Here's part two - my thoughts on putting it in the car and using it there.

My car (Ford Contour) didn't have any amps or otherwise special audio components. Just a cd-deck and in-door speakers.

I headed to the local Tweeter (a reputable northeast chain of generally higher-end audio/video stuff) and picked up a very basic amp. It turned out to be a bargin, and seeing as I am only planning on powering the existing speakers, I was comfortable with it.

Saturday morning at 9, the fun began. I had two friends assisting me on the install, both of whom had installed various car audio equip. before.

Our biggest hurdle was getting the wires down the opposite sides of the car. Apparently the Contour's doorsill is a P.I.T.A. to work with, and they used some nice plastic "spin-in-place" style screws to hold it down. Ugh. After much wrestling, we got them all in.

I used the included ISO-to-wires adapter, and soldered'/heatshrinked the leads to my old wiring harness. Proud to say I didn't confuse one wire, and everything worked first shot when I tried it.

Getting the sled in place in the dash itself took some work, because of the mass of wires behind it. I can't imagine how it will be when the tuners arrive (nudge nudge).

Needless to say, in car performance is stellar. I would say the sound quality is superior to my old CD head unit... probably because of the external amp. But I am very impressed. My only mention would be that at night, it is difficult to find the button you want. The rotary knob is easy, but you have to do a bit of braille work to get the right button out of the four. I am already used to where my hand and finger has to go to get to them, but a newcomer to the car might try to press one of the facia screws. (I know this has been discussed before, so I won't start it again)

Overall impression -
VERY nice. High quality for a high price, but if you value all of your music, there is little that can compare with the Empeg.

Anyone sitting on the fence, get off! Just do it! You won't be sorry at all.

And there is nothing sweeter than having the five favorite albums of girl you are looking to impress waiting in her own little playlist, ready for shuffle play. (hehehe)

And thats about it! Congrats to Empeg for a great product!

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greggerm 09000991