I'm sorry,xlr, this is not a flame, but I can't see anything you could disagree with in rob's comment. If it were any less delicately put, he wouldn't be saying anything for either type of product, if you know what I mean.

What he basically said was that there are UI advantages to the empeg, which I don't think you can deny. Chances are that most people don't have the type of head unit displayed on their site, so you're left guessing at which songs are currently playing or coming up, etc. Even with the head unit they show, you'd be hard pressed to claim that they have a better UI.

What he also said was that the phatbox has an advantage in installation. I don't know why you would disagree to this, so I can't really speak any more about it.

However, I reserve total judgement as to which is the better product for the reason you point out (I haven't used it). You can't really complain about the reception the product gets here, though. What more do you expect from a large group of empeg owners on a message board dedicated to their product, regardless of their level of technical expertise? If it makes you feel better, I think the phatbox is a great alternative to the empeg, and I'm sure you had very good reasons for you choice. Nevertheless, I'm gonna have fun with 12GB my in-dash player with full visuals. Sorry.

ps-I may be jumping the gun, but are you associated with phatnoise at all? I wanted to visit their website and typed in www.phatbox.com, which forwarded me to your personal site. what's up with that? just curious...

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.