Hiya. Really interested in this project, think it's a great idea. Newbiew question time (sorry):-

1. Is it worth registering for the waiting list at this stage? Will empeg not have to move the distribution out to satisfy demand perhaps (what is the anticipated demand?)?
2. What do people envisage the cost of the unit being in six months time?
3. I'm no car audio geek so bear with me here - what is an amp going to cost me?
4. Why no AM? - How can I listen to the footy on a sat afty!!?!

Cheers people,

-Rob

1. Why not! You don't have to buy, but they're a small company and I
   guess that they're not going to be able to produce empegs in
   batches of 1000s.
   
   
2. Probably not any (or not much) cheaper than now, but it might have
   a bigger hard disc, the base model is better now than when I first
   looked at the web site (6 months ago?), and the top model is now 28Gb,
   in 6 months it might be 50Gb!!
   
   
3. Pass, I'd like to know this too! What for example is a really
   simple solution that sounds ok (for up to say 150 quid)?
   Note: I've got a noisy, harshly sprung car so I'm not after
   hifi nirvana!
   
   
4. The empeg generates too much electrical noise for AM to work in the
   same box (just like any sort of digital device), shame really 'cos
   in the UK Radio 5 is one of the few stations worth listening to.
   

Jim.

Thanks for that Jim. I suppose you would end up with an AM capable tuner, Empeg box and an amp stuffed in you car. Perhaps they might produce a boot version for the future, thus retaining (if you want) your existing head unit.

-Rob

Amps...

This is a subject that I am sure will generate a huge amount of debate cos everyone has their own personal preference of maker, some people will tell you they can tell the difference between different amps and all that sort of stuff... to be honest with you... I don't think it really makes a huge amount of difference because most cars are too noisy to appreciate the subtle differences in the sound quality from different amps.(but that's just a personal view)

What I would suggest...

1) Go talk to you local hi-fi specialist and ask him to explain something about amps to you...

2) Don't buy the most expensive one in the shop, you won't need it...

3) Buy the best amp you _can_ afford

4) Make sure it has enough channels to run all you speakers from... (no point in getting a 2 channel amp if you have 4 speakers in you car...)

(someone else is bound to disagree ;o)




- Given two theories.... pick the one that sounds funniest -

Just thought I'd mention that whilst we are a small company, we're taking this very seriously and will be manufacturing units in 1000's per batch.

Unfortunately we're not likely to be manufacturing the 10,000's or 100,000's that would be required for distribution - at least not just yet!

Rob

Sorry Rob, I certainly didn't mean to denegrate the efforts of you guys, I'd just assumed you were producing in quite small
batchs. If you're talking in 1000s I'm less than 9 production runs away :-)

Jim

1) Yes, it is worth registering. I don't know what the waiting list is now, but I am #8,741 and that means that empeg won't even
notify me that I have permission to buy until they have talked to 8,740 people ahead of me. I don't anticipate getting my empeg
up and running in this millenium.

2) I do not envision any price drop in the forseeable future. As long as they have (I am guessing) 10's of thousands of people on a
waiting list, why sell for less than the market will bear? The only component in the empeg that is likely to see substantial cost
reduction (to empeg) is the hard drive, and that is only a very small portion of the total cost of the unit.

3) The amplifier will cost whatever you're willing to pay. I enter car audio competitions (currently ranked #1 in Alaska in my power
class ;-) and I compete against people who have as much as $40,000+ in their stereos. You can get a good quality (perhaps not
competition grade, but your ears could never tell the difference) amplifier in the 100--250 watt range for $250--$400. 150 watts can
produce enough undistorted volume to permanently damage your hearing if you are so inclined.

4) There is no AM because the empeg is not a radio or audio player; it is a COMPUTER, and there just is no way to shield a
computer operating in the MHz range enough to co-exist with an AM radio signal. All you'd hear is buzz and static. Just tune
your clock radio to an AM station, then hold it right next to your computer and see what happens!

Hope this answers some of your questions... and who knows, since I am in no way affiliated with empeg, maybe my answers are
all wrong. But I don't think so.

tanstaafl.


"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Regarding the price of the unit, my opinion is that EMPEG co. would be able to go to a venture capital person and say "We have guaranteed proof that at least 10,000 people are interested and are willing to buy." The investor provides the initial capital to do the production run and then when the units get sold they recoup their money (including, presumably, interest). EMPEG co. gets to supply all those people who have put their names down, presumably get to make a bit of money from reduced tooling-up costs, and could even pass on this saving to us if they had enough to fund another production run.

This doesn't necessarily mean the price comes down. I'd imagine the cost of tooling-up a run of 10,000 is a bit less than for ten runs of 1000, but then probably not more than 20%. But the benefit of the above is that the units are supplied straight away, rather than in dribs and drabs, giving the EMPEG unit more immediate presence in the marketplace, which generates more interest. Besides, if EMPEG co. can get to the stage where they have no waiting list and units in stock ready to ship immediately, people would buy this in preference to putting their name in a waiting list.

And then everyone'd be happy.

Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.

Nice idea. How many of the 10,000 though are still going to be waiting to purchase? I'm an example of your average non-techno (in car audio terms) punter and as a case in point, I came across this product, registered (9543 or something) and in the meantime have purchased a cd changer. I would rather have had the empeg unit and will wait for it but am I the norm or the exception?

-Rob