SIRIUS Sportster 5 Satellite Radio Receiver with Vehicle Kit Reviews

• Best Sirius Sportster Yet!

  
  By AC2EGRJTJYVBA on 2007-12-04
  I upgraded to the Sportster 5 from the SIRIUS ST4-TK1 Starmate 4 Plug-and-Play Satellite Radio Receiver with Car Kit. I have to say the new Sportster 5 is the best radio they have released and far superior to the Starmate 4.
  
  Sound quality is comparable between the two units. I choose not to use the FM modulator. I'm in the DC area and there are far too many strong radio stations. Plus, using the auxiliary jack provides all-around better audio quality.
  
  The big improvement for this generation is the color display added to this very thin radio. Very nice looking and customizable for basic text and background colors. Text is clear and the screen provides plenty of information on the 6-line display. Makes a huge difference on legibility. The multi-color display also allows Sirius to display more text information without appearing to clutter the screen as much.
  
  One of the innovations I particularly like is the "game-ticker" feature that has been added in addition to "game alert". The ticker places the score for your favorite game on the main display of the Sportster in color, regardless of whether you are tuned to the sports channel or not. So, you can monitor your game scores while listening to music.
  
  On the downside it would be nice if you could choose a greater variety of display colors and different background images. Also, the menu and memory buttons are a bit cramped around the tuning knob and need to be spread out. But, this is a distinct improvement over previous models.
  
  Note: Current radios are selling from various vendors for less than $160 w/o a rebate.
  
  

• My first experience with Satellite. Read on.

  
  By A37QUQPYFMR9Y9 on 2008-05-11
  OK.
  
  So after all of the hype surrounding satellite radio I decided to "pimp out" my Sebring by adding SIRIUS to it. In order not to look ghetto as well as match my existing deck I decided to pick one of these up and subscribe.
  
  First, I'll review the device. Then, I'll review the service. Basically, good news then bad news.
  
  The device itself has a very small form factor which I found very appealing. It comes with a mini dock which essentially powers the device and routes its audio and antenna signal. Know that you'll be doing quite a bit of wiring if you do this yourself - I would recommend professional installation unless you're comfortable doing your own car installation stuff. There are 3, possibly 4, wires that you'll be dealing with:
  
  - The CLA (cigarette lighter adapter)
  - The satellite antenna
  - The FM antenna extender (only needed if you choose that option)
  - The line out (only needed if you choose that option)
  
  Now, if all of these ports were in the back of the dock next to each other this wouldn't be so bad, but instead they're on either side. That's a lot of cables to have hanging out, which is why I recommend professional install if you're not comfortable. I decided to do it myself and, to get set up with the "basic" quality which is wireless FM (it's decent, but nothing to write home about) with neat wiring took me about 45 minutes, give or take. That's including mounting (which I'll get to in a moment).
  
  SIRIUS recommends using line out/line in if at all possible. Newer decks have this jack, but some older pre-2004 likely do not, or if they do, it's a proprietary connector that might not work with the Sportster 5. I have the Kenwood MP735U and it works just fine. I found the cable at Circuit City ($24!!!) and it worked like a charm. Took some doing and even more neat wiring, but I did get it to work. I will admit, using the line out spanks the smoke out of the wireless FM or FM modulation options; it's near CD quality, especially on the Jazz and Classical stations. Again, you can use wireless FM and it will sound "okay", but line out will give you the absolute best quality possible; you just have to do another cable.
  
  Mounting the unit has a number of options as well - one of which is not available depending on what state you're in. California, for example, has Draconian laws about vehicles; you can't have anything stuck to the front windshield. Ironically this is the easiest way to mount the device, as the suction cup works extremely well, and you just attach the device to the metal arm and adjust. If you have this option and don't mind the device up in the window, I recommend doing this. I have an old Chrysler CD changer indash not being used; a trip to Home Depot for a $.49 angle bracket did the trick - attached it to the dock with a single screw, then slipped the other end into the CD slot and like magic, it's solid and looks great right underneath the deck. I suppose I could have hard installed it with another screw or two, but I'd rather not.
  
