I use the two head unit approach with a Sony switcher and hu. The neat thing about mine is a usb input that lets me listen to dvd sound through the car speakers. The next purchase is two head rest screens for the back seat so my son can watch Sponge Bob Square Pants in the car on trips.

A little late to this thread, buy here's my setup:

I have a 2-din Mustang so I have an old Alpine CD player and my empeg. The reason for the Alpine was so I could listen to the radio and play CDs on the way home from the store (nothing more frustrating than walking out of a store and having no way to listen to your new purchase). As it turns out, though, I NEVER listen to the radio. I don't even know what stations are good here: I've had the empeg ever since I moved. And I don’t listen to CDs either. I think I've purchased most of my music online so even the "listen on the way home" scenario hasn't really happened. In fact, I got a rehearsal CD from church a couple of weeks ago, plopped it into my CD player on the way home, and found out that my CD player was not longer working (or not well, anyway. It keeps cutting off). I hadn’t tried it in over six months so I have no idea what happened. Nor do I care anymore!

I don't know what I'd do without them... and there doesn't seem to be anything else on the market that does the same job.

If you go to Crutchfield's own page for the Sony XA-39, they link you to "See the Closest Replacement", which currently links here. Seems like the same kind of thing, not certain.

The Sony XA-300 is the one mwest referred to. It's Sony's replacement/upgrade for the XA-39.

I like it! With this you dont need to have the Empeg in the car to listen to your Aux!

It also allows you to input several other devices. You could for example listen to a friend's mp3 player in your car (or anything else with a 1/8 inch jack). Also a friend can listen to an aux device with headphones (including independent volume control) while you listen to whatever in the car. Most of it doesn't have real life value, but it's geek factor is quite high.

It's easily done, isn't it. About 6 years ago I was driving 53k a year business mileage (based in Edinburgh, but clients as far afield as Reading and Inverness), plus some personal and it was hellish. Luckily I'm down to about 16k a year now, which is much easier to cope with.

Wow! My current car has only just broken 53k miles. And it's 17 years old!

I haven't owned it from new, but I only drive around 3k a year and most of that's taking trips to France.

I've done 130,000 miles in my Mazda MX5 (Miata/Eunos Roadster) in the 6.5 years since I bought it. I run into people in the MX5 owners club with cars the same age that have not yet covered 10,000 miles.

What is the point of owning a fun sports car and then driving it less than 2,000 miles a year ? Odd people

As a sign of Mazda reliability, so far:

- I changed my first set of front disks and pads at about 100,000 miles
- I haven't yet changed my first set of rear disks and pads (got them ready to go on, but the old ones are still working just as they always did)
- I have only just had to replace my exhaust after 6.5 years of the car standing outside 24/7
- the only "failures" I have had with the car (exlcuding the exhaust) are; dead battery after six months of ownership and a failed coolant hose (which was on the car from new) a couple of months ago

That said, I now need to spend lots of money on a new roof and a new rear bumper (after I fried my old one when the exhaust failed on me).

What is the point of owning a fun sports car and then driving it less than 2,000 miles a year ?

I've got a couple of friends like that. I don't get it, either.

I think they are the same people who thing car bras and seat protectors are a good idea...

I think it is easy to get high mileage in Scotland, because aside from the central belt, everything is far away (okay guys, I mean far away in UK terms, not US terms - a totally different scale!)

To visit my folks is a 560 mile round trip and to visit my younger brother is about 1100 miles there and back.

Still, that is what my Scooby is for. I'll probably replace it this year at 130k miles as it'll be paid off in the Summer. And I intend to buy one with a turbo - probably the Impreza Turbo from 2000, because the newer WRXs just don't corner the way I like (in fact if I compare mi 1997 Sport to my colleagues 2003 WRX mine will get from A to B much faster if there are many corners. Obviously no contest if it is a straight line, but roads in Scotland are all about corners)

10 miles to the gallon i would be happy to get 10 miles a gallon,try 7 and 4 when i have my fifthwheel behind me.

If you're looking into dual head unit with external amp, consider the "source switching relay" by Precision Instrument Electronics (PIE) MPSS-4. It's an alternative to the Sony XA-39 which I found to not be available (back when I looked).

The MPSS-4 takes a primary and secondary head unit. When the primary is sending audio signal, the secondary is powered down and the primary's sound goes to the amp. The secondary is powered on when the primary stops sending signal, but the primary is left powered on.

This works GREAT for the empeg, I've found (contrary to my initial opinion of it). Empeg = primary. When the empeg is playing, the secondary (CD player, or whatever) is powered off. When you put the Empeg into standby, it remains powered on and the secondary is powered on and sends signal to the external amp. To turn the empeg back on, simply press any button on the empeg to wake it from standby. BOOM, instant empeg sound again.

So, the empeg never gets hard-powered-off, probably causing less strain to it. Ah, let the secondary power off when you aren't using it. Less strain on the car battery? Maybe.

Best of all, if you're going somewhere that you can't bring your empeg out of the car, just leave it at home. You'll still have radio.

I have a 2001 Miata and just took it in for the 30K servicing...other than it being worthless in the snow/ice the car is very entertaining to drive....hopefully i will be as maintenance free as yourself!