I got this little problem... the colour of the display. I ordered my empeg w/the amber display, expecting it to be the same amber as in my Peugeot 206. Unfortunately the displays in the car are amber-red, and the empeg is amber-yellow. I was wondering if it was possible to get an amber-red display for the empeg so it matches the rest, or if i should get a blue one instead (dont really like the amber-yellow color...). I'm aware of the potential problems w/illumination, but I can live with less light than it has currently...

Yonzie

Emepeg only sells that shade of amber for the Mark 1. Mark 2's will add a red color, I'm not sure if it's the amber/red of your dashboard or not.

I have a similar problem. The green shade of my display is so much more bright and vivid than the green color of my dash lights that it's overpowering. I happen to LIKE it that way, but to each his own.

Altering the color of the display yourself (by adding some red art-store mylar over the front/inside or something) is worth a try, but be careful because you can't cover the IR interface or damage the little IR filter they installed on the inside of the faceplate.

Rob, can you give us more details on the new color for the Mark2 faceplates? Is it red-red or amber-red? Will there be red displays made available to Mark 1 owners?



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

I have a blue display , and now I selling my current Blue 86 CJ'7 Jeep tommorrow for a yellow 99' Jeep TJ. I wonder how that yellow amber would match the new Jeep?

Are the Mark2 modular? to allow for the changing of the faceplate at a whim?



Empeg Kicks Ass
S/N 00203
http://www.iretro.com

I seem to remember hearing that the mark2 displays would work on the mark1.. In fact, there was a discussion where the empeg folks said that they had to keep the volume knob on the left hand side to keep the display covers compatible...
-mark

...proud to have one of the first Mark I units

No, the rotary control is on the right - it's *in addition* to the buttons.

The red is pretty red-red - well, it's audi dash red, or as close as we can manage!

What we said was that we made the interface compatible so that mk1's could use mk2 display boards, but you have to treat the front pastic and the new display board as a set.

Hugo

What we said was that we made the interface compatible so that mk1's could use mk2 display boards, but you have to treat the front plastic and the new display board as a set.

Wait a sec... are you saying that a Mark 1 owner could get a volume knob if they got a new display board and a new faceplate?

/me ponders how much it might cost...





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

and now I selling my current Blue 86 CJ'7 Jeep tommorrow for a yellow 99' Jeep TJ.

Ack! Keep the CJ-7 for a beater Jeep! Trust me, when you get the brand new 99, you'll cringe every time you take it off-road through woods or whatnot with branches scraping up against your beautiful new paint job.. ;)

And the new yellows look SO sharp, especially with the top and doors off.

(O|||||O)
'98 Black Jeep TJ Sahara

ps: the empeg install into the TJ was a snap. VERY easy to get into the TJ console and work around, plus plenty of room behind the radio. They make a standard wiring harnass and mount-plate too you can pick up at any radio shop.

It's battling Jeeps! Everyone take cover!

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

Ack! Keep the CJ-7 for a beater Jeep! Trust
me, when you get the brand new 99, you'll cringe every time you take it off-road
through woods or whatnot with branches scraping up against your beautiful new
paint job.. ;) And the new yellows look SO sharp, especially with the top and
doors off.

I live in the city so I can only keep one jeep at a time. This is my first
TJ. I have had 4 CJ-7's. I think the EMPEG cost more than both of these Jeeps
put together. I go offroad often in the spring/summer , but what the heck. A
scratch can look cool sometimes. It's Solar Yellow! I'll take delivery for it
Saturday. Caught it for $3000 flat @ auction. Think amber/yellow willl look
better than blue?

ps: the empeg install into the TJ
was a snap. VERY easy to get into the TJ console and work around, plus plenty
of room behind the radio. They make a standard wiring harnass and mount-plate
too you can pick up at any radio shop.

Cool. Glad to hear you had a painless install. I had a completely painless
install into the CJ-7. I'lll take pictures this time though. Are we the only
two Jeepers with EMPEG's? Shock mounted drives? YES!

Empeg Kicks Ass
S/N 00203
http://www.iretro.com

Yes, that was the idea.

Not desparately cheap, as the displays aren't cheap and there's admin involved (ie, return to us), but we wanted to make sure it was *possible* :)

Hugo

Cool! Thanks, Hugo. I'll begin saving my pennies straight away.

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

I go offroad often in the spring/summer , but what the heck. A scratch can look cool sometimes.

Yep, thats usually the time I go, though since we really don't have THAT bad of a winter season, I go in the winter as well.. There are a lot of great trails around here, bunch of old logging trails, and just nice, deep, wet mud pits... :> But yes, you're right... I'm complaining about a scratch or two when I have a quarter-inch thick coating of red-mud on my Jeep most of the time... *grin*

It's Solar Yellow! I'll take delivery for it Saturday. Caught it for $3000 flat @ auction. Think amber/yellow willl look better than blue?

