SiriusXM Stratus 7 & Dock Audio System Bundle

This is a review of the speaker dock only. I bought a SIRIUS/XM Onyx Plus receiver to go with it but I'm still checking it out and will post a review on it when I am more familiar with it. I'll start off by saying don't be put off buying one by my relatively low rating of it. I like it but there are some limitations to it and I only want to point them out to people who might be affected by them. No one in my area plays the kind of music I like. I have a factory radio with SIRIUS in my car and I love it. I can once again enjoy my kind of music in my car. So why did I buy a speaker dock (and the Onyx Plus receiver to go with it)? Two reasons. One reason was so I could enjoy the same music in my house that I enjoy in my car. The other reason is that I have 3 other cars and I would like to listen to SIRUS/XM in them too. I could buy 3 other vehicle kits and wire the 3 cars up with them and then just move the Onyx Plus receiver from car to car when I use that car but for various reasons that approach doesn't appeal to me. So I thought why not buy the speaker dock (which can run on 8 D batteries) with the receiver and just move it from car to car like a portable radio. And it works well like that. I've had it on the seat and on the floor in a closed sedan and so far I always get a solid signal without having to remove or relocate the antenna. I thought the size of it might be a problem. It's big, it's about 19" wide by 7" high by 7" deep. I have a big car and the size is not a problem although it might be in a smaller car. The problem is the weight. It's heavy. According to my bathroom scale is weighs about 11 pounds with the radio receiver and 8 D batteries installed. So if you're thinking about carrying it around like a portable radio that may be a problem. Now if you're only planning on using it indoors the problem is getting a good signal so it doesn't cut in and out. The radio works on 2 kinds of signal- satellite or terrestrial. Satellite means the signal is coming from orbiting satellites high up in the sky. Terrestrial means you're getting a local signal similar to what you get with an AM/FM radio. SIRIUS/XM is basically satellite but they add terrestrial signals in some metropolitan areas. I live in a large city where they broadcast the terrestrial signal in addition to the satellite signal. The antenna is separate from the radio. It is attached with a long wire. With the speaker dock indoors and the antenna on top of the dock I get choppy reception from the terrestrial signal, nothing from the satellite signal. If I stretch the wire out to a window I get good reception from the terrestrial signal but still nothing from the satellite signal. As they say your results may vary and be different but be aware that you may have reception problems using a SIRIUS/XM radio with the speaker dock indoors (or the home kit). Also you may have to relocate the radio from where you want to use it or run the antenna which is on a long wire to, or even outside, a window. It kind of defeats the idea of using this as a portable radio, at least indoors. Another problem I had with the unit was that at one point I stopped getting any signal and got a message that my antenna was either disconnected or broken. It was neither but I called SIRIUS support. While on hold the radio came back on by itself. When I spoke to the tech he laughed and said it happens all the time, just try jiggling the connector, reinserting it or cleaning it. I should not have to do this to use the radio reliably. Just to note I researched the problem on the Internet the next time it happened. The problem seems to be where the radio connects to the radio dock on the top of the speaker dock (or car or vehicle kit dock) and not where the antenna plugs into the back of the speaker dock itself as the technician indicated. Jiggling the radio receiver fixed the problem (at least for now). One more thing, the antenna clips onto the top of the speaker dock but not securely, It does not lock in place. It can easily fall off if you move the unit. Oh, and finally, if, like me, your ears are no longer the best you might find the "DEDICATED SUBWOOFER" which "PROVIDES HARD HITTING BASS" less than desirable. And there is no tone, bass or treble adjustments. I can live with it but prospective buyers should consider it. The home kit and separate speakers of your choice might be the way to go for some people but I prefer the all-in-one concept of the speaker dock or boombox as it is sometimes called. So overall when it works the way it should it's very nice, I enjoy it. But getting a solid signal indoors can be a problem and if you can't get a solid signal it's useless. And it's heavy.