Review in brief:

The Empeg Car Mark II is a TIGHT product. Very professionally done with quality written all over it. I'm very impressed.

Sound quality is well above what I expected. You're limited by the quality of the mp3 files of course, but there's nothing anyone can do about that except only rip your own collection. :) Mp3s that I've played at work and even over my home stereo don't sound as good as they do in my car. The system in my 1999 Jeep Cherokee is A/D/S 40x6 amp, Macintosh coaxial speakers in rear, Boston Acoustics 8" sub with non-ported enclosure, MB Quart in front with 4" (I think)midrange and separate tweeter. (BTW, my Jeep didn't have Empeg's "standard" connector, so I'm glad that they included the adapter so that I didn't have to cut Empeg wires.)

Someone was complaining about the interface to the equalizer.. I don't see the problem. With the buttons available, the interface that Empeg has implemented seems to be very logical.

Dimmer is just sweet. Being able to select brightness for both headlight states is very cool. The display is definitely more readable than my Alpine in bright light.

Playlists are a breeze to create and use. The Emplode software is very intuitive. Win98 was a little confused about the Empeg USB driver as I had to point it to the driver file. But Win2k was cake. Install software, plug in Empeg Car, run software and it works. Sometimes I have to refresh the Empeg selection screen of Emplode.

The volume knob holds a lot of promise. It's easy to access (Easier in countries where you drive on the wrong side of the street). But the acceleration of volume needs to be mapped better. One rotation of the volume knob should turn the unit completely up or down. This is easily fixed in software.

The visualizations are excellent. One issue with that configuration process that I won't bring up again. I'm thinking someone needs to write some games that people in the back seat can play. How can there be a legal issue with games? Everyone loves games!

It seems that my power windows drain quite a bit of power. Before Empeg, if I tried to raise/lower two windows at once, they definitely moved slower. When I attempt two windows at once, the Empeg sometimes will shut down. This is reasonable. If there ain't enough power to go around, then what can you do? Big-assed (tm) Caps next to the battery! Maybe someday.

The clock is missing, but I saw on another thread that that's a confirmed bug and due to be fixed in a near-future release.

Wishing my commute was longer,
-Hoagy. Reg #7086

It seems that my power windows drain quite a bit of power. Before Empeg, if I tried to raise/lower two windows at once, they definitely moved slower. When I attempt two windows at once, the Empeg sometimes will shut down. This is reasonable. If there ain't enough power to go around, then what can you do? Big-assed (tm) Caps next to the battery! Maybe someday.

You don't need big caps next to the battery. Just some relatively small ones in line with the Empeg. I had a problem with the Empeg rebooting when I cranked my starter motor, and the BBS folks helped me get around this problem. The final wiring diagram is here, please scroll back in the thread to locate more details about what kind of capacitors and diode to use. This worked like a charm.

But before doing that, I'd be checking to make sure the car is supposed to draw that much current with its window motors. There could be something else wrong. Does this only happen when the engine is turned off? If it happens when the engine is on, you might have an alternator that isn't putting out enough juice, or a bad voltage regulator. Check into it.

___________
Tony Fabris

Thanks for the cap info Tony. I'll pursue this when I attempt to mount my Alpine in the glovebox area. My 1998 Cherokee's windows acted the same way, so I imagine that it is a "design limitation" rather than a problem with my electrical system.

-Hoagy.