Empire 598 Turntable [message #81451] |
Wed, 15 July 2015 21:16 ![Go to next message Go to previous message](/forum/theme/AudioRoundTable/images/down.png) |
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gofar99
Messages: 1940 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
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Illuminati (5th Degree) |
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Hi All, A few weeks back I got a ca 1972 Empire 598. It was in nice shape but had on tone arm. Fine with me as I have a few spares. It was not quite as easy as it could have been as the original arm is mounted on a suspended sub chassis with the platter (all 8 pounds of it). All the arms I have are 9.5 inch and the original Empire was 9.0. A bit of machining and some steel spaces and JB weld and presto the 9.5 inch arm fit. Then there was the problem of drive belt. Lots of places sell ones that are supposed to be correct. Most are not. It took 4 tries to get one that worked like it should. As you might guess an eight pound platter needs some serious muscle to make it turn. The motor is a 24 pole AC synchronous one. it is big enough to run a food processor. Once up to speed nothing will cause it to change. Anyhow I got it all together and running now. Speed is dead on, the turntable is very quiet and the arm works great. I am using an AT33PTG/II cartridge the arm is by Origin Live. Positively amazing sound. For cosmetics the wood case and metal chassis show signs of wear, but not so much that any refinishing is needed. One thing for sure, I'm going to have to stop collecting turntables. I now have 5, the Empire, a seriously modded Dual 701 (with a diy 12 inch uni-pivot arm), a Sota with an Origin Live arm, a Pro-jet with a Rega arm and a Phillips 212. I don't have enough shelves for all of them.
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Good Listening
Bruce
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