The dash on these is quite angled and the head unit will be at about 45 degrees - is this going to cause problems? (see the attached pic)

Although this is outside the recommended spec, I personally wouldn't worry about it.

I noticed that some people had fun getting the units through customs - did this get sorted out and if so, how much duty did you end up paying?

The customs things always got sorted out. Although the Empeg is supposed to be a zero-rated product, some countries refuse to recognize the harmonized code. Most countries, there is no problem and you get the Empeg in a day or two. Some countries, if they happen to pick your package out of their random sampling, there is a delay and sometimes they demand that you pay duties. In those cases it comes down to: How much trouble are you willing to go to with the customs people? Often, buyers just cave in and pay the duty rather than waste time fighting it.

At least that's how I understand it from reading everyone else's experience. Is that close?

How hard is the unit to control using 'just' the front buttons? The idea of fumbling to find the remote while driving scares the hell out of me...

Both the front panel and the remote are very easy to use while driving.

The difference is that there's some stuff that's easier to do on the remote because you can do it with a single button-press instead of staring at the Empeg to navigate sub-menus.

Also, there are some things you can only do with the remote, such as alphanumeric searches.

Here's a run-down of what you can/can't do with each (anyone want to add to this and we'll put it in the FAQ?):

Can be done with both the faceplate and the remote:
- Volume, track skip, FF/REW (Faceplate FF/REW on Mk2 only).
- Play/Pause.
- Power off (sleep mode).
- Playlist navigation/selection.
- Menu navigation/selection.
- Sound adjustments (Loudness, EQ, balance, etc.).
- Shuffle on/off.
- Selection of visuals.
- Selection of info modes.

Can be done only with the remote:
- Alphanumeric searches (by artist, by title, by year, etc.).
- Add search results to current playlist.
- Single-button cycling through visuals.
- Single-button cycling through four info modes.
- Select song or playlist by a PIN number.

Can be done only with the faceplate:
- Single-button power off.
- Single-button toggle between text/visual screen.

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Tony Fabris