  All said and done the initial hardware investment came to roughly $200. Keep in mind that SIRIUS has cheaper devices that don't look nearly as good. The downside to the devices is the cigarette lighter adapter. In fact the documentation explicitly forbids a direct power tap. This is so disheartening I can't even describe it. I have to keep unplugging it when I turn the car off so it doesn't suck the battery dry. Why can't you have the option of tapping it into the player's alternate power line so it turns on with the player? I'm absolutely mystified at this oversight.
  
  Now, the service. Oh, this will be fun.
  
  The quality of the audio? Stellar. Never heard anything like it except on digital TV's music channels.
  
  The quality of everything else? Horrid. Where do I begin...
  
  - The activation/customer service phone # has extremely long wait times. it took me a total of 5 hours across 10 different phone calls to reach someone who could help me. Do the math.
  
  - Activation/CS reps are clearly stressed over something. I talked to two who were just blatantly rude; one who had no idea what she was talking about, the other a guy who claimed he'd been "...working at SIRIUS for over 3 years and" knew what he was talking about. Funny - since he had no idea that you can't activate with invoice billing on the website (more on that later).
  
  - SIRIUS and Circuit City have some type of conglomeration going on to force you to call to activate. CC offers a "prepaid subscription card" which is supposed to offset the initial charges (more on that later) to get service. Well that's all good and everything except the card cannot be used on the website even though the website acknowledges the card and its value. It says "cannot be redeemed". An Asst. Manager at CC informed me that calling was the only way to redeem the card. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bought that particular card, but a regular gift card that I could use on the web. Because of the aforementioned long hold times, it was a nightmare to do this simple task. The girl even told me "you should be able to use it on the web" - the other idiot claimed "you're just doing something wrong".
  
  - Too much personal information required to sign up. Why do you care what type of car I have? All that should be needed is a credit card (if you choose that payment method) and my address/name. If it's for purposes of theft recovery, that's up to me, the buyer, to deal with that. Which I do - in my auto insurance plan.
  
  - Website will authorize your credit card without activating an account for you. That's money you can't touch until they feel like releasing it - which could be 2 weeks.
  
  - Inability to just sign up for an account without giving billing information and/or buying a device. Why can't I just establish the account and then pay for it? Why force me to buy the deck in order to get service established? If I wanted DirecTV and didn't have it, I call them and activate, and then the hardware comes...not the other way around.
  
  - Website forces you to put in a credit card. You can't do invoice billing as an option. Why not? Because they know every customer would just do that and then they would be getting free service for that month grace.
  
  - Website does not allow you to select month-to-month billing as an option, and by default it hides the quarterly and 6-month options (which would obviously be the more popular for newbies like myself).
  
  - Telephone IVR can't hear properly. I tried to activate through the automated system and it just couldn't understand the letters "D", "I", "O", "N". That's it, and I don't know how many times the chick said "sorry?"
  
  - No trial offered (I'm talking about in-car installation). Why can't I just buy a unit from a store that offers returns, activate a 14-day trial period with a credit card, and then return and cancel if I hate it? Because then they'd have high turnover due to buyers remorse (which I had at one point due to the above issues)
  
  - $15 activation fee which is not disclosed on the hardware documentation. You don't find out about this until you go to the website or you talk to an agent. It should be clearly disclosed on the packaging of the device since you'd be forced to pay that fee by activating the device - not at the very last minute when you're putting in your credit card. On top of that, it's blatantly mob-ish of them to charge: an activation fee, a monthly fee, fee for the hardware, etc etc etc. They already get money from the subscription - remove the activation fee already or annualize it across the subscription.
  
  
  
  So class, in summary: The customer service is screwed up, and in order to activate properly and get the best billing options, you need to call customer service (which did I mention is screwed up?). DO NOT activate over the web if you're using a gift card. I guarantee you, you will get frustrated.
  
