ok so yha i already havce the pioneer and the sony is ugly as all hell.. ive already tired hooking up the rca INPUT! to ipbus.. it dosnt work the toher way around.. my next move is to try cross wiring it backwars so it dose workk but its not looking promissing.. now hacking the serial is one hell of an idea.. but i wouldnt know where to start.. controllign it woudl be a problem becuase i have a control box that works when the ipbus in inputted.. now having it directly connected to the empeg woudl be the coolest thing ever but i dont see that happing anytime soon just not enough demand for it.. even thou i DEMAND it.. hehe it wont do any good.. if someones willing to help me out ill get them a great deal on an xm tuner/antenna package.. i get big discount on all car audio products for that matter.. jsut a lil incentive or bribe if you will