Thanks Tony - that was a lot more info than I got from the FAQ. Ugh, I won't give up yet, but I have a little better idea of what's involved.

And as far as running them the other way - no... My Sony deck folds up with just a flat shiny face on it, I was thinking about pulling the butttons off the Empeg and making a new flat faceplate on it too, turning it into just a slave MP3 changer with a display. Then, running the whole business with the Sony remote (via the Sony). Yeah I know a lot of you will think I shouldn't use the Empeg that way - but it's mine and that's what I want to do! I may switch it some day, It won't be any permanent modifications, and nothing will get broken. I've been looking for an in-dash CD changer for a long time now, and the Empeg will serve that function beautifully, as an MP3 player instead. Same thing to me, just a little less convenient up front (burning CD collection) and more convenient later (not swapping CD's). Now, I just want it to cosmetically match everything else. Thus, the idea for the smooth plate on it, and the inherent need to control it somehow else - such as with the Sony deck.

Thanks for the information everyone.