After becoming addicted to using the Empeg in my MR2 I decided that I needed to be able to use it in my other car, a Daewoo Leganza (big, comfy, automatic, climate, etc., etc., in other words the opposite of my MR2) so I went to see Dominic at Cambridge Car Audio to ask his advice on where it could be installed.

We looked at the second slot on the dashboard currently housing a little shelf but decided it wasn't quite DIN size and there was no room to enlarge it as the main head unit was above and climate controls below. Next we considered the glovebox but I quickly decided that I couldn't give up any of my valuable junk space as I regularly use it to hold various electronic gadgetry/toys/essentials depending on where I'm going. Other options in the "cabin" were ruled out as I wanted it to be somewhere that was out of sight yet easy to get at without having to crawl around under seats so that I could slot it in on my way to work and out when I got home. That left just the boot/trunk....

I now have the Empeg mounted in a very neat pod beneath the (nice solid metal as this is a saloon) rear shelf, next to the amp for my sub. To allow me to control the Empeg from up front I have a pair of ordinary household 12V infra red repeaters, one next to the Empeg in the boot and the other tucked at the back of the 2nd slot/shelf in the dashboard. The repeaters and the Empeg are powered via a relay whenever the main head unit is on.

The Empeg is connected to one of the audio inputs on my Alpine CVA1000R multimedia head unit, which also has Navigation, CD multichanger, radio tuner and TV tuner connected. The CVA1000R (35W per channel) front channel runs a pair of Inifinity Kappa components with the mids in the doors and tweeters up on top of the dash, and the rear channel runs a Kicker amp feeding a 10" Infinity sub in the boot.

Audio quality is even better than in the MR2 due to the better speakers in this car. The Empeg is very easy to get in and out but is hidden away out of sight so I don't need to take it out as often. The IR repeater system works fine.

The only problem is that it isn't easy to do anything except play, pause and skip tracks backwards and forwards as I can't see the display. Not a massive problem though as I understand the folks at Empeg will be adding confirmation and error beeps at some point which should help, and maybe even voice prompts which would be really handy. Another possible (but very silly) option would be to stick a camera in the boot pointing at the Empeg and connect that to the last unused video input on my head unit up front so that I can see the Empeg to control it and admire the visuals. :)

The installation was done by Dominic at Cambridge Car Audio and is up to their usual high standards. As usual, no connection with CCA except as a happy customer.

If anyone near Cambridge UK wants to take a look at either of my installations feel free to mail me (mark@kram.org) and I'll try to sort something out.

Cheers,

Mark.

Mark,

Do you have additional information (part numbers etc) of the Infrared Repeaters ? Sounds like a neat idea until we have the option of some sort of wired remote / remote display for the empeg.

Also, any problems with heat on the empeg player since it is sitting under the parcel shelf (rear shelf) in the car ? Presumably it would get a bit hot sitting in the sun, Although you don't get the same sorts of summers as we do down here in Australia.

Thanks

Glenn

Glenn said....
>
> Do you have additional information (part numbers etc) of the
> Infrared Repeaters ?

I've had them a few years and can't remember what make they are. The one in the trunk is fairly easy to get to though so I'll have a look.

They're the same sort as the ones that Cambridge Car Audio use for their multimedia installs (DVD or VHS players in the trunk etc.) so Dominic might have the details handy.

> Also, any problems with heat on the empeg player since it is sitting
> under the parcel shelf (rear shelf) in the car ?

No heat problems so far, but I'd expect the unit to run cooler in the trunk anyway as there's more air to cool it down in there than inside the dashboard, and no windows letting the sun in.

With temperatures here at the moment (2 degrees Celcius this morning at 6am) I'd expect icing up problems rather than overheating. :)

Cheers,

Mark.

The repeaters we use are basically the same as in Mark's car - they sell under a few brand names, including Powerlink RCX (info here). There's also (unbelievably) a remote control extender website, and if you look under the links section, there's a schematic for a wired remote repeater, which you could probably chuck together for next to nothing. It's 5v powered, as opposed to the units we use, which are 12v and can be fed straight off the vehicle battery, but presumably the current drain's pretty small, so you could probably just hang it straight of a potential divider. The cable based system's probably a much better idea given the amount of interference floating around in most cars these days.

Dominic

Cambridge Car Audio
http://www.cambscaraudio.co.uk

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. I've just purchased a Holden (GMH) Commodore recently, which has (thank goodness) a double DIN socket, so the empeg should look quite nice sitting under my new Clarion head unit. Although boot moutning is still a neat idea, since I can then fit the satelite navigation controller in the dash....

Glenn