Directed TOY-SC!/Sirius vs Vaistech SL2xmt/XM comparison review

Since I have had both the Directed TOY-SC1/Sirius interface and the Vaistech SL2xmt/XM in my Prius, I thought a comparison might help people decide which to buy.

THE CAR: The car for this comparison is a 2006 Prius with package 2. It has 4 Infinity 2-way door speakers, one Rockford Fosgate Punch 10" sub, and a 500 watt RMS amp.

THE COMPARISON:

INTERFACE

Both units provide 3 satellite interface screens on the stock dash touchscreen. They look identical between the two units. You can set 6 pre-selects per screen, for a total of 18. However, there is a difference in the way the steering wheel controls change channels. With the TOY-SC1, using the up/down arrows on the steering wheel will move to the next station, NOT the next pre-set. The Vaistech moves between the presets when you use the up/down arrows on the steering wheels.

Another interesting thing I noticed with my TOY-SC1 is that moving from the 3rd satellite screen back to the 1st, instead of playing the last known preset from that screen it continued to play the last one from screen 3. This might have been a quirk of my unit, or it may be one of the known issues with the Directed unit. Resetting the unit by pulling power did not cure this.

The Vaistech is not without a quirk of its own. Usually when you change the station using the up/down arrows on the steering wheel, you get a band at the top of the touchscreen showing the screen number and preset station that the unit moves to. I say usually, because this doesn't always happen and I can't discern a pattern - it just appears to be intermittent.

Since I like to be able to move between the presets with the steering wheel controls, I give the Vaistech the win in this category.

VOLUME

The TOY-SC1 has a known issue with input volume to the head unit. It is shipped in "low" mode, and using a series of button pushes it is possible to shift it to "high" mode. However, even in high mode it is noticeably quieter than FM, AM or CD. This low input volume leads to lower quality sound, IMHO.

The Vaistech volume is fully controlable like a normal volume control - that is, if you believe the manual. However, I haven't been able to get into the proper mode to access this. Luckily it is set so the volume from the factory matches the FM, AM and CD quite well (in fact, it might be a bit louder).

I give the Vaistech the win here, only because the default is better than either position for the TOY-SC1. Had that not been the case, the fact that the Vaistech is fully adjustable might still get the win - if it is possible to enter the mode (since Vaistech is a few miles from my house, some day I might drop by to figure this out...).

SOUND QUALITY

OK, people are arguing Sirius vs XM on the 'net ad nauseum, so I won't go into it here. However, my experience is that XM stations that are now available on Sirius are not as good as they are on XM (could they be compressing those more to port them to the Sirius uplink?). Overall, probably due to the lower input volume, the TOY-SC1 was quite noticeably "flatter" than the XM, more mid range and with less dynamic quality. I am much happier with the Vaistech for the sound quality.

Oh, one other thing. The Vaistech thumps my subwoofer when it turns off - the Directed did not. Just in case that bothers someone (it used to bother me in some installations, but I've gotten over it...).

COST

For the two installations I've done, the Vaistech was cheaper than the Directed. However, at any given time you may be able to get one cheaper than the other at some sale on the internet, so I'd give this one a draw.

CONCLUSION

So, there you have it. I believe the Vaistech is a clear winner over the Directed unit. This is my experience, and, as they say, your mileage may vary. I won't let the fact that the Directed TOY-SC1 only lasted 5 months and quit dead influence the voting (who knows - the Vaistech might quit tomorrow), but I'm much happier with the way the Vaistech works and sounds, and with XM over Sirius.

Hope this might help someone make a decision on which to go with!