Well, the good news is that I've had the Mark I installed. The grin on my face as it booted up in the dash (after all these years) was near headsplitting! And for stock speakers, they're doing pretty well - the ambience and stage feel on "The Man's Too Strong" by Dire Straits was tangible and the punch on "We Mess With Your Head" by Josh Abrahams was enough to make me turn it down (*gasps of amazement*). Even the friend that's been critical of MP3 music quality was impressed.

The only minor annoyance is that I told them (in a moment of confusion) to hook it up to permanent power rather than accessory - so the thing's on all the time if it's in dash. Still, OT1H it's (one) more encouragement to take the empeg out of the dash when I get out; OTOH the blue led pulsing in the dark looks like the ice-devil's alarm system. So I'm not really that worried about it.

Thanks for the help!

Paul