"From the announcement that the Mark-2 will use an external unit I read that Empeg have given up developing one themselves and will purchase a module from an external supplier."

Actually the current tuner is an off-the-shelf module from Philips.

There are three major reasons for moving the tuner to an external module. Firstly, having the tuner inside the case makes AM reception impossible, due to the high level of digital interference across that band from the processor.

Secondly, there's not enough space in there - most car stereos dedicate a huge amount of space to their tuner, but we have so much other stuff that even our tiny Philips module barely fits. The Mk.2 has even more digital circuitry, and no room at all for the tuner.

Thirdly, we want to be able to develop a DAB upgarde, and making the entire tuner section modular seems like the best approach to accommodate this.

Rob