  The quality of the product is top notch. The ability to see who's playing before you select the station is excellent, and the high resolution of this screen makes navigating stations quick and easy. The audio sounds upper class if you're using the line out jack, and setup is not that difficult if you know what you're doing. Once you get past activations you should be smooth. It's just that phase that causes headaches.
  
  

• Decent Unit, Poor Customer Service

  
  By A1Q9WJWXPOAN55 on 2007-12-03
  I got the radio 1,5 months ago and it died on me when I unplugged it from the power without turning the unit off for the first time. Warranty service told me I should have turned off the unit before unplugging it. However, my car provides constant power thru the lighter output. On the other hand, I know many cars don't do that and the power shuts off when the engine is turned off (thus if you don't turn off the unit before shutting off the engine, yours might burn too). Since that doesn't sound very possible, the reason why the unit completely dead cannot be what they told me it is (Mine might be a lemon in this case). Anyhow, the warranty service said they will ship a new one out in 24 to 48 hours, when I called 3 days later, they said it was back-ordered and won't be shipped until 2,5 more weeks and they didn't offer anything to have a temporary replacement.
  I am not sure if that's a common problem or not but it died on me when I unplugged it.
  Other than that, the unit is easy to operate, the remote is very handy, most of the screen colors are useful (you cannot read the titles on some color schemes), FM radio reception is working fine (but it also depends on the quality of your radio that's installed in your car, I'd say hard-wire the unit if you have the means).
  Sirius advertises the radio as "100% commercial free" music, but beware, the entertainment channels (actually anything other than the music channels) are full of commercial that drives me nuts.
  If you are spending a little too much time in your car, this radio is fine, but the customer service isn't.
  
  

• Great radio and great service

  
  By A34GYPH58LNMFK on 2007-12-17
  I purchased the Sportster 5 about a month ago and it's the first sat radio I've owned. Out of the box, it comes with everything you need to install in your car. It's a breeze to install yourself for most people, unless you've never installed anything in your car before. If worse comes to worse, ask someone you know for help before you pay $50 to get it done. Don't use the FM transmitter if you can help it though - I've heard and read a lot of horror stories about them. My head unit didn't have a AUX input, but it did have a CD disk changer input in the back of the unit. I just purchased a cable that takes that disk changer input and converts it to an AUX input, for a direct connection. It works amazingly well.
  
  Navigation is straight forward. There are some cool features like a thin profile, 15 different color combonations and a small remote control that's actually more useful than you might think because it allows friends or picky wives and/or girlfriends to change the channel without reaching across you. There's also Sports alert that will notify you when one of your favorite teams are playing (selectable in a menu) and the score will display even when you're listening to a music channel. You can store favorite artists and/or songs and the radio will alert you when a song or artist from your list is playing anyhere and anytime. The radio will also store 30 channel presets. There's also a function where you can pause and rewind music you've listened to up to 45 minutes, then fast forward.
  
  Some complaints that I have are I wish the remote had a backlight. I also with there was a "previous channel" button. The antenna is also finicky sometimes when you drive under a bridge in traffic or through a McDonalds drive-thru, but it's bearable and a necessary evil. It doesn't always lose the signal, but I thought it's worth mentioning. The radio wouldn't be worth anything without the service, and I have to say that Sirius is excellent to say the least. It's worth every penny and I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone.
  
  

• Decent

  
  By A2O7TAYM7XOJOB on 2007-12-31
  This radio is ok, but it seems that you have to warm up the unit before the display will work. I'm not sure the optimal operating temperature, but you would think that they would avoid using liquid crystal display for a unit that's designed to stay in your car. I've found that simply warming up the unit isn't enough, nor is turning it off/on. You have to remove it from the car docking station, then warm it up, then re-attach it to the dock before the color display will function. I suppose in the summer this won't be a problem, but if you live in a climate where the temperature gets below 40 degrees, your display might have this problem. If you take the unit inside with you every night, you can avoid this I guess. I don't have a home dock so I leave mine in the car.
  
