Menu navigation is rather slow. Apparently this model of stereo is set up to talk to the iPod natively at the full speed permitted by the interface...

It does stike me that a far faster way would be to pull the iTunes DB off via the USB treating it as a mass-storage device and parse that yourself (assuming we're living in a fantasy world where speed of navigation trumps cost of memory, processing,etc). After all that is what iTunes itself does and hence navigating your iPod when plugged into your computer if speedy.

And while you're at it, you could have the stereo contain its own internal playlist state so that it could support the queue function itself rather than being tied to the iPod's user interface decisions. Works for me. Can you change career direction and go into the car audio business, please?