I'm thinking of buying an empeg but have the following questions -
1. has anyone out there installed one in a Porsche 928? The dash on these is quite angled and the head unit will be at about 45 degrees - is this going to cause problems? (see the attached pic)
2. I noticed that some people had fun getting the units through customs - did this get sorted out and if so, how much duty did you end up paying?
3. How hard is the unit to control using 'just' the front buttons? The idea of fumbling to find the remote while driving scares the hell out of me...

Thanks

Mark E

I can't speak toward the angled mounting or the Australian customs, but I've been using the EMPEG strictly with the buttons on its face in my car for exactly the same reasons you mention. I leave the remote control at home.

When driving, I tend to stick to going forward/backward by a track and changing the volume. If I'm sitting still, I might decide I just *have* to hear some particular track and go zooming through the playlist menus. Nicely, if you're listening to a particular playlist (e.g., a specific album) and you want to go back to hearing your whole collection at random, it's just three clicks on the menu button or wheel that you can do without looking. Other folks who've had the EMPEG for a while longer seem to have a handful of these button sequences memorized.

The dash on these is quite angled and the head unit will be at about 45 degrees - is this going to cause problems? (see the attached pic)

Although this is outside the recommended spec, I personally wouldn't worry about it.

I noticed that some people had fun getting the units through customs - did this get sorted out and if so, how much duty did you end up paying?

The customs things always got sorted out. Although the Empeg is supposed to be a zero-rated product, some countries refuse to recognize the harmonized code. Most countries, there is no problem and you get the Empeg in a day or two. Some countries, if they happen to pick your package out of their random sampling, there is a delay and sometimes they demand that you pay duties. In those cases it comes down to: How much trouble are you willing to go to with the customs people? Often, buyers just cave in and pay the duty rather than waste time fighting it.

At least that's how I understand it from reading everyone else's experience. Is that close?

How hard is the unit to control using 'just' the front buttons? The idea of fumbling to find the remote while driving scares the hell out of me...

Both the front panel and the remote are very easy to use while driving.

The difference is that there's some stuff that's easier to do on the remote because you can do it with a single button-press instead of staring at the Empeg to navigate sub-menus.

Also, there are some things you can only do with the remote, such as alphanumeric searches.

Here's a run-down of what you can/can't do with each (anyone want to add to this and we'll put it in the FAQ?):

Can be done with both the faceplate and the remote:
- Volume, track skip, FF/REW (Faceplate FF/REW on Mk2 only).
- Play/Pause.
- Power off (sleep mode).
- Playlist navigation/selection.
- Menu navigation/selection.
- Sound adjustments (Loudness, EQ, balance, etc.).
- Shuffle on/off.
- Selection of visuals.
- Selection of info modes.

Can be done only with the remote:
- Alphanumeric searches (by artist, by title, by year, etc.).
- Add search results to current playlist.
- Single-button cycling through visuals.
- Single-button cycling through four info modes.
- Select song or playlist by a PIN number.

Can be done only with the faceplate:
- Single-button power off.
- Single-button toggle between text/visual screen.

___________
Tony Fabris

anyone want to add to this (..)?

Your forgetting source select: the remote allows for single button slection between player, radio and aux
Also, while in player mode, pressing the CD button (remote) re-seeds the Funnel-web visual (don't know if any other visuals react the same).

on the mk2 only via remote: set time/date

Henno
mk2 6 nr 6

You're right, you can set them under settings. along with the dimmer.

DiGNAN
13653

Thanks, Henno, just what I was looking for. It's in the FAQ now.

___________
Tony Fabris

The 928 dash gives an install angle of 28 degrees from horizontal. This is above the maximum recommended (16 degrees). However, the reason for this is that the shock mounts are designed to work at a certain angle for near-vertical compression. Also, they are compliant to allow the disk mount sled to move around a bit under vibration.

If you mount above the recommended angle, then it means the shock mounts are operating off-centre and the degree of freedom the drives will enjoy is somewhat reduced.

In practice, no one has yet reported drive failure due to incorrect mounting angle, but there's been no reports of anyone actually mounting a unit this way yet, either ...

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015