[Wayner]

I have discovered a significant problem (easily corrected) on these great turntables. As some of you may know, I've been having a wee bit of a speed issue with my Empire 598 II. Yesterday, I spent most of the day on the problem, and also giving it a good cleaning and recalibrating job. Examining the platter shaft and bushing well repeatedly and not finding any spot for wear or rubbing, I was baffled. I took off the retaining ring that is located at the base of the well (you have to tip the table on it's back to get at it as it is underneath in the cast sub-chassis). I have had this apart before, but thought there was something that I had missed. When you remove the retaining ring, take a pencil and push out the bottom. There you will find 2 discs. the outside one (and visible one) is made from brass. The inside one is made of (I believe) Teflon. The last time in was in here, last fall if I recall, everything looked the same.

Then it hit me. The nylon washer has a dimple in it where the platter point rests. Then the light came on. The platter point has worn a dimple into the Teflon disc. Now the point has surfaces on it's sides that are causing friction and thus, bothering the motor drive! The fix? Turn the washer upsidedown and use the fresh unworn side! That should get me another 20 years of play, right?

Here is a poor white board sketch:



I'm on my second day of listening and I must say, the Empire now is truly back in all of it's glory. I believe that every Empire deck is going to have this problem and that is why I am posting this.
If you feel your deck is deck is causing you some fits, this is certainly one of the problems. Of course, check the platter shaft for nicks or wear rings and use a flash lite to look down the bushing well for signs of wear or contamination. I do recommend that everyone flip the washer over.

Wayner

[Photon46]

Hey Wayner, FWIW, I'll tell you about a tweak I did to my 598III that really improved the sound of the table. I drilled three triangulated holes in the bottom of the base big enough to accommodate the o.d. of 1/4 x 20 threaded brass inserts. One in front, two in the back. I made a little wood block drill guide to make sure the drill went in perpendicular to the vertical. Because the base is not solid wood and the drill holes are almost as thick as the base panels, I reinforced the hole walls with wood hardener solution before installing the brass inserts. A short length of brass threaded rod allowed installation of BDR carbon fiber cones for feet. This mod made for for a really good coupling of the table to the maple plinth the table sat on. The new feet REALLY improved the sound of the table a great deal.