Some Empire Turntable History

Did anyone see the Empire 698 on E-bay that sold yesterday for $1,237. and it had a broken arm rest. Unbelievable, I'll sell mine without the broken rest for $1,200. LOL
 
The bearing is the shaft the platter goes into.

Is this correct? I thought it was the housing bore in the frame assembly that contains the Oilite bearing(s), thus it is called the "main bearing well". The shaft, or technically the journal, which extends from the bottom of the platter goes into the main bearing well. I believe the tip of the shaft has a machined hemispherical feature on it, which could be considered a bearing as well.
 
Is this correct? I thought it was the housing bore in the frame assembly that contains the Oilite bearing(s), thus it is called the "main bearing well". The shaft, or technically the journal, which extends from the bottom of the platter goes into the main bearing well.

Your terminology is more accurate. When I used "shaft" I was thinking of the word as meaning a hollow tunnel, like a mine shaft. I was actually stuck for how to explain it as simply as possible, so I used the word 'shaft" even though that does apply more to what you call the "journal."

I believe the tip of the shaft has a machined hemispherical feature on it, which could be considered a bearing as well.

Only the platters on the 200, 300 and 400 series Empire turntables have that. On the 500/600 series the tip comes to a point, looking kind of to my eyes like how a conical stylus tip looks under a microscope.
 
Only the platters on the 200, 300 and 400 series Empire turntables have that. On the 500/600 series the tip comes to a point, looking kind of to my eyes like how a conical stylus tip looks under a microscope.[/QUOTE]

If you look under the bottom of the bearing/spindle shaft you will see a brass end piece held in place with a retainer clip. If you pull the clip and then use a pencil from the top to push the brass plate out a delrin/teflon will be located on top of that brass circle. My Teflon piece had developed a small dimple where the point on the bearing shaft has been riding on the surface for the past decades. I simply flipped it over added a dab of synthetic grease. My guess is that it should be good to go for another 20 years at least.
 
He can edit it to remove the cost and it would be safe. The information is good to have here.
 
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The thread on the Empire is most educational and thorough. I admired them in the 70's but chose that new fangled Technics 1100 with an SME series II (and a plethora of others since then), but coming back to Empire as the ultimate vinyl playing machine is actually a tribute to this now defunct business, whose love for music was just that..a love for music. I didn't choose the turntable in the 70's but I did choose their cartridges (the 4000D/III and the Grenadier 7500II speakers which still kick major butt!)
On another website the 4000 has been re-discovered and FleaBay has seen a few.
All in all I want to pay homage to a great American company that still rocks after 40 years of post production and yes I finally found a mint 698 which I'm very proud of.
As for the auto lift problems, after tinkering with a few it all comes down to how the arm is positioned to engage the photocell located in the gimbal of the arm.
 
990 Tonearm Disassembly? Moreover - Reassembly?

Well, I picked up a 598 (with 990 tonearm) for what I thought was a reasonable price... Until I got home and realized that one channel was out and the cartridge had been broken and poorly repaired. Put a new cartridge on, but one channel was still out. I soldered new RCA connects onto the cable, but still nothing... So I thought I'd get into the tonearm and look for issues... Big mistake. When I unscrewed the tonearm from the plinth, the metal circular discs and a spring popped out. I unfortunately did not see how they were installed originally.

What I'm looking for are photos or explanation of how the spring and metal plates are secured under the tonearm assembly. After that I'll get back to the dead channel issues.

I appreciate any help in fixing what I hope will become my new favorite turntable!
 
Well, I picked up a 598 (with 990 tonearm) for what I thought was a reasonable price... Until I got home and realized that one channel was out and the cartridge had been broken and poorly repaired. Put a new cartridge on, but one channel was still out. I soldered new RCA connects onto the cable, but still nothing... So I thought I'd get into the tonearm and look for issues... Big mistake. When I unscrewed the tonearm from the plinth, the metal circular discs and a spring popped out. I unfortunately did not see how they were installed originally.

What I'm looking for are photos or explanation of how the spring and metal plates are secured under the tonearm assembly. After that I'll get back to the dead channel issues.

I appreciate any help in fixing what I hope will become my new favorite turntable!

Was the spring that popped out a flat coil or a small round one?
 
...When I unscrewed the tonearm from the plinth, the metal circular discs and a spring popped out. I unfortunately did not see how they were installed originally.

You now have an excuse to buy and install a modern tone-arm on your 598. :D
 
The Spring

I can't say for sure? It has 5 bands wound round as a coil, but with each end coming off into posts, one shorter and angles, one longer and straight. It has a round washer in the center of the coil, and a touch of mystery black goo on the long straight post.

Sorry for my terminology ignorance there... The spring attached to the screw with the lock washer is still attached, it is the other spring that has come off.

OK, I'll just take a picture...

Thanks for your help and all of the information you've provided in this forum, empirelvr!
 

