Right, I have got my hands on one of these:
Happily I'm paying a lot less, likely around £50 for the unit and an Amp to run the speakers. I never listen to radio and would rather have all my music in one handy to access box anyway!The Empeg Car was a Linux-based unit that transferred MP3 tracks from the user's computer to the player via USB, Ethernet, or a serial port connection. Prices started at $1,100 US for the 4GB version and went all the way up to a $2,400 28GB unit that utilized two laptop drives (which was considered very large capacity at the time). The Empeg Car garnered quite a following and became beloved among the small group of users who bought one.
They stopped making these around 2002/2003. Only way to get them is second hand. It can take two 2.5" Laptop Hard drives, has a little Arm based board running Linux. Really nice interface, and tons of custom mods for it too.
Outputs are four pre-amp phono connections, hence the need for the Amp. Has a cage for the car it docks into, which gives me ISO connectors for connecting to the car. Also has ports on the back for DC in, Ethernet, USB, Serial and twin phono. This means you can unclip it, take it into the house, plug it into your stereo, and it will start playing where you left off in the car.
It's a real shame they didn't take off, fantastic idea - and executed really well.
My current plan is:
Empeg in dashboard, going to use an ISO extension cable so I can avoid hacking the loom.
Looking to purchase:
- http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/raptor- ... g-kit.html
- http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/raptor-isrca15.html
- http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/cad-spe ... spool.html
Hoping to mount the amp under the rear shelf - that will likely be the biggest adventure
So Empeg -> Amp -> Hacked up iso extension -> Speakers
I'll update this thread as I go
