There are two primary ways to connect your Plug & Play radio in your vehicle. The following procedures will help you obtain the best performance.
Best: Direct wired connection
If your car radio offers an “AUX IN” or “LINE IN” it is the best audio connection available. If the “AUX IN” or “LINE IN” jack is located on the front of your car radio, this is also the easiest connection.
Purchase an audio cable that matches the connection type of your car radio and your Sirius or XM radio at your local electronics retailer. Your radio requires a 1/8” stereo male connector. Your local electronics retailer can help you determine the proper connection for your car radio.
Plug one end of the cable into the “AUDIO OUT” or “LINE OUT” jack on your radio. Plug the other end into your “AUX IN” or “LINE IN” jack on your car radio.
Note: Refer to your car radio manufacturer’s guidelines for correct installation. If the “AUX IN” or “LINE IN” connection is on the back of your car radio, you may want to consider professional installation.
Better: Direct connection
Direct connection provides better audio performance than a wireless connection and removes the possibility of interference from local FM broadcasters.
Use your FM Direct Adapter
If your car radio does not have an “AUX IN” or “LINE IN” jack, the SiriusXM FM Direct Adapter provides a wired connection between your radio and your car radio. You will listen to your Sirius or XM radio through the FM tuner of your car radio, but the FM Direct Adapter eliminates the outside static and interference you sometimes experience when using a wireless FM connection.
Note: Professional installation may be required. The Sirius FM Direct Adapter is available from your local SiriusXM retailer or from the SiriusXM shop.
Good: Wireless connection
Your Sirius or XM radio contains an FM transmitter. The FM transmitter sends the audio from your satellite radio to your car radio.
To tune your transmitter, turn off your SIRIUS radio and tune through the FM channels on your car radio to locate an FM channel that is not broadcasting in your area.
Note: If you regularly travel between cities with different active FM channels, you may need to find channels that are not broadcasting in each city. Several SiriusXM receiver models can store multiple FM transmit channels, so you can easily switch to the best FM channels for each city. You will also want to set the FM channels that are not broadcasting in each city as presets on your vehicle radio.
If you’re not sure which FM channels are not broadcasting in your home or travel cities, you can also use our Frequency Finder and search for a suggested FM channel based on your postal code.
