HD radio Q's

[mdwyer]

Have you noticed that you never really see an HD radio demostrated in a store? That cuz they suck.

I've only seen one set up, and it was immediately obvious that HD was not worth paying Ubiquity for their lame technology. HD makes a fuzzy station into a silent station, although you can tune back into their non-HD signal and get your fuzzy station back. Then it adds in a bunch of subcarriers. These might be useful -- weather and traffic, eg -- but they are SO compressed, it is like listening to on-hold music over a cell phone with a bluetooth headset you got out of a gumball machine.

Check that the onboard amp is working, as others have said. Consider satellite or a big iPod if you just want more content. You'll still need to fix your antenna if you get an aftermarket stereo. In that case, I'd accept HD if it came with the stereo, but I wouldn't pay extra for that feature!

[PittVXr]

I liked the look of the JVC because the HD feature was built in. I don't feel like having to add on additional components. I was thinking Hd over satellite simply because I don't feel like paying to listen to the radio.

[Riff Raff]

Joe Black has some great points of advice. Another member here is PBKID (aka: Peanut Butter-Kid; re-named from a previous harassment thread).

Peanut Butter-Kid works as a professional automotive audio installer at Best Buys. Perhaps he might see this thread and chime in as well.

Another source might be CRUTCHFIELD.COM, as their toll-free telephone support is awesome and they may have some advice as well on weak radio reception problems. I believe there are even antenna "amplifiers" which help boost radio reception as well.