just got around to installing the empeg and ran into a few things:
1. lots of 'drive' noise (engine off)
2. 'back' or 'up' button stuck in? wont work (only pressed it a few times so far, this unit is new)
dimmer w/headlamps flacky at best.

help?

I had the sticky button problem, loosening off the four screws on the front, wiggling the offending button and lightly tightening the screws again did the trick. But then again, I change my lenses almost as often as my mood.

As for the headlamp sense, it could be that your headlamp sense wire is PWM instead of a simple voltage level. I know there are a few German cars that use this method.

Stuck button and dimmer issues are covered in the troubleshooting section of the FAQ. Engine noise is called a "Ground Loop" and that's covered in the Car Installation section of the FAQ. Check them out.

The 'drive noise' is probably a ground loop. I've had some ground loop problems myself.

The sticking buttons are probably covered for you here. The hex screws really don't want to be very tight at all, in fact they have a thread locking compound applied to them which helps them stay put without much force.

Edit: Damn, you guys are quick responding

I think lastdan was talking about disk-drive noise - he/she said "(engine off)".

I don't know if there's much that can be done to alleviate that. Check for rattles etc. if the drive is causing vibration somewhere else. It shouldn't be loud enough to hear over engine or road noise though.

So, don't use your player when you're not driving.

Seriously, it does annoy me a little at home, as I go to sleep with the volume really low and the disks are audible then, but in the car it's never a problem. It does probably depend on what drives you have, and on the individual drives.

I think lastdan was talking about disk-drive noise - he/she said "(engine off)".

Even so, he's still probably talking about a ground loop. Obviously he doesn't mean the ambient noise created by the spinning of the drive. He means noise coming out of the speakers. Still a ground loop.

a: yes you wonderful people are DAMN fast with a reply, thank you.

b. the empeg has 0 miles, or even inches and the engine has yet to run at the same time.

rather solid ground connection. and the drive noise is awful loud.

i'll try the hex screws.
thanks all, have a great weekend.

Currently on my empeg, at a lowish volume setting I can hear *everything* that goes on inside (and outside) the player through my speakers i.e. HDDs spinning up, changes on keypresses and so on.
This is all with the ENGINE OFF, with the engine running I additionally get alternator whine.
In my case it's easy to turn the volume up past this background noise and lose it.

Like you, I also have a very good (*star*) ground wiring but am still getting the problem. I have a 'fix' available (ground the player's RCAs) separately which I will implement soon.

The point to this post is to point out that some ground loops can seemingly defy common sense and reasoning based upon sound (no pun intended) electronic experience.