Who has modified their Empire turntable?

[MisterDK]

Hey folks, have any of you modified your early Empire tables?
I’m wondering specifically about the 208 / 298 / 398. I just bought a somewhat scruffy, early 208/298 to play with. Thinking of running a more modern arm on it ‘cause the original 98 arm on it looks beat.
Any suggestions - or pictures of your modded ones?

 

[ateal]

Here's a few of mine I have owned in the past.

Before state example of most of the ones I have bought.



After version of the same table



With Linn Basik arm



With Linn Ittok arm



And finally my favorite, with SME Oracle 345 arm

 

[ateal]

Oops I forgot one.

The guy I sold this to put the "Wand Tonearm" on and told me it sounded more enjoyable than his $20k rig.

 

[MisterDK]

Nice - thanks for sharing!

Of the arms you’ve swapped onto the 208 table, which did you like best? I was thinking about looking for an older SME, but if something else of interest comes up -

 

[ateal]

Easy question. The SME Oracle 345.

 

[watt]

Those are some really nice looking Empires, ateal.

If I remember correctly, itcwoody and Redboy both have/had Empires that have been modded a bit.

 

[Redboy]

If I remember correctly, itcwoody and Redboy both have/had Empires that have been modded a bit.

Yep, a buddy of mine made a few... changes to the original design (thread is here, picture below). @ictwoody did some really cool stuff with his, too - hopefully he'll post a pic or two.

 

[MisterDK]

Wow!
That’s a pretty cool turntable! Don’t think I’m able to go quite that far with mine. ^_^

 

[NoTransistors]

Does anyone here remember an AK member who modded the platter on his Empire with all sorts of weights? Looked like a roulette wheel.

 

[dtut]

Yup. The Empire parts are from one came to me badly damaged from being thrown into a Goodwill bin. The plinth is my brother-in-law's high school wood shop project.

 

[dbxdx5]

Yup. The Empire parts are from one came to me badly damaged from being thrown into a Goodwill bin. The plinth is my brother-in-law's high school wood shop project.

That's what I call a save! Great resourcefulness.

 

[ictwoody]

Yeah. I modded mine pretty well. I damped the platter with some giant o-rings. The plinth is 1.5" thick teak and then the top black part of the plinth is 1/2" paper stone that was CNC machined. It's bonded to 1/8" aluminum that was water jet cut and then epoxied to the paper stone. The top plate of the TT is fully damped with rope caulking. There is a bunch of dynamat under there too. I have a lot more pics... but here is the final result. Sounds wonderful. The arm is a Jelco SA-250ST which was the same mounting distance from the spindle... it just required me to open up the mounting hole diameter with a step bit. I had the top plate polished and then brushed. The platter was high polished.

- Woody

 

[ictwoody]

Here's videos showing the effects of O-Rings on the inner platter lip. Rings were sourced on Amazon.

No damping.



O-ring damping.



O-ring damping and platter mat.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Outstanding work there Woody! Very nice.

 

[MisterDK]

Yup; that’s a very pretty Empire!
Woody, I’m curious about those big O-rings. Might you have a link to them? Also, what motor capacitor is that?

 

[ictwoody]

Here's a link to the o-rings taken from my Amazon history. I don't think they were this expensive when I bought them, but at least you can see the specs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XYHSW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The motor capacitor was provided to my out of the generosity of @hirscwi. I'm not sure what it is... I just installed it using his instructions.

- Woody

 

[MisterDK]

Thanks!

 

[MisterDK]

Here are a couple “before” pics of the one I just bought; got it today. Once I get it cleaned, I’m sure it’ll tell me how it wants to be modded. So far, it looks nicer than I thought it would. Should be good for a resto-mod.
BTW- this is a relatively early one, with castings dated late ‘60 and early ‘61. It still has a serial # stamped in ink, # 2788.

 

[hirscwi]

You can also get those O-rings at McMaster-Carr (McMaster.com) if you can't find them on Amazon.

 

[hirscwi]

Here's a couple photos of one of the Empires I have modified. Two more in the works.

This one is solid plinth: layered MDF and plywood surrounded by solid Jatoba. The top plate is damped (bitumen sheet and rope calk). The bearing polished. The platter is damped with the o-rings (Woody's idea) plus filled with resin and re-balanced. Uses a custom motor controller to rotate motor slower so as to use the 45 rpm spindle (reduce vibrations and calibrate rotational speed).