Introduction
Satellite
radio has been gaining lots of attention the past few years, as
millions upon millions of consumers continue to discover its benefits
over traditional radio broadcasts. Nationwide availability,
commercial-free music stations and vast amounts of talk shows are just
part of satellite radio’s attraction. XM and Sirius are the two major
companies providing satellite radio content for a combined population
of nearly nine million subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Many of the satellite radio products have been focused on portable and
car deployments of the technology until recently, when Polk introduced
one of the first home audio systems. Antex Electronics saw this vacancy
in the growing satellite radio portfolio and produced a high fidelity
XM radio receiver of its own.
Based in Torrance, CA, Antex is no stranger to the audio industry,
boasting over 20 years of experience. In fact, Antex introduced the
world’s first PC soundcard with 16-bit stereo CD quality sound back in
1987. Using this experience and today’s technology, Antex has delivered
the world’s first multi-zone satellite receiver called the XM-3000 at a
MSRP of $1,999.
What is the difference between the
XM-3000 and other XM tuners like the Polk XRT12, you ask? For one, the
Antex has three XM tuners instead of just a single one. Each of the
tuners’ XM channel information can be separately displayed on the large
LED screen and all three can be controlled from the included remote.
This allows the XM-3000 to feed three unique XM channels to three
different rooms or zones in your home. The kids can be listening to
Disney, your spouse can be listening to CNN in the kitchen, and you can
be jamming to speed metal in the living room. Second, Antex took great
care to enable this tuner to be easily integrated into a distributed
audio system, such as Crestron. Using the RS-232 serial port on the
back of the XM-3000 and the programming codes provided on the Antex web
site, this tuner quickly integrates into a home audio system of any
degree of complexity.
About the Tuner
At
first glance, the XM-3000 resembles your typical home audio component.
At 18 inches wide, 12 inches deep and only three-and-half inches tall,
the XM-3000 has little trouble merging with your existing system. Easy
rack mounting for a component like this is key, since the primary usage
for this product will be with higher-end distributed audio systems
employing Creston controllers, etc. Unlike the contending Polk XRT12,
this receiver is hefty at 16.5 pounds. A heavy black steel chassis
encloses all the vital electronics, while a black-brushed aluminum face
plate houses all the user controls and display. Black is the only
finish available for the XM-3000; the Sirius radio version (SRX-3
TriplePlay) of the XM-3000 is only available in a shimmering silver
finish.
Silver finished control buttons feel sturdy
and are snugly housed in the black-brushed aluminum faceplate of the
XM-3000. The flat circular buttons are comfortable to touch and don’t
give you the feeling like you are bruising the tips of your fingers
like those employed by the rounded hard buttons of the Sherwood
receiver I reviewed a few months ago. The Polk XM tuner used plastic
rocker switches, which are very functional but do not have the refined
look of the XM-3000 controls. This may seem a silly comment, but wait
‘til you start using this baby; changing channels will be a common
activity for you and it better be comfortable. The top section of
buttons control features such as navigating channels, channel
categories and selecting the active zone you are trying to change. A
silver bar at the bottom of the faceplate houses the preset and number
keys used to directly navigate to a specific channel or to a preset
channel. The power button can be held for several seconds to enter the
set-up menu, where the user can access features such as parental
controls and configuration controls.
The
front faceplate utilizes a bright blue LCD display for presenting all
the vital XM channel information for each of the three zones. Each
partition of the display shows the category name (like country or
news), channel name, channel number, title of the track and artist for
each of the three zones. The three-inch display looks large at first
glance, but when you power the tuner on, it quickly fills up with white
text to display all the aforementioned information for each of the
three zones. The screen is unmistakably bright, so much so that I have
been fortunate not to have jets from the nearby airport making their
final approach on my house.
The back panel of the
XM-3000 has both a set of RCA analog audio outputs and an optical
digital output for each of the three zones. Again, this Triple Play
tuner was intended to be treated like it was three separate tuners,
each with its own outputs. A RS-232 connection is provided to interface
with your home audio distribution system. A detachable power cord, a
hardwired IR input and an output for the included 20-foot XM antenna
are also present. The remote is ergonomically designed, with contoured
housing and soft rubber buttons, a simple unit that still allows the
user the same capabilities that the front panel buttons provide.
Venturing inside the XM-3000, we find three separate XM tuners, each
with its own high fidelity Cirrus Logic digital to analog converters
for the analog outputs. The optical digital outputs use the
well-respected Burr Brown converters. These two components are the most
significant in terms of replicating the most pleasing audio experience.
