Another wrinkle to add to the Pioneer unit is this: CDMA Not sure about the Sony, but it is my understanding that the Pioneer unit is A.) not removable and B.) features copy protection.

I also agree that most joe 6 pack consumers don't like a price point that high.

Another unit to watch out for is put out by Kenwood, it is basically the Phat Noise player with Kenwood branding and it's controlled from a Kenwood head unit like a CD changer.

I'm hoping that one day one of the OEMs that the Empeg team works with would be an aftermarket company like Alpine or Eclipse or something. Of course those would still be post 1000 dollar players.