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Thread: Empire 698: my lucky day!

  1. #1
    Join Date: Aug 2014

    Location: Aarhus, Denmark

    Posts: 305
    I'm Peter.

    Default Empire 698: my lucky day!

    Today I picked up a pretty, pretty Empire 698. Pretty, if you like a little bling and wood. It is in full working condition and does not (yet) suffer from any of the "ailments" that go with a turntable from the years 1976-1981 (or 82):
    - clear plastic parts ("lexan") become brittle,
    - electric cueing failure,
    - tonearm headshell - non-standard and prone to breaking off
    - metal corrosion
    - gold plating wears thin

    The turntable was owned by an old man who bought it when he worked at the Thule Air Base in Greenland - where my father also worked, incidentally. He must have taken extremely good care of it, because here it is in all its glory with a Shure M91ED:









    I'm Peter, Denmark: AD Audio Satchmo 3 Line Stage + EAR 516 + Quad ESL 57 + EAR 324P + PTP6 Acoustand L75 + Poul Ladegaard tonearm/Denon 103D + Fidelity Research FR24 mk ii/Decca Maroon + Leak Stereofetic FM Tuner + B&O Beocord 6500 Cassette Deck + Synology DS 415+("upgraded" to 8gb memory) cabled to Win10 PC - JRiver - Paul Pang USB-splitter cable - Linear 5v psu - Nuforce U192s - Line Magnetic 502CA DAC

  2. #2
    Join Date: Jun 2010

    Location: Liverpool, UK.

    Posts: 1,228
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    A class act .

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
    Main system: Sony TTS8000; AT1010; Audio Technica Art1; The Lentek; Cambridge 851n, Yamaha NS1000.
    System 2 - SBT; Technics SH-X1000 DAC; Denon PMA-850

  3. #3
    Join Date: Mar 2008

    Location: Galashiels

    Posts: 13,669
    I'm inthescottishmafia.

    Default

    Nice find!
    “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”

    Hunter S Thompson

  4. #4
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Rather fetching.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

    Posts: 11,519
    I'm gone.

    Default

    Beautiful
    .

  6. #6
    Join Date: Aug 2014

    Location: Aarhus, Denmark

    Posts: 305
    I'm Peter.

    Default

    Yes. It looks and sounds great. I will look into whether I can use heavier carts on that arm. Otherwise I will set up the SME 3009R or another (12""?) arm on the other side of it. But it looks great and is playing Lou Reed "Transformer" as I write this.
    I'm Peter, Denmark: AD Audio Satchmo 3 Line Stage + EAR 516 + Quad ESL 57 + EAR 324P + PTP6 Acoustand L75 + Poul Ladegaard tonearm/Denon 103D + Fidelity Research FR24 mk ii/Decca Maroon + Leak Stereofetic FM Tuner + B&O Beocord 6500 Cassette Deck + Synology DS 415+("upgraded" to 8gb memory) cabled to Win10 PC - JRiver - Paul Pang USB-splitter cable - Linear 5v psu - Nuforce U192s - Line Magnetic 502CA DAC

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jun 2015

    Location: London/Durham

    Posts: 6,869
    I'm Lawrence.

    Default

    Not heard of Empire, were they respected in their day?

    Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Lawrence001 View Post
    Not heard of Empire, were they respected in their day?
    They were. Made some nice cartridges and interesting speakers too.
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  9. #9
    Join Date: Jul 2013

    Location: Kingsbury, NW London

    Posts: 1,232
    I'm Clive.

    Default

    I’ve not only heard of Empire Cartridges but have heard some of their models back in the day. Oh heck I must be getting old
    SOURCE:OPPO UDP-205 BluRay, SkyQ, Technics SL1210M5G/HexMat Eclipse/MN Bearing/Origin Live Gravity One puck/Isonoes with Boots/Jelco TK-850S Tonearm/Hana Umami Blue, PS Audio Stellar Phonostage. I also have an AT-OC9XSH as a spare cartridge.
    AMPLIFIER: Bryston BR-20 Pre/DAC/Streamer & Bryston 4B3 Power Amplifier
    SPEAKERS: Spendor D7 on Iso-Acoustics Gaia III’s
    HEADPHONES: OPPO PM-1 with Atlas Zeno cable, B&W Pi7 S2 and B&W C5 v2.
    CABLES: Analogue: Speaker Atlas Mavros Grun. Interconnect - Atlas Mavros XLR x3, MCRU Silver Tonearm cable
    Digital:Audioquest Carbon Ethernet x 4, Audioquest Carbon digital, English Electric 8Switch, Chord Optichord, Atlas Optical.
    Mains: PS Audio Perfectwave AC-05 x 5, Isol-8 Powerline Extreme with Quantum Science yellow fuse on input cable, Sounds Fantastic 6way Mains Blocks.
    STORAGE: Synology DS216J NAS with 2 x 3Tb WD Red hard-drives. Samsung 500Gb SSD.
    TV LG55B7 OLED

  10. #10
    Audio Al is offline Pishanto Specialist & Super-Daftee
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Dagenham Essex

    Posts: 11,215
    I'm Allen.

    Default

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