  Also, I noticed that this unit doesn't go as low as previous units on the FM transmission scale. My previous unit was set to 87.9 because that is the only station in my area that doesn't have programming. The Sportster 5 only goes as low as 88.1. Now I can't get a clear channel and my truck's in-dash radio has no external auxiliary sound jack, so I'm screwed. I'll need to pay for a professional to wire the unit to my in-dash radio. Take this into account when you calculate the total cost of ownership.
  
  Other than those two issues, I'm pretty happy with the unit so far. Hopefully it won't break after about 2 years of ownership like my last Sirius receiver.
  
  
• Best Sirius Plug 'n Play receiver on the market today.
  By A2986EANL6CQVO on 2008-01-18
  I have been a Sirius subscriber for 2 years and I absolutely love the service. For the first 2 years, I owned a Streamer Replay (same model as Sportster Replay except completely black) and I found the overall quality of that unit great. The Sportster 5 is an improvement to an already great series of receivers!
  
  The reception is improved from the Sportster 4 and the Sportster Replay. I have the unit directly connected to my vehicle's audio system and it sounds as close to CD quality sound as possible. The unit has a greater Audio Level output than the Replay, so it is louder and clearer overall.
  
  All of the features, such as Song/Artist Memory and the Pause/FF/Rew functions work well in the car when receiving a call or when your attention is needed away from the radio without missing a beat. The color display options allow you to change the head unit to blend better with your current vehicle setup and is a great change from the standard blue and black look.
  
  The Sportster 5 is versatile as well. I purchased the Universal boombox which I use as a home dock as well as a travel player for picnics or softball games. I can have Sirius anywhere!
  
  I can't seem to find a major fault with this radio. There are always general improvements that can be made such as better reception and clearer audio, but compared to the rest of the receivers that are offered today, this one takes the cake! I highly recommend this as a receiver for those who love satellite radio and want to hear it with the best possible sound quality.
  
  
• Sirius Sportser 5 Radio
  By A2IWIAJ4EXXFSG on 2008-02-24
  I bought this radio for my wife so she could relive the 70's. She is thrilled with it. Since she is not a techno geek- i.e. the controls need to be pretty straightforward, I wanted something that she would feel comfortable using. Otherwise, it would end up gathering dust on a shelf.
  The Sportser 5 has the right balance of features and simplicity. She loves the display showing the Band, Title, and year. She also likes the radio display's ability to change colors. I set up the preset buttons for her, but she has the Sirius channel guide and has no problems finding the stations she wants.
  I was able to hook up the car kit in just a few minutes. It works great for her. I bought a cassete adapter, which I like better than going through the FM Car Radio.
  I also bought the boombox for her so she can use the radio around the house. It is working perfectly both in the car and at home.
  
  
• LCD screen not polarized
  By A37PEBQMW3JVH1 on 2008-02-26
  The sportster 5 is a much better receiver than my old, dead Xact XTR1. The sportster 5 does have one major flaw. The screen is not clear when using polarized glasses. For drivers used to polarized glasses, looking at the sportster 5 is annoying.
  Update: This is only going to be a problem if you place the sportster at an angle, like laying flat on the console. If the unit is installed so you can view the screen directly there isn't a problem.
  
  
• Excellent Radio
  By A1SB933IZIZBGF on 2008-01-01
  This is my 3rd unit, and the first Sportster as the other 2 are Starmates. The dial is much better than the buttons for forwarding and advancing the stations. The background option matches almost any interior. The sports ticker is excellent and does not take up any memorized slots like it did on the Starmate. I had to tie it into the radio directly to get quality sound. The antenna is much nices as well being more of a silver dollar size and not the square. The only downside is that I had to get a bracketron to install ($20) and the buttons are quite small... other than that, it is excellent !
  
