Polk Audio’s Reference Home XM Satellite Radio Tuner

Polk Audio's Reference Home XM Satellite Radio Tuner

Are you a fan of Satellite radio and would like to get it piped through your quality home audio system? Then you need to check out Polk Audio’s Reference Home XM Satellite Radio Tuner. Billed as the world’s first first component-style XM Satellite Radio tuner for the home, this isn’t just a tuner to plug into your car’s audio system, but a quality sounding, stylish addition to your audio setup. The XRt12 has an LCD display that shows you artist and song info, and perhaps more importantly for you audiophiles, a high-gain XM antenna with 20-foot cable, an optical digital-audio cable, and a stereo audio/composite-video interconnect. Plus, the unit’s rear panel features both optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs for easy connection to surround receivers and processors. For the XM fans, there are 20 channel presets for quick and easy switching to your favorite channels, a memory button (so the XRt12 can store up to 10 records of channel, artist, and song data for later retrieval), and a function that lets you scan through major channel categories (rock, talk, sports, etc.). If you subscribe to Sirius, then you’ll want to check out the Kenwood DT-7000S Sirius Satellite Radio Home Tuner.

The XRt12 sounds better than other XM home appliances because of its high-grade parts and construction. If you already have XM in your home, Polk is certain you’re not yet hearing its full sonic potential. The XRt12 maintains low noise and low distortion, delivering music that approaches CD sound quality. The digital bits and bytes of satellite radio must be converted to analog for listening, a job handled by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The reference tuner uses a Burr-Brown DAC, widely regarded as the best in the industry.

Each major function (power supply, display, outputs, preamp, and tuner) of the XRt12 are on physically separate circuit boards to minimize interference and noise.

The DAC’s analog output must be amplified to a voltage level that your receiver or preamp can use. The XRt12 employs a true high-fidelity preamplifier circuit board, offering greater gain than do the cheap headphone preamps found in plug-and-play tuners. In fact, you can adjust the XRt12’s analog output to match the gain of your other components. Each major function (power supply, display, outputs, preamp, and tuner) of the XRt12 is on a physically separate circuit board to minimize interference and noise.

If you have a whole-house distributed audio system like those made by Crestron, NetStreams, or Elan, the XRt12’s RS-232 I/O connector allows you to plug right into the system to enjoy XM radio throughout the house. You’ll be able to control the XRt12 from any station on the system, displaying channel, artist, and song data on any control screen in the network. If your audio receiver or amp has a 12-volt trigger output, you can connect your XRt12 to it and have the receiver turn the XRt12 on and off.

Price: $249.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

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