So to be able to have the unit independant of my ignition, what do I tell the installer?

Tell him that you want the stereo to work whether the ignition is switched on or not. He'll know what to do. (But in case he's a knuckle-dragging mouth-breather and you still need to specify for him, tell him to wire both of the Empeg's power leads to the car's always-on power wire.)

I know that if music is playing I'll remember to turn the unit off, but if it isn't, how much of a drain on the battery will it be if the unit is on but not playing?

Well, if the unit's on, it's playing. Unless it's paused or it's hit the end of a non-repeating playlist. But for the most part, if it's on, it'll be playing music. This is the reason some people prefer to have their radios turn off from the ignition. If you're really forgetful, maybe you should wire it normally.

If you put it into "sleep" mode from the front panel, it'll drain very little juice and should be OK to leave in your dash. But I'd recommend pulling from your dash for security reasons whenever possible.

Also, wouldn't the amp not work if the ignition were off?

No, if properly wired, the amps will be connected directly to the battery using heavy-gauge wire. The Empeg controls whether the amps are switched on or not via its Amp Remote wire. When the Empeg is on, the amps will be on, regardless of the ignition.


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Tony Fabris