As pointed out by one of the knowledgeable engineers at Antex,
satellite radio uses compressed audio due to the limited bandwidth of
the satellites they employ. The result is that there are practical
limits to the audio performance attainable by XM and Sirius. CDs do not
compress audio and therefore are not subject to the same restrictions
on audio quality as XM is. This said, both satellite providers are
continually improving compression algorithms and Antex is committed to
optimizing their tuners to take full advantage of these changes. I
would be really impressed if XM and Sirius provide multi-channel audio
at some juncture in the future. Today, that is a rather large “if.”{mospagebreak}
Set-Up
Getting
the XM-3000 into your home is very straightforward. Antex built this
tuner with the intention of integrating it into your existing home
audio distribution system. First, Antex only requires one antenna to
supply all three of its internal tuners. A 20-foot antenna cable is
included; larger lengths are available from Antex. As with all XM
antennas, you do not need to have line-of-sight orientation to the
satellite by mounting the antenna outside as you would with DirecTV.
Instead, you can place the antenna on a wall or on a shelf inside your
house. You will want to place it so the XM logo faces south or
southeast, depending on whether you are on the East Coast or the West
Coast of the U.S. By accessing the set-up menu, you can find a signal
strength meter that will tell you if you have positioned the antenna in
a good place. Upon placing the tuner and the antenna where you want
them, the next step is to get out your credit card and call XM to get
your three XM tuner IDs to activate each of the three tuners.
Once all the audio outputs are connected, you are now ready to plug the
RS-232 cable into a module compatible with your audio distribution
system. Fortunately, Antex only requires one RS-232 connection to
control all three tuners. The modules for Crestron systems are pricey,
so this can make up for the hefty price of the Antex in short order. A
complete list of configuration codes and supported distribution systems
are easily attainable on the Antex web site. AMX, Crestron, Elan and
Niles are among those already supported. The interface modules for
Crestron, AMX, Elan and Niles support bi-directional feedback of title,
track, artist info. Custom installers will rejoice at a product like
the XM-3000 that was designed with them in mind, instead of having them
as an afterthought.
About XM Radio
I
listen to a couple local San Diego FM radio stations in my home and in
my car. My biggest complaints are hissing static noises, signals
dropping out of range, unfocused programming and simply too much
talking. XM solves all these issues with 68 channels of commercial-free
music that pull from a database of over two million titles. Boneyard is
one of my favorites, since it plays exclusively my beloved heavy metal
and very little of the commercial made-for-the-masses crap. They stick
the prime cuts. There are live DJs for most of the music stations who
answer song requests via a toll-free phone number or email. Talk and
news shows like Larry King are great to keep up with current events,
while the traffic channel tells me whether I should sleep in or not. In
total, there are over 152 channels of sports, news, traffic, weather
and, most importantly, music. The talk and sports shows do have
commercials, so don’t be surprised to hear the latest advertisement for
tuning in to “American Idol” this week. The basic monthly fee is around
$13 per month and that is for one tuner. To activate all three tuners
in the XM-3000, you will need to add another $14 per month to the basic
$13 per month. XM Online allows for your computer to access XM content
for an additional monthly charge. Also, for an additional charge, you
can pimp out your ride with the XM NavTraffic service, which delivers
up-to-the-minute traffic information directly to your vehicle’s
navigation system. What will they think of next?
Sirius is the other competitor to XM in the satellite radio business.
Sirius has the same monthly rates for basic service and the additional
charges of adding the extra tuners. The programming is similar to XM
and offers 121 channels of music, talk, weather and sports shows.
Sirius has 65 music channels and now has an exclusive contract with the
Howard Stern Show. Finally, Howard has his wish and can have uncensored
content for the first time without fear of the FCC. On the other side
of the talk show spectrum, Martha Stewart has her own finer living show
exclusively on Sirius as well. Sirius is still smaller in its
subscriber base as of the beginning of 2006, with about three million
listeners to XM’s nearly six million. This said, the sound quality and
programming are comparable, so it really comes down to personal
preference. If you are more interested in Sirius, Antex does make a
Triple Play tuner nearly identical to the XM-3000 called the SRX-3 that
is offered for the same price.
The Music
The
Real Jazz channel is packed with the legends in modern jazz. A prodigal
example is the late Cannonball Adderly. Cannonball played in a quintet
with his brother, Nat, in the ‘60s, then later joined a sextet with
none other than jazz great Miles Davis. Cannonball’s alto saxophone
carries a warm yet spirited sound that quickly pulls the listener into
a world of unspeakable bliss. Even newbies to jazz will find themselves
tapping fingers on their chairs or toes on the floor to Cannonball’s
swinging solos. In “Blue Funk,” a walking bass line supports an
involving sax performance by Adderly that spills over from the midrange
to test the high frequencies. I noticed that, although the high and low
frequencies were apparent, they were noticeably laid-back in
presentation compared to my SACD version of the song. Imaging, openness
of sound and high-frequency performance were far superior with the SACD
version of the track. This degradation is to be expected with the
compression of audio signals to squeeze more channels into the limited
satellite transmission bandwidth. With that in mind, the XM-3000’s
selection of quality high fidelity components in the tuner hardware is
especially important in getting the most out of the XM signal.
