Well, I got it all wired up and permanently installed. I'm very happy with it. It no longer does a full reboot when I start my car, and there's no longer a big speaker pop (just a small one). Sometimes, if it's just in standby mode, the LED won't even stop pulsing.

It has a slightly odd behavior, where after the engine is started, it shows the "powerfail" icon for a few seconds, and then there's a brief pause in playback. But it's still better than a full reboot.

Thanks a bunch for the suggestions and help, Rob S. and Hugo.

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144