Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I have tried to check.

How about a removable front panel so we dont have to lug around the whole unit?
As this is very annoying when going out, and there is no where to kepp the whole unit.

Thanks for any feedback

Mos

Trust me, you don't want a removable front panel.

I had a CD player with a removable front panel, it got stolen anyway. The only truly secure way is to take your stereo completely out of the car so that there's nothing to steal.

I take an extra step: I have a cover piece that covers up the "hole" where the stereo used to be, so that, to a thief looking at the car, it looks like the car doesn't even have a stereo at all.

My car was very secure this way for years, and it didn't get ripped off. Then I upgraded the stereo to a removable-faceplate model and it was ripped off within a year.

May I suggest a Case Logic PDC-1 bag to carry your Empeg around in?

-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

I take an extra step: I have a cover piece that covers up the "hole" where the stereo used to be, so that, to a thief looking at the car, it looks like the car doesn't even have a stereo at all.

That doesn't sound like a good idea. If you fill the hole with a cover a thief might think you have a cleverly disguised stereo and break in to find it (after all how many cars nowadays don't have a stereo). At least if you leave the hole empty they can see that the stereo is not there.



__
Unit serial number 47 (was 330 in the queue)...

That doesn't sound like a good idea. If you fill the hole with a cover a thief might think you have a cleverly disguised stereo and break in to find it (after all how many cars nowadays don't have a stereo). At least if you leave the hole empty they can see that the stereo is not there.

Not in my case. The cover piece I have is not a disguise. It's an actual car part- it's the piece they put on my model of car if the dealership sells the car without a radio. It literally looks exactly like a car that simply has no radio installed at all. The speakers are all hidden under upholstery, so there's no way to see anything worth stealing when you look in the windows. Like I said, the car was very secure that way for years, and I never had a problem. When I gave up my pullout model for a removable faceplate model (and could no longer use my cover plate), it got ripped off the first time I parked my car in the city. The thieves know that they can order another faceplate for fifty bucks.

As far as the logic of "leaving the hole visible", yes, that works, to a certain extent. However, many thieves will bust a window on such a car anyway, assuming that you stuck the radio under the seat because you didn't want to lug it around with you. Personally, I've had good luck in the past with my cover plate, so I'm sticking with it.



-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

Soon you won't need a CaseLogic bag - we'll be selling empeg carry cases! We've had a glowing report from our "Bag Beta Tester" (thanks Rob!) and are confident that bagged up empegs will be a big hit on the catwalk this summer.

Well, maybe :-)

Rob

Any hints on what one of these designer bags will look like?

The Case Logic bag I'm using has good points and bad ones.

Good: It's got a extra compartments for in-home cabling and power supply, my checkbooks, and my sunglasses. Kind of like a pur... er, "european carry-all".

Bad: Not padded. At least not hardly much padding at all.

How's the Empeg bag compare to the above? I might be interested in getting one anyway.



-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

Maybe there should be room in the carry bag for a 12V SLA battery.

Then you can just plug your empeg into your portable headphone amp
(being carried on the other shoulder) and voila!

That could get a bit heavy, though. How much power is normally required
to sustain the empeg (with nothing on the display)?

Richard.

Within two weeks of having the empeg, my car got broken into. I think they were looking for my empeg in the glovebox (gun compartment for the US types) and they pinched my amp anyway.

Wow, that's too bad. I'll bet you're glad the Empeg wasn't in there, though. My amps are pretty well hidden, so I've been through two break-ins and never had the amps stolen.

Oh, and some of us Americans don't own guns.

I've seen some pretty elaborate setups with "stealth" installations like mine (and, now, yours). I saw a Honda Accord in a stereo magazine with some nifty features. The dealer blanking plate was spring-loaded, so that when the owner pulled out the full-pull-out CD player, it snapped into place. Then there was a key-locked box in the trunk that was welded to the car frame- if the owner didn't want to lug the stereo around, he locked it in there. The compartment was well-concealed so that a thief wouldn't see it even if he broke in. The car had a complex amp/speaker setup, all concealed under upholstery so that a thief couldn't see anything, even if he had broken into the car already and was looking for stuff to steal. It was quite cool.



-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

I've seen some pretty elaborate setups with "stealth" installations like mine (and, now, yours). I saw a Honda Accord in a stereo magazine with some nifty features. The dealer blanking plate was spring-loaded, so that when the owner pulled out the full-pull-out CD player, it snapped into place. Then there was a key-locked box in the trunk that was welded to the car frame- if the owner didn't want to lug the stereo around, he locked it in there. The compartment was well-concealed so that a thief wouldn't see it even if he broke in. The car had a complex amp/speaker setup, all concealed under upholstery so that a thief couldn't see anything, even if he had broken into the car already and was looking for stuff to steal. It was quite cool.

Hmmm. I wonder if the car got stolen in its entirety :-)





--
Mike Crowe
I may not be speaking on behalf of empeg above :-)

Hmmm. I wonder if the car got stolen in its entirety :-)

Very funny, Mike. All joking aside, there's other things, like "the club" to protect the car itself against theft. But full-car thefts are a lot more rare than stereo thefts. Much easier to fence a stolen stereo than a stolen car. And don't talk to me about car alarms, I know people who have had their alarms stolen.

