How to improve XM Radio audio quality?

FM CAN be better than sattelite radio. Unfortunately, here in Houston, it is not. Leaving aside the programming issues (XM is FAR superior), the one classical station here (NPR) must use a compressor/expander because that is what I hear, not to mention the background noise that seems to be inherit in FM. I've tried the yagi/rotator/high-end tuner route. Sorry, no cigars.

The best way to improove XM's sound is to scrap half of the useless channels, and wait they are adding more! great right???? WRONG the more channels the more the signal loss, and untill they change some technology, the more they add may seem good on the surface, but those 75 channels you never listen too and never will, suck the life blood out of all channels

Without being propelled up to XM's satalite with a bagfull of audiophile jewlery and a digital geek or two, the most cost effective way to de-grundge, re-liquify and bore a hole in the soundstage is a "tube buffer" added at the outputs of XM's digit flatulator. If ever there was a calling for the old Musical Fidelity "X" Can's, Satalite radio is it. It is amazing what a couple of small tubes in a beer can will do for modern technology.

I have A polk xrt 12 hooked up through a Bel canto Dac 2 to my Adcom Gfp 750 pre amp and 5803 powere amp. to a set of Salk HT3 Veracity's and it sounds fantastic on the smooth jazz station Water colors on channel 71.

Koiman - I was just about to also post about XM Ch.71. The fidelity on that channel is amazing. I mostly listen to XM Pops, Ch.113, because I like that type of music a little better, BUT the sound quality is not as dynamic. I wonder if the difference is because of the quality of the recordings. This is true with XM 70 - "Real Jazz" where some of the recordings sound like Mono (the real old stuff).

As far as adding a DAC, I just purchased an Audio Mirror D2 and will hook that up to my xrt12.