I've seen several posts regarding grounding problems -- can anyone elaborate on that?The Mark 1 used floating grounds, something that's not very common in car stereos. This tended to exacerbate ground loops if any existed, and would cause noise. There were special adapters to solve this problem, but some Mark 1 owners still had noise trouble even with these adapters installed.
However, if you're getting a Mark 2, this doesn't apply since they use a more standard set of line-level outputs. The only grounding issues with the Mark 2 are the same ones for any other car stereo with a separate amplifier. A professional installer should be able to avoid those sorts of problems without any trouble.
Basically, I'd like to know what the most common installation problems are.Okay, here you go...
Ground loop noise and alternator whine:This is not an empeg-specific issue. Any car stereo can suffer from this unless the components are carefully grounded. This is a normal troubleshooting procedure for any professional car stereo shop. If there is noise in your installation, the steps to solve the problem are:
- Make sure all devices (amps, crossovers, head unit, etc.) all have the same potential to ground.
- Make sure the ground is good and solid, and uses heavy-gauge cable.
- Make sure the devices aren't grounding in unexpected places, such as through the chassis or the RCA cable shrouds.
- Filter the power feeds properly.
- Properly tune the input gains on the amplifiers so that you're not unnecessarily amplifying noise (detailed in the next section).
- Route the audio cables separately from the power cables.
Here are three excellent documents describing in great detail how to troubleshoot noise:
http://www.installdr.com/TechDocs/999501.pdfhttp://www.installdr.com/TechDocs/999502.pdfhttp://www.audiocontrol.com/techpapers/tech1002.pdfProperly adjust the input gain level on the amplifier(s):This is also not specific to the empeg. All car stereos that use separate amplifiers should go through this procedure. If you car has multiple amplifiers, perform this procedure separately for each amp with the other(s) disconnected.
- Turn the amplifier's input gain all the way down to zero.
- Turn the empeg all the way up to 0db (but not overdriven past 0db).
- Set the empeg's equalizer to flat (0db) and the loudness off.
- Play a loud (but sonically clean) piece of music on the empeg.
- Slowly turn up the input gain on the amplifier. Increase the gain until either a) you hear distortion coming from the amp or speakers, or b) the amp is playing as loud as you'd ever want it to under normal listening conditions.
- The amp is now playing at its maximum signal-to-noise ratio. Now turn the empeg back down before you hurt your ears.
- In real life, this isn't necessarily the final level you'll leave the amp gain set to. In practice, you'll probably set it lower than this. For instance, if you want to reduce the amp's noise floor even farther, or if you need to balance the levels of multiple amplifiers so that they are similar in volume.
Is the empeg going to be your only stereo?Since the empeg has line-level inputs and outputs, you can (if desired) hook it up to a regular CD player. If you want to do this, you need space in your dashboard for two full DIN-sized stereos.
Personally, I don't miss my CD player one bit. I'm perfectly happy with the empeg as my only stereo. But some people don't want to give up their CD players, so the option is there if you really want it.
If you decide to go the two-stereo route, your choice will be: which stereo will come first in the audio daisy chain? A complete discussion of this question can be found
here.
Are you trying to add the empeg to a factory stereo?If you are adding the empeg to an existing
factory sound system, it may require special adapters so that you can send the line-level outputs of the empeg into the car's sound system. This isn't an empeg-specific problem- it would be the same if you were trying to add, say, a minidisc player or something.
You would probably need one of two kinds of adapters, depending on the system and how you want it connected:
- Adapting the factory system's CD changer input to accept the empeg as if it were a CD changer. This may require a special module which "tricks" the factory stereo into thinking it's got a factory CD changer attached.
- Adapting the factory's "premium sound package" amplifier to accept line-level inputs so that you can plug the empeg into it.
In both cases, your stereo installation shop should have access to the necessary parts to get the job done.
ISO Wiring connector confusion:Most aftermarket car stereos require a special wiring harness adapter which allows the installer to connect the stereo without cutting your car's wires. On one end, it has a snap-in connector which matches your make/model of car. The other end is dangling wires that the installer solders to your new stereo. This wiring harness is readily available to professional installers. It is normally used as follows:
Car's snap-in radio wiring connector->
Aftermarket harness adapter->
Soldering and shrink tubing done by installer->
Aftermarket stereo.
This will work with the empeg, too. However, the empeg goes a step further, in that it doesn't just have dangling bare wires. It also has a snap-in connector just in case your car happens to be one of the models with an
ISO connector plug. In those models of car, you don't even need to solder the empeg's wires because the plugs just snap together. Like this:
Car's snap-in ISO wiring connector->empeg.
The empeg ships its own ISO wiring adapter in case your car doesn't have an ISO connector and you still need to solder the wires. In that case, the connections will go like this:
Car's snap-in radio wiring connector->
Aftermarket harness adapter->
Soldering and shrink tubing done by installer->
Empeg ISO adapter plug->
Empeg's snap-in connector.
Reversed ISO wires:There's just one problem with the whole ISO connector thing. If you own a VW or Audi, these cars have a standard ISO connector. But they have reversed two of the wires. They swap the constant power wire and the ignition-switched power wire. You will need to either cut/solder the wires or alter the connector pinouts in these vehicles.
One symptom of this problem is that the empeg won't enter sleep mode when you shut off the ignition.
DIN bay size:The empeg is a standard sized Euro-DIN radio. This is the exact same size as all the other aftermarket radios on the market. If your car accepts a DIN-sized radio, great. If it doesn't, your installer will have a mounting kit which adapts your car so that it does accept a DIN-sized radio.
The only problem is that the empeg is a
pullout, a style which other stereo companies quit making several years ago. Most cars will accept a pullout radio just fine. Some cars, however, put a piece of fascia trim around the radio which is smaller than the radio itself. Such cars won't accept a pullout radio unless you cut the fascia or find some other alternative.
Tuner module and VR microphone:At the time of this writing, the empeg was shipping without a radio tuner. The tuner (when it's available) will be an add-on module, a small box that installs inside the dashboard behind the empeg. This connects to the small white connector dangling behind the empeg. If you're installing the empeg now, you will need to dismantle the dashboard if you want to add the tuner at a later date.
Similarly, the voice recognition software is not yet available, either. When the software is ready, you might want to add a microphone to the input jack (small round connector) on the back of the empeg. This will probably involve dismantling the dash as well.
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Tony Fabris
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