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I can't say for sure? It has 5 bands wound round as a coil, but with each end coming off into posts, one shorter and angles, one longer and straight. It has a round washer in the center of the coil, and a touch of mystery black goo on the long straight post.

Sorry for my terminology ignorance there... The spring attached to the screw with the lock washer is still attached, it is the other spring that has come off.

OK, I'll just take a picture...

Thanks for your help and all of the information you've provided in this forum, empirelvr!

I've got good news and bad news for you.

The good news is that is the cueing mechanism spring, and not needed for the proper operation of the tone arm itself.

The bad news is, you accidentially toasted the cueing mechanism.

I honestly have no idea how you would fix that. The fact it came off so easily makes me wonder if it was just hanging by a thread to begin with, unless you took a nutwrench to that part of the arm purposefully.

It's a shame you didn't see this thread earlier, you would have seen the warning in multiple posts to NOT try and disassemble the arm. :tears:

Hopefuly you've put the arm back together as best as you can.

As to your original problem, I would look to the contact points between the sled and the headshell for the source of your problem.

You have a road ahead of you to be sure. But if you can live without the cueing and forgo the dyna-lift feature, you should be alright once you take care of the sled/headshell junction issue.
 
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All I did was unscrew the screw that runs through the metal discs... I presumed
that doing so detached this spring, but perhaps as you said it was already shot. Where would the spring go, were I to be able to somehow reattach it? between the plates? I was trying to figure out where the posts off the spring lodged, but I see no logical place. I'll try some deoxit on the contacts, but I'm starting to fear it's the tonearm wiring, and despite MaxSeven's encouragement, I don't want to put a modern tonearm on it, as the cost would likely exceed the value for me, not to mention the fact that I prefer my tables to be all original. I would certainly have enjoyed to use the table as it was meant to be used, with cueing and dyna-lift, but I'd settle for anything usable at this point.



I've got good news and bad news for you.

The good news is that is the cueing mechanism spring, and not needed for the proper operation of the tone arm itself.

The bad news is, you accidentially toasted the cueing mechanism.

I honestly have no idea how you would fix that. The fact it came off so easily makes me wonder if it was just hanging by a thread to begin with, unless you took a nutwrench to that part of the arm purposefully.

It's a shame you didn't see this thread earlier, you would have seen the warning in multiple posts to NOT try and disassemble the arm. :tears:

Hopefuly you've put the arm back together as best as you can.

As to your original problem, I would look to the contact points between the sled and the headshell for the source of your problem.

You have a road ahead of you to be sure. But if you can live without the cueing and forgo the dyna-lift feature, you should be alright once you take care of the sled/headshell junction issue.
 
The internal arm wiring doesn't tend to go bad. The sled/shell juncture though is the bane of all the various makes and models of turntables that use a similar mounting, such as Dual, Garrard, BSR, ELAC/Miracord and others that rely on contact pressure to make contact. Don't discount this as the probable cause. It may seem alright, but as owners of all the other turntables will tell you, looks can be decieving here.

As to how to attach the cue spring, since you disassembled it, it may be possible to re-attach it, but I'm at a loss to advise as to how. Hopefully someone out there will be able to chime in with some help.

Don't give up! :thmbsp:

All I did was unscrew the screw that runs through the metal discs... I presumed
that doing so detached this spring, but perhaps as you said it was already shot. Where would the spring go, were I to be able to somehow reattach it? between the plates? I was trying to figure out where the posts off the spring lodged, but I see no logical place. I'll try some deoxit on the contacts, but I'm starting to fear it's the tonearm wiring, and despite MaxSeven's encouragement, I don't want to put a modern tonearm on it, as the cost would likely exceed the value for me, not to mention the fact that I prefer my tables to be all original. I would certainly have enjoyed to use the table as it was meant to be used, with cueing and dyna-lift, but I'd settle for anything usable at this point.
 
Inside the 990 arm

All I did was unscrew the screw that runs through the metal discs... I presumed
that doing so detached this spring, but perhaps as you said it was already shot. Where would the spring go, were I to be able to somehow reattach it? between the plates? I was trying to figure out where the posts off the spring lodged, but I see no logical place. I'll try some deoxit on the contacts, but I'm starting to fear it's the tonearm wiring, and despite MaxSeven's encouragement, I don't want to put a modern tonearm on it, as the cost would likely exceed the value for me, not to mention the fact that I prefer my tables to be all original. I would certainly have enjoyed to use the table as it was meant to be used, with cueing and dyna-lift, but I'd settle for anything usable at this point.

Dear Sincere;

Check the photos with posts # 443 and 467 on this thread. Some good shots of the cueing mechanism and the anti-skate set-up. Hope this helps.

John
 
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I have searched this forum and cannot find info on record clamps. Would you recommend one and if so, what one for an Empire 698
thanks so much
 
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