Personally, I'd rather that a thief take the whole car than to leave me with a vandalized car that I must now repair.

PS: Hey, Mike, where's 9a?


-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

The bag is snugly empeg sized, made from nylon with a handle that allows for vertical or horizontal carrying. There is an accessories pocket on the front, and both compartments are fastened with zips.

I'm sure rschofiel won't mind me quoting his feedback (he's had a carry case since Christmas - one of only two at large, the other having been stolen at Comdex!).

--- Begin Quote ---

I have some comments regarding the carry case if you are interested. I have been using it now since Christmas (joy! no more wet empegs!) and I have become quite impressed with the build quality. It is well stitched and very strong; I especially like the fact that strap braiding extends all the way round the bag body - nice safe feeling. The material choice is the business - and it is absolutely waterproof. I managed to take it out on the first day in an appalling rainstorm and in spite of walking round the shops with it for an hour, the contents were bone dry (I wasn't!). The padding of the bag is excellent - just right. The dimensions are also just right for the mark 1. Any bigger, and I suspect it would have been slopping around in the bag. So on the bag, well done.

--- End Quote ---

Rob goes on to point out that the accessory carry pocket on the front is too small to comfortably fit a power supply and mains cable - we'll reconsider the design of this.

Rob

would this "european carry all" go well with a "man fur"? maybe a nice "eight ball jacket".

i guess that only makes sense if you were referring to that ephisode of seinfeld, which i assume you were. if you were not, please disregard this post :)

oh, i wish i wish i had an empeg...

Actually I never saw that episode, but I can imagine what it was like.

I was joking because I've been using my car stereo carrying case like a purse for a long time, and my friends used make the "european carry-all" joke to me. Perhaps they were referring to the Seinfeld episode, too. Actually, the only other stuff I carry in there are my checkbooks and my sunglasses. Does that make me "Femmy"?



-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

This is getting a bit off topic:

I wouldn't rely on the club to protect your car. I saw a TV News Magazine article a few years ago where they pointed out that although the club might take an unreasonable amount of time to saw through, sawing through the steering wheel and removing the club doesn't.

I just drop my club on the wheel without locking it. At least that way there's a chance a thief will chose an equivalently valuable (to him) car without a club.

although the club might take an unreasonable amount of time to saw through, sawing through the steering wheel and removing the club doesn't.

Now that's pretty damn funny. I'd never heard of that.

Of course, I don't bother to protect my car against theft... Just the stereo, since it's worth more than the whole car.



-- Tony Fabris -- Empeg #144 --
Caution: Do not look into laser with remaining good eye.

I recall seeing small stickers on the side windows of cars (usually in college towns)... they usually had something like "No Radio, No Money" but the best theft deterent seems to be a wad of connectors and stripped wires giving the impression that the radio was already ripped out.

But then again, a friend of mine in NYC had his car broken into so many times that he really resorted to no radio (just carried a walkman) and left the car unlocked to save the cost of windows. Odd thing is that one night a thief broke the window to get in the car... never checking that it was unlocked or radioless.

Perhaps car thieves are just products of a very shallow gene pool and all efforts to predict their behavior is moot.

=MM



--> Get paid to surf the web! http://www.alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=CCI498

Wow, that's too bad. I'll bet you're glad the Empeg wasn't in there, though. My amps are pretty well hidden, so I've been through two break-ins and never had the amps stolen.

Unfortunately my car is too small (waiting for the new car (Audi TT) to be delivered - just in time for the Mk2 - yum!), so It's difficult to hide the Amps anywhere. To be fair though the thieves actually followed the cables from the back of the sled around the car to find the amp - so I'm not sure that hiding them would have been that helpful.

Oh, and some of us Americans don't own guns.

I don't believe you.

Cheers,

Paul.



Paul Haigh, 6GB, Blue
Reg: 4120 - Serial 00254

I was joking because I've been using my car stereo carrying case like a purse for a long time, and my friends used make the "european carry-all" joke to me. Perhaps they were referring to the Seinfeld episode, too. Actually, the only other stuff I carry in there are my checkbooks and my sunglasses. Does that make me "Femmy"?

Only if you worry about your "european-carry all" matching your shoes.

(O|||||O)

Even more off topic...

Was watching TV the other day and saw these new (I think) Diehard batteries for vehicles, that actually have security built into them. A battery disconnect is a pretty effective mode of vehicle protection, and this thing has it built right into it. Uses a remote control to toggle the connection actually internal to the battery, therefore rendering your vehicle power-less. Seems like a real good idea.

'Course, I dunno how this would affect accessories that require a small current feed (I don't know if this is pulled off the main battery or some other source), but I use a seperate clock now anyway for my Jeep so it wouldn't affect me anyway..

(O|||||O)

If I move to a high crime rate area I would try to garage my vehicle as much
as possible.

Reg_2845 Serial #00173

C'mon, Tom -- you're only a mile or so away from the Mountain View subdivision. How much higher crime area do you want?

I'll be phoning you in the next week or so to see if we can't get together for a few hours on February 19 so I can impress you with the sound quality of my stereo and you can impress me with the empeg in your pickup truck.

tanstaafl.

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