Sound Advice: Cut out satellite radio bill with streaming app

Don Lindich, Tribune News Service on Feb 12, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A free satellite radio alternative: I would describe my past relationship with satellite radio as a "like-hate relationship." I never loved anything about satellite radio, but I liked the ability to listen to cable news channels in the car. When tuning in to CNN, Fox News or MSNBC, you hear the audio portion of the television broadcast, and I spend a lot of time on the road so this was useful to me.

The parts I hated were bills I had to constantly beat back (once finding I was being charged for multiple receivers, when I thought I was only being charged for one), the rate increases, the abysmal customer service and the extreme difficulty and hoops you have to jump through to cancel a receiver or downgrade a subscription. I looked at my Amex bill in December and saw my monthly charge for satellite radio was almost $25, more than my Disney+ and Hulu bundle, which delivers far more utility. Adding it up to $300 per year and $3,000 over 10 years, it was far too much to listen to the news while driving. I contacted SiriusXM to unsubscribe, and to their credit, canceling was relatively painless this time.

A few weeks later I was undertaking a drive of a few hours when an NFC playoff game was underway. Wanting to listen in, I found and downloaded the free TuneIn Radio streaming app. I was able to quickly locate the game amongst the multitude of channels listed, and streamed it via Bluetooth without using my CarPlay screen.

The next time I used CarPlay I saw the TuneIn Radio icon on the screen. Touching it brought up TuneIn's excellent interface and to my surprise and delight, I saw icons for the same cable TV news stations I had been paying for with satellite radio, but which are free on TuneIn.They all came in perfectly and I enjoyed them for several days on the road. I now get the part of satellite radio I want, it does not cost me a cent, and the app and the TuneIn service work exceptionally well.

TuneIn Radio is ad-supported, but I found the ads to be no more intrusive than those on satellite radio. There is ad-free TuneIn Premium which offers even more content for $9.99/month or $99.99/year, but for now, count me as a very satisfied Free TuneIn user. tunein.com

Q. I’m looking to get new speakers for a system with an NAD 304 amp and Music Hall Classic turntable. I currently have Sony SS-B1000 bookshelf speakers but if I can find similarly small speakers that will get better sound out of the vinyl, I would like to upgrade and can spend up to $600. I heard Q Acoustics and KEF make good small speakers in that price range, and I hope to simply swap in new speakers using the speaker wire currently there.

I also want to add a CD player to the system. Any guidance is welcome.

—E.L., Minneapolis

A. No one makes a better-sounding, better value small speaker than Q Acoustics. The award-winning 3020i is $449 and would represent an enormous upgrade. I would also check out the new 3020c for $549. It uses the same award-winning C3 (C-cubed) woofer technology as the phenomenal Q Acoustics M40 wireless speakers. qacoustics.com

For your CD player I am going to sound like a broken record (or skipping CD) and recommend the TEAC PD-301-X yet again. It's a tremendously good CD player for $329 and will add FM to your system, something you currently lack with your integrated amplifier. teacusa.com

———