell you the signal strength of the satellite waves and the terrestrial repeater waves. You can access this by going to MENU and then scroll down to Antenna Setup. If you see four-bars filled for satellite and three bars filled for terrestrial, then you are GOOD TO GO. The boombox packs a wallop! The sound is crisp, tight, and powerful. I have it at level 20 volume and its shaking my lounge. I dont know what the max volume is and I wont even try it. The boombox comes with a humongous sized power adapter to power your receiver and boombox. Overall, the SA50000 is a fantastic receiver, its easy to install, activate, and it gives a nice clear sound and signal. My suggestion is buy SA50000 and keep it for home use only. If you want to have a satellite radio for the car, I suggest you get the Roady 2.
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