I plan on replacing the antenna on my new 2014 Prius V with a shark fin. I have found 2 manufactures - Beat Sonic and Visual Garage. There is a significant price difference between the two. Does anyone have any experience with these products that they can share and would help me determine which one to purchase? Thanks!
I had one and did not like it because it reduced FM range (not signal quality) significantly. It looked like the Beat Sonic but I don't know for sure. I sold it on ebay and replaced the stubby antenna with a longer one from a 2008 Prius.
I got mine from Visual Garage three months after I got my Prius"v" in 2012. From my experience, there is no degradation in the signal. That's after 2-1/2 years of use. My 1998 Mazda MPV has a 27 inch whip on the passenger side fender. It's range is only a little greater than the 'v." So, overall, I am happy.
I'm also looking for one also. I guess it depends on the city you live in and the distance to/from the FM transmitters...
From experience I have purchased two from visual garage for two different cars. The FM reception has been "a little" worse with the shark fin rather than the stock one. While they really look awesome for me on the new car we will not be getting one. I can't stand static at all. I have not tried any other brand.
I do not think you will find that in ANY of the shark fin varieties. Bigger and uglier is probably the only way you are going to get better reception. Not from a technical standpoint because I know nothing, but from an experience standpoint any time I have tried a smaller "cooler" antenna the reception is always worse than stock. Good luck on your search.
I remember about 100 years ago lol, I used to put the small Hirschman (sic) antennas on all my cars. They looked cool, and were only about 1-2' high max, and fully retractable. Great signals. It seems nowadays companies make products just because they can, not that they work.
I think that was more like 40 years ago instead of 100. I have one of those little amplified Hirschmann antennas in storage somewhere. There were at least two versions - one like I have with the amplifier jutting out at a 90 degree angle from the mast receptacle and a later version on which the amplifier was in line with the mast making it compatible with more vehicles. That was back in the days were FM stations were fairly rare and low power -- the amplified Hirschmann really helped pull in those stations ... until a small child thought he would see how far he could bend the little antenna mast. I got a new mast but never used the Hirschmann again. (The four year old boy wandering unsupervised around a large busy apartment complex parking lot is another story.) What is the fascination with shark fin antennas about? The movie Jaws? Or the new "Sharknado 2" "comedy" movie? I just went to the garage and gazed intensely at the shark fin antenna on our Sienna van and at the mast antenna on our Prius v and I don't find one to be more desirable than the other. My understanding is that the Sienna's shark fin antenna isn't even for the AM-FM radio - only for the sat radio and the S.O.S. feature.
I've had mine on my Prius"v" since March 2012. I find that there is no difference between it and the 8 inch coil wound mast in reception. It covers and prevents damage to the circuit board in the base of the OEM antenna in car washes and with overhead garage doors. That is worth it to me, since a damaged antenna base cost $700 plus to replace.
Where are you seeing $700 for the antenna base? I'm seeing a retail price of $259.61 for our Prius v Five with SOS and available online for around $180. It appears to be fairly easy to replace per the diagrams I'm looking at. The antenna base for the basic Prius v has a retail price of $125.93 and sells for around $85 online. I suppose it would be possible to knock the base off on the bottom of a garage door but the mast is more flexible than any other antenna mast I've seen. I didn't think about automatic car washes - haven't used one since the early 70's when one went berserk and I had to pay for the body damage repairs out of my own pocket .... I should have paid attention to the "Not Responsible for Damage" sign! The car wash malfunction was on the order of the boardroom scene from Robocop - pretty funny looking back ....
You try....I know that I will NEVER have to never do it. No matter what you say or do, there will be someone who will argue with you. That, I refuse to do,