  
• Great features....great service.
  By AQTHGAPNDRFIZ on 2008-01-23
  I have had this installed in my truck for about 2 weeks now. The only issue I have had so far is the FM transmitter does not work very well, as other people have stated. I hooked mine up with the FM direct cable and now it's perfect. Sounds quality is perfect with no interference. The direct cable is a must have if you live near any cities. It is very easy to install (I looked up instructions on how to remove my radio on the internet), it took me about 15 minutes to remove my radio, plug in the cord and hook it all back up. You are supppossed to put the antenna on the top of your vehicle, but mine is sitting on my dash and it works just fine.
  
  Features on this radio are great. You have up to 30 presets for channels and you can store your favorite artists or songs and it will alert you when they are playing. The traffic and weather is helpful, but I find that my local traffic is more up to date (Washington D.C.) There does seem to be a lot of commercials on the talk radio channels, but I just change the channel so I don't have to listen to them!
  
  Overall, I am very impressed with my first Sirius radio purchase. It's cooler than my roommates who has a JVC radio with the Sirius interface and it does not have as many options. Also, we got the lifetime subscription for $399 which I think is going to be a great deal in the long run!
  
  
• Great Buy!
  By A39JFIW4M3JZC6 on 2008-03-25
  I purchased this for my sister's birthday. She loves it! I love the fact that it has a remote control so that it's easier to change the channels. The LCD screen isn't terrible, either! Only thing I would recommend is have it professionally installed. I did and it looks like it came with the car.
  
  
• Big SUV owners read this before you install
  By ASWGBG3CBHZMS on 2008-04-20
  I'm very disappointed that the antenna cable doesn't fit my Excursion, and I followed their instructions to the tee. It seems like the engineers designed it without thinking of big SUV owners, because I'm about six feet short. And, they only sell a 50 foot extension cable and it costs 50 dollars to boot! When I complained about the price and size of the cable they told me to tear it out, and put it on the front windshield and disregard the instructions. Having little choice of options, so I asked if they could send me another adhesive rubber striping which I had already installed, and they said "no". I'll have to find it locally at a store and unfortunately I live in a small town. You would think since their instructions are incomplete and their cables are lacking sufficient length, they would at least send you a six foot extension or rubber striping fast. But, NO.
  
  
  
  
• great price
  By A1788JXHW3026D on 2008-04-28
  The product came in great condition and the cost was very economical. It was lower than what I could buy for in the store.
  
  
• Get Sirius!
  By A22NZJ7Y77FLKB on 2008-05-08
  This is the receiver to have if you want flexibility, ease-of-use and tons of options! This device looks way cool at night in your car, basking in the glow of your instrument panel, with the ability to change the unit's colors to closely match those of your car's instrumentation! Besides this, it provides crystal clear reception of anti-terrestrial radio A/K/A Satellite radio which is miles above (pardon the pun) the heavily commercial laden, DJ bantering standard radio we've all grown up with. With literally dozens of channels and content for anyone, this is a must. Also, for unique mounting options, I HIGHLY recommend the "mountguys" at [...]. They have a mount for every car and every device you can imagine and these custom mounts will allow you to make your satellite radio installation the coolest in the land. I personally used the cupholder mount with the 5 inch pedestal which presents the control head to you in a tilted fashion and almost looks like it came with the car! Sirius and XM will merge at some point so, get on board now BEFORE the merge and the sure-to-be subscription fee increase. Right now, [...]? Enjoy your satellite radio - you'll never look back once you connect with outerspace!!
  
  
• SIRIUS Sportster 5
  By A13GOBBX20RS5W on 2008-05-20
  The receiver works as well as it advertised. I am very happy with it. What do I like about it? The screen is eay to read, you can just plug and play it. What do I not like? Wires. I did not professionally install it, so there are visible wires here or there. There are alot of functions on this little thing, almost need to read the book to know all of them. Buy it, you'll like it. I did not need the FM relay like some have eluded to- Don't buy that.
  
  

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• Sirius Soloist Universal Sound System

• Sirius Home Kit for SP4-TK1
• Sirius Wired FM Relay Retail Package
• Sirius SUB-X1 Universal Plug 'n' Play Boombox
• Sirius Car Installation Kit
• Sirius Soloist Universal Sound System