However, I appear to be experiencing reliability problems with the Mk1 connector, and for me this would be an attractive possibility.

Don't immediately assume that the problem is the connector!

Before leaving on my trip this week, I was having what I thought was trouble with the Mk1 connector. As I inserted the unit into the docking bay, I sometimes got some strange audio noise which sounded like ground loops and alternator whine. Odd, since I thought I'd solved all those problems in my installation.

As I pulled and pushed on the unit in the sleeve, the noise came and went. So I assumed it was just dirty or worn contacts in the connector. But cleaning the contacts didn't solve the problem, and they weren't visibly bent or worn. They looked like they should all be making perfect contact.

I spent several hours diagnosing the problem, disassembling my dash and tracing the fault. It turns out that the fault is within the player. I'm relatively sure of this, although I haven't solved the problem and I have yet to start messing with the player innards. So until I find the exact fault I can't be certain. But here's what I've got on it so far:

In-car connectors all have some "wiggle" designed into them (technical term). On my old Sony pullout CD player, the connector in the docking sleeve wiggled, on the Empeg, the connector in the Empeg itself does the wiggling.

I went to the trouble of unscrewing the back connector from the docking sleeve and plugging it directly into the Empeg. This allowed me to hear the noise problem with the Empeg sitting in my lap while still being plugged into the car, but without the metal docking frame getting in the way. I had already carefully ruled out wiring and grounding problems on my end at this point, and I was being extra-careful not to stress the wiring on the back of that conector since I know it's fragile.

As I gently wiggled the connector, the noise came and went, along with a scratching-crackling sound like the sound a loose ground wire might make. Note that the connector was plugged firmly into the Empeg's connector, so the wiggling was only moving the Empeg's inner connector and the wires which connect it to its componentry inside the unit.

I'm pretty sure that something inside the unit near the connector is loose or is scraping the drive tray or something. Today I'll open it and see if I can locate it. I'm not worried about invalidating the warranty or anything since I've already done that by putting in the second drive.

If anyone else has had similar experiences, let me know...

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Tony Fabris