Dear Fellow EmPeggers,

Well, it wasn't an auspicious start to the day. I had made an appointment with my local service garage's auto electrician for this morning, but when I got there they couldn't find it in their computer -- and things went downhill from there. :-(

First problem is the size of the EmPeg unit. The electrician tells me that the Euro-DIN slot on the VW Passat 1999 Variant that I have will not fit the EmPeg, because of the cable protection unit and the cables themselves. He says it's around 2 cm too deep. I haven't inspected this myself, but as someone who has installed hundreds of car audio units, I guess he might have a point. Any ideas on how to deal with this would be welcome -- he said it might be possible, but quoted prices in excess of US$1,000 for the installation -- not including the amplifier or new speakers!

Second problem was that the EmPeg doesn't have an internal amplifier, therefore it won't drive the 35 watt speakers in the car. (There are 8 speakers, i.e., 4 pairs.) Therefore, he recommended an external amplifier (which the sodding dealer told me would be fitted to the car when I bought it, but he lied -- and when confronted with his lie, he claimed he was talking about a "radio antenna amplifier.")

OK, so I look at an external amplifier -- and it's about the size of a breadbox, putting out 300 watts. Where should I stick this thing? (I could think of a couple of places, but neither are repeatable on a family channel.) Suggestions for where the external amplifier should be fitted would be gratefully received. The VW Variant is a wagon/estate model -- doesn't leave much room in the boot.

Third problem is that they don't make (it's claimed) a 35 W car audio amp -- because all radios usually come with amps built-in. I wish that EmPeg had made it clearer what sort of external amps would work with this kit in advance -- it's in the instruction manual, of course, but I'd like to see it on the Web site too. Anyway, this means I have to rip out all 8 speakers from the car, and bung in new ones (est. cost US$600) to support a bigger amp. Then I have the problem of the cable run from the head unit to wherever the Amp will live.

One further question -- does the EmPeg have an output that allows an external amplifer to be switched on and off? Otherwise, the Amp has to run all the time.

So, all in all not a good start to the day. Even worse is that most of the above conversations had to occur in German, which I don't speak particularly well, and you can guess at my mood. Any suggestions on how to deal with these issues would be most welcome. Thanks!


Paul Gillingwater
Red Hat Certified Engineer