The KISS channel featured a track by R&B artist Baby Bash called
“Baby I’m Back.” The sweet midranges from both the male and female
vocalists were devoid of any signs of grain. The lack of harshness with
the hand-clapping sounds and the deep punchy bass drum demonstrated
that the other parts of the frequency range were not lagging behind the
midrange. Larry King Live on CNN featured an interview with U.S.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales regarding the renewal of the Patriot
Act. The deep voice of King and the higher-pitched voice of Gonzales
were lush and warm at both extremes of the midrange frequencies. On the
MSNBC channel, Tucker Carlson had an interview with a guest that
resulted in a less impressive experience. The entire interview sounded
like it was conducted in a subway tunnel. Echoing effects and a very
distant presentation left me wishing the programming across XM was a
little more consistent in recording quality.{mospagebreak}
Alternatives
Numerous players populate the satellite
radio tuner category today, where there were really only one or two
products a year ago. This would make sense, seeing that the subscriber
base for both XM and Sirius has doubled from last year. ADA Tune Suite,
Crestron C2M-TXM and the Krell Trio all make multi-zone XM tuners
today, ranging in price from $1,100 to $4,000. I felt the Elan XM-R3
Triple Satellite Audio Receiver was the closest competition to the
XM-3000. It has all the same features and has the added benefit of
seamless integration into Elan audio distribution systems. Touch
panels, which can be installed in each room, can display the track and
title information for the current song playing. This would definitely
impress anyone lucky enough to stay in the room. Although I have not
had the opportunity to listen to the Elan model, it might be worth
checking out given that its MSRP is $1,550 versus $1,999 for the Antex.
The Downside
Surprisingly,
there are some basic features missing from the XM-3000. There is no
video output on this unit to display the three tuners currently playing
tracks or to view the configuration options. This means the only real
way to see what station you are enjoying is by reading the front panel
display of the unit. The display is not readable beyond about four feet
and if it is mounted in a cabinet in the back room (remember, this is
supposed to be hooked into an audio distribution system), there is no
easy way to see information on what you are hearing. They need to add
an S-Video or composite out to display the basic information that is
currently only visible on the front panel of the XM-3000. The other
thing they could do is add a scrolling text option and allow the user
to enlarge the text for the active zone where you are changing
channels. This zoom feature would allow a user from six to 10 feet away
to see the channel if the unit is located in the same room as the
listener. The remote would be more useful if it had backlit buttons and
an LCD display on it for night viewing. The remote LCD would also solve
the issue of not being about to see what is playing on each zone when
you are not close to the XM-3000’s front panel display. Speaking of the
front panel display, it is so bright that a dimmer option is completely
necessary unless you want to have a permanent night light in your home
theater rack. The frustrating part of these complaints is that the Polk
XRT12 XM tuner implemented all the missing features above and is less
than one fourth the cost of the XM-3000.
Other welcome
improvements include the ability to cache the recently played tracks
and artist names so that you can review what you heard for the past
hour. I like the idea of being able to find out what the name of an
unfamiliar track is just in case I want to go buy the album. Instead of
having to hurry to the display to read the track name while it is still
playing, you can finish chopping the carrots, then review the track
history later. Lastly, it would be swell to not have to fork out an
additional $14 per month just to add the extra two zones. I guess XM is
in no danger of running out of money soon if Antex sells a lot of the
Triple Play tuners.
Other distributed audio systems like ones from Crestron allow for easy
integration of both XM and Sirius in the same system. While you could
always drop $4,000 on two Antex tuners, which would allow for six
discrete channels of satellite radio throughout your house, even to me,
that seems like overkill. With the Crestron distributed audio system,
you can have the best of both worlds, but that of course is part of a
more elaborate home automation system, as opposed to the Antex which
can be plugged right into many more diverse systems.
Conclusion
Satellite
radio is here to stay, with its numerous advantages over FM radio. Vast
amounts of commercial-free music, talk shows and sports coverage expand
the current coverage of FM in most metropolitan centers. If you are in
Boondock, Alabama, then XM is your only chance at getting comprehensive
listening content at home or in the car. While in the home, why not
spend a little extra money on a quality tuner that will easily
integrate into your existing audio distribution system? The ability to
have three different channels playing in different rooms throughout the
house makes sure that the entire family stays happy.
|
manufacturer:
|
Antex Electronics Corp. |
| address: | 19821 Hamilton Avenue Torrance, California 90502 |
| phone: | (310) 532-3092 |
| fax: | (310) 532-8509 |
| website: | http://www.antex.com |
