OK, I'm a lurker. I have had my EMPEG for a year or so, and I am the second owner of my 30GB Mark2a (It's actually a Rio car). I am afraid that like my friend who I bought it from, I am having difficulty deciding how to install my unit. He eventually gave-up and sold it to me. I have read through most of the FAQ posts as well as scanned this site, but I still have a few questions.

Notes regarding background:
N1) The 350Z has a double-din stereo compartment which can accept an $18.00 adapter to convert this to either two single-din slots or one single-din slot with a storage pocket.

N2) I do not yet own a tuner module, but I may be purchasing one under certain conditions.

N3) I currently do not have a subwoofer, but many people have installed one in the stock location using either a self-amplified unit or a separately amped setup.

N4) I care more about sound quality than overall sound volume (I don't want a "boom car")

N5) Front and rear 6.5" speakers will be replaced with something better than stock

N6) I have two separate single-din slots behind the seats that were designed originally for a DVD Nav system (I do not have that option)

N7) Two four-gauge wires can fit through the rubber grommet in the firewall.

Possible options for installation:

O1) Install EMPEG in one of the rear DIN slots and fake the main stereo into the sense that this is a 6-disk changer (may not be possible but it would be the cheapest)

O2) Rip out the car stereo and install the EMPEG as a single unit with a tuner module and put a 4 or 5 channel AMP (like a JL 500/5) in the rear to power the main speakers and possibly a sub can be added at a future date. This would mean that the EMPEG must be in the car to play any music. Bonus: Storage bin at the bottom.

O3) Rip out the car stereo and install the EMPEG plus an Alpine head unit that does not have the superhuge face (such as a CDA-9815) in the dual single-din module and power the speakers with the head unit with either the front 4V EMPEG outputs or the aux 1V EMPEG output going into the Alpine unit. Subwoofer can be added in the future. Bonus: EMPEG not required to have music.

Questions:

Q1: With Option O3, I am concerned about heat. For the installs that I have seen here, most of these have the empeg in the lower slot while the upper slots are usually populated with a single-din head unit (for those of us with double-dins). I know that the fan mod can be done without difficulty, but how many people with a stacked (head-unit-powered) setup have run into overheating problems? This may not be an option for me because the lower slot may be too-low to install a pull-out EMPEG, so it might need to go on-top. Have people seen heat problems with the EMPEG on top?

Q2: With O2, the EMPEG has two sets of 4V (front/rear) outputs and one set of 1V (aux) off of the chassis. While we have fader control to set a balanced level for the front and rear outputs, there is no separate level control for the 1V (aux) output right? If I lower the volume, all three sets of outputs are reduced? If this was something that I could change in the kernel, then perhaps the 1V aux output could be used as a Subwoofer channel. I would like to hear any opinions on this.

There is no-rush in responding, since it will be a few months before I do this, but I would like to hear everone's opinions. The funny thing is that I went to an audio installer who claims to have done installs of both the first and second generation EMPEGs, but he really was unaware of the potention of these things. He was a bit incredulous when I told him that we had 4V preouts for the front and rear.

Thanks for your time,
Eugene