Er.. you got the JEEP for 3000$ flat at an auction? A brand new 99 TJ? Wow. You got one HELL of a deal. How many miles? Was it impounded I assume? And the interior of the Jeeps are more Green... I think that Green would look better than Blue... But Blue looks darn sharp as it is. :)

Cool. Glad to hear you had a painless install. I had a completely painless install into the CJ-7. I'lll take pictures this time though. Are we the only two Jeepers with EMPEG's? Shock mounted drives? YES!

Heh, double protection! Even moreso when I get my 4" Procomp lift installed that I just bought the other day.. :) I'm sure that there will be more Jeepers with EMPEG's pretty soon... It feels good to be unique, doesn't it? ;)

PS: if you are like me, I wanted a CD-player as well. Tuffy sells a GREAT stereo console for the 98+ TJs. I installed it in about 3 hours, with very very little drilling required... It mounts a second head unit to the right of the driver, and has a padded armrest and console. What's cool is I mounted the empeg in the dash, (of course, so people can ooh and aah at the visuals) and when I leave the Jeep with the top down, I can pull the empeg out, toss it in my center console, flip the cover over my CD-Player and lock the whole thing up (pryproof, pickproof, theftproof) with one key. If you want a url, here ya go: Tuffy Stereo Console (TJ).

Later!

(O|||||O)

Audi-dash-red is AFAI can tell the same color as Peugeot-dash-red, so I'm pretty much set... just wondering when I can get the new frontplate...... and the volume-knob-upgrade

Yonzie

Display upgrades for Mk.1 players will become available after we've been shipping Mk.2 players for a while. To start with we won't have any additional display boards, but some should become available with the second thousand Mk.2 players.

Red front panels for Mk.1 players may well become available more quickly, if you can live with the extra hole.

Rob

Can I give a recommendation? One of the things my friends most often notice about the empeg is the simplicity/machine cut look of it. Although I dont' mind this, i think the empeg would look alot more professional by simply including a sticker that could cover up the screw holes.

What do you think?
-mark

...proud to have one of the first Mark I units

whtat about better loocing screws, perhaps chrome and 6pointed instead 4.(umbraco)

Mark
wait for mk III with a USB Host/slave
(USB->Ethernet)(USB->COM 1-8)(USB->You name it)

To be honest I think a sticker would look pretty bad. We have options to improve the look of the front panel significantly, but we have to counter the tooling cost against projected sales.

How many of you would really like a stylish moulded front panel, how many wouldn't care and how many would prefer the current flat panel? Would it affect your decision to purchase a player?

Rob

I'd still be inclined to stick with the "stealth" front panel as it stands now - it is pretty stylish, and it definitely (in my experience anyway) attracts attention.

I like the look of the current panel, with some minor mods... round over the edge a bit more, and make the handle go to 90 degrees.

Stan

I love the "plain-ness" of the current front panel. Very futuristic. However, the screws on the face are a sore spot. If there were a way to have the front panel as-is but without the visible screws, that would be the best of both worlds. I have no idea how you could possibly do this without breaking Mk1 compatibility, so I'm nervous about even saying it (since I like the idea of upgrading my display panel). Perhaps some kind of a friction insert into the existing screw holes?

While we're on the subject of the front panel, will the Mk2 do anything about the following points?:

- More clearance around buttons and handle to prevent sticking and scraping?

- Transparency blocker so you can't see inside the unit in direct sunlight?

- Handle extension to 90 degrees?

- Something other than silver paint around the edges so that it doesn't rub off?


Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe a redesign with a molded panel isn't such a bad idea. I mean, the list above makes it sound like something awful, which it isn't. Those points above are so minor. But the unit's face is its way of showing itself to the world. I know the idea of "looks" is kind of silly to think about- the Empeg is all about its internals, not about its looks. If you see visible screws on the front, it gives it a homemade look, which is fine if that's the effect you want to achieve. Something to think about, anyway.



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

I, too, think the handle extension to 90 degrees is important. To be honest, I was rather shocked that it didn't do 90 degrees and at first thought I hada defective unit. People without the early-adopter mindset will EXPECT 90 degrees, as this is a standard for pull-out units.

I agree with Tony on the transparency reduction, too. The unit is stealthy in its plain appearance -- a big plus when it comes to theft-avoidance. However, in direct sunlight the glint off the unit may ATTRACT would-be thieves as it's unlike anything else in car dashes these days -- which generally screams "new technology!" What would help a lot with this problem would be to have the faceplate black-coat anywhere you -DO NOT- want light to emanate from inside the unit. This might result in a two-piece faceplate; molded black (?) smooth gloss plastic that snaps over the coloured clear part to reduce transparency. If designed properly this could also solve your screw problem (which doesn't bug me, personally) as the snap-on plastic piece could cover the screws and screw holes in the clear piece to which it (the black (?) plastic piece) attaches.

Not sure on costs. If it raised the cost of the unit by US$40-50 bucks it wouldn't bug me.

-- Bleys



"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca

as this is a standard for pull-out units

You mean WAS a standard for pull-out units. Before they stopped making them in favor of removable faceplate units. I'm still stinging from the fact that my removable-faceplate CD was stolen. I only bought it because my pullout CD was old and didn't have any anti-skip memory. Oh well, the Empeg is soothing that wound nicely. Ahhhh.... nice Empeg...

