An alternative? Egad! There really is nothing out there with comparable sound quality, user-interface, or reliability. Check out the reviews section!

In the mean time, you could rig up your amps and speakers and run a laptop into the RCAs through the gaping hole where your empeg will live. You could also get a cheap, used head unit to hold you over (from a local empeg owner?), but I'd be loathe to purchase anything for just a couple of weeks. Remember that the empeg has four output channels when you buy your amps.

-jim <MkII:080000260 18G blue>