[Brad]

This might be better posted in the vintage section (move if necessary, please)

A friend of mine has a vintage Empire 598 Turntable in excellent cosmetic and good working condition.
It's original - no mods.
He is asking $200 for it.

I had planned on buying a KABUSA 'table later in the year. ($1k or so)
How close do you think I can get to that level of performance with the 598 and some tweaking?
The Empire kinda fits in with my modded Scott 222c theme, so I have some interest there.

Also, is $200 a reasonable price for this machine?

Thanks for replies/thoughts

Brad in Houston

[WEEZ]

Hi there, Brad! Long time no speak

Wayner has an Empire. He will likely chime in with his thoughts...

WEEZ

[ricmon]

Check this guy out.

http://www.woodhorn.com/empire.htm

[Wayner]

I think that's a hell of a price since I just saw one on eebay go for $550 a week or so ago. I've modded the tone arm with the "Plast-i-band" (see picture) and have neutralized the counterweight (setting the dial to zero and setting the VTF with the counterweight insted of using the clocked in weight setting on the tone arm. I also defeated the anti-skating and replaced it with drop weight and fishing line (a little trial and error here) and used a "nose cone" shaped lead weight from my fishing tackle box. I also used some 2 lb test line (mono-filament) for the thread.

Put a Audio Technica AT-440MLa in it and your friends will drop their jaw when they hear it. I also put some small dots of plast-i-clay between the inner 12 pound platter and the outer ring to stop ringing.

The motor will live forever. Belts are avalible from www.LPGear.com.



Lub the platter shaft with "Slick 50".

Wayner  aa

[Brad]

Thanks for the replies guys

Wayner - great work on your TT there.  Those are some of the same things I'd want to mod on this one.
What model is yours?
Crutchfield even carries that AT-440MLa cart 

Any luck using an MC cart with the Empire?

[doug s.]

that's a killer price on a killer deck.  i'd want it for $200, & i don't even need it.   

best mod, imo, would be to switch tonearms, but adding something w/a larger tonearm mount would entail drilling out the subchassis where the present empire arm sits.  i am planning to do this to my rare empire 498 (which has the heavier platter of the older un-suspended empires, w/the suspension of the later models), so i can mount my o-l modded rega arm.  i suspect it will be competitive w/my tweaked out oracle delphi, as my old empire 208 w/rs-labs arm was...

doug s.

[Brad]

Thanks Doug - I was hoping you'd chip in your thoughts 

Forgot to mention that my buddy is the original owner 

[doug s.]

Thanks Doug - I was hoping you'd chip in your thoughts 

Forgot to mention that my buddy is the original owner 

so, you're gonna steal this 598 from your friend?   

i think the kabusa technics is a great deck (never heard one, yust my opinion, derived from hearing the stock sl1200).  but, i think a tweaked empire is absolutely killer.  if it ain't better than a kabusa deck, then it will certainly hold its own.  here's a site i have posted often - good empire info:

http://www.cognitivevent.com/av_empire.html

doug s.

[Wayner]

Brad,

Mine is the 598 II. I should point out that these tables can have some problems that you should check out before you buy. I bought my Empire when I was 16. That makes it....had to get calculator.....37 years old. The first and formost is the cartridge mounting plate. Make sure all the wires are secure to the contacts. If you have have to replace those cheap clips at the ends of the wires (the clips that go onto the cartridge terminals. If they are bad, find an old computer cable that has male and female ends. tear the end apart that has the female jacks (like a 15 pin) these are perfect size for the caartridge pins. I also sleeved the barrel of the connector with 1/16 I.D. dia. heat shrink tube. That acts as a spring keeping the female connector in a nice force fit form (good n' tight",  aa).

Next, check the pad on top of the cue arm lift. This is a rubber pad that is affixed to the lift bracket inside the tone arm pivot assembly. Make sure the pad is there and that it hasn't come loose. Aside from that, just check for typical feel of the tone arm.

The last major check is the audio cable that plugs into the bottom of the tone arm. Make sure it isn't damaged because there is no plug made that has that unusual configuration (this is not a current DIN style). The RCA connectors at the other end like to have the wire in the center contact come off. There is a hole in the tip that you can insert (ouch) some 1/32 dia. solder and re-solder a bad connection. I have kept my orignal connectors but have had to fix them a couple of times.

Oops, one more thing, make sure the motor mounts are in good condition, not all falling apart. They should be O.K. but I've seen earlier Empires that had motor mount issues with the rubber.

Good luck on this one.

[Brad]

[
so, you're gonna steal this 598 from your friend?   

doug s.

He got out of vinyl a couple of years ago.
He wants to see the Empire go to someone he knows (and someone who will use it)

[Brad]

I should get the Empire in about a week.
There is no cart, so I'm going to pick up an AT440MLA  to use with it while I'm evaluating it.
$90 is about the going rate, right?

Thanks for all the tips.   I'll have 2 or 3 weeks with it in my system to make up my mind. 

[Wayner]

The stylus tip centerline of the AT440MLa should be aligned with the front edge of the cartridge mounting plate. I use a small 90 degree angle to sight it in. Track at exactly 1.4 grams, use a scale if you have one. Can't wait to hear about the outcome! 

Wayner

[Brad]

Well, I took considerably longer than 2-3 weeks to make up my mind on the Empire.

I did find a source for the interconnect cable (on eb*y)
The one that came with it is in decent shape, but good to know.

I had decided to head down the Technics 1200 path instead, but kept coming back to the workmanship in the Empire.
Last week, it just clicked that the Empire was the right thing.

It's a 598-II.
I'm going to run it without any major tweaks for now, with the AT440MLA.
Later, I may take a stab at an Origin Live tonearm.  Keeping it simple for now.

Thanks again for all the input.

Very sad note:  Weez was an early contributor in this thread.