This might result in a two-piece faceplate; molded black (?) smooth gloss plastic that snaps over the coloured clear part to reduce transparency.

I had thought of this, too. It would be cool if the black plastic were thick enough to end up flush with the buttons and the front of the handle, giving it a really "finished" appearance. It could cover the screws on the front panel as well as covering the screw that are visible on the inside edges of the handle when it's closed. You'd have to sculpt its shape a bit, so that the recesses for the display, IR, and standby light don't look odd. Also, you'd neet to put a sculpted notch at the bottom so that the user can grab the handle.

The black plastic could snap over the top edge of the clear-plastic part (you'd make the clear plastic part have smaller dimensions to accomodate it) and into new tab-holes cut on the bottom edge of the clear part.

Wow, if done properly, it could take care of the silver-paint-edge thing, too.

Ooo! Oooo!! Hey, you know how the latest trend in car stereos is different-colored plastic faces? Empeg could do that, too! You could buy different colored "lenses" for the video color, and different colored/patterned "faces" for the plastic part. Heh.

You know what? I think I'd whip up a piece of concept art for this and post it here. My only question is whether or not the IR interface has moved in the Mk2 version to accomodate the knob.







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

Here's the concept art I promised.

The concept is as follows: Modifications to the edges of the clear plastic Empeg faceplate could allow a snap-on molded plastic front. Such a cover would not only hide the visible screws, but would allow another level of customization: A user could order different colors/patterns for the plastic cover, in the same way that they can do it for certain models of car CD players. This cover would be about as thick as necessary to come up flush with the button tops and the front face of the handle. A small sculpted "notch" below the display (not illustrated very well in my picture) allows the user to pull the handle out.

(Note that I have no idea where the IR window or the knob will go, or how big they will be.)

I've drawn four different colors: Black, Dark Metallic Green, Dark Metallic Blue, and a psychadellic purple pattern. It doesn't have to stop there- the plastic could be molded with different cool patterns. (I'm hoping everyone's already seen this sort of thing on other consumer electronics products, so they know what I'm talking about.)

This is just an idea, of course. Empeg has made a great product, and I certainly don't have any delusions about thinking I can tell Empeg how to do their job. It's simply a response to Rob's question about whether or not the users would like a molded display. The purpose of this concept image is to better visualize what such a faceplate might look like.

Would something like this affect my decision to buy a player? Not me, no. I bought the Empeg because I wanted an in-car MP3 player with enough capacity to hold my entire CD collection. I would have bought it even without the cool display. But "Joe Consumer" is another story...






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

Excellent work! that looks snazzy! Sexy as all get out... The Cat's Ass. Real Hot stuff. The last one is a little scary! :)


Empeg Kicks Ass
S/N 00203
http://www.iretro.com

Ahhhh.... nice Empeg...

Pat pat pat. Soothing as a dog sometimes. I confess I don't put mine under my pillow, however. No, not the dog, well I mean, errr.. well I'm not so sure I know what I mean.

Have you given yours a name yet, Tony?

Great! Unless one really wants 'industrial' look, Tony's design is excellent. Generally I concur with Tony and His Lordship B. about all their points. The handle really has to extend all the way out. I would also gladly pay extra $50 (or even pounds) for Tony's or similar design (I would stick with black, personally :). Of course, I will buy it if it stay as is, anyway (if only I can find a way to install it in my Twingo... Perhaps I should replace Twing? Nah, too radical! Dominic, HELP!)

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
#5196

Have you given yours a name yet, Tony?

I only call it by name when it's being bad. For instance, when a synch fails. In those instances, its name is "****** ******* piece of **** **********". You're always hardest on the ones you love the most.

Fortunately, this one's been a good boy most of the time. Even when it has occasional synch failures, it's always self-repaired the music database after a few attempts and then worked perfectly afterwards. And 9b seems to be really stable as far as synchs are concerned, so I haven't had to call it by name in a while. Most of the time, I just say gentle, soothing things to it like, "omigod that is so ******* cool", and "****, this sounds great".



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

This is an excellent idea!

Now if you can come up with a faux burlwood cover, it will blend in perfectly with the dash. :-)

Also make some colored carbon fiber coverplates, rosewood, and a "junk" radio plate. The junk radio plate is a faceplate that looks like a crap FM cassette radio not worth bothering to steal.

Calvin

The last one is a little scary!

Not quite as scary as these:



or this:





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

To be honest I think a sticker would look pretty bad. We have options to improve the look of the front panel significantly, but we have to counter the tooling cost against projected sales.

How many of you would really like a stylish moulded front panel, how many wouldn't care and how many would prefer the current flat panel? Would it affect your decision to purchase a player?

---

As a techno-geek, I personally don't mind the front panel, but I know the number one complaint from my friends that've seen it, as well as the installers that worked on it was that it was too plain looking; and in perticular the visible screws seem to be a sore spot. Having it next to a stylish sony head unit in my car doesn't help either...
-mark

...proud to have one of the first Mark I units