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I finally ended up buying the Empire 350DE cartridge

Metalownz

Metalownz

Audiophile? Getting there
I figured id try it out. I still dont have any info on it, other then it tracks at 1.5-3 grams. This is a out of the norm purchase for me. I just wanted to try something different. Does anyone use this cartridge? Im still waiting for mine in the mail.
 
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Gray body: Empire 350DE:
350DE _4.jpg
Toward the end, Azden made several models for Empire. They're good carts.

UPDATE: The Empire-branded 150, LTD 150, LTD 455, RM 20, OP 110, Z99E, 250E and 350DE all appear to be clones of the YM-10E and take the same moving-magnet (!) stylus, 243-DE, a 3x7 elliptical tracking at 2g.
 
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Azden made a lot of cart for different companies, didn't they?
My AR came with a Piezo Of Japan cart that matched up exactly to an Azden. I haven't used it for some time, but I remember I liked how it sounded. There was model number that was close to mine that sold for $215 in the mid 70s, so they must have made some decent carts.
 
I believe they did make carts for other tables. My question is, how does mine rank against other carts? I wonder if it would be a big upgrade over my Pioneer PC-35?
 
Short answer to your question: I don't know. However..

Since, roughly speaking, the cart is only as good as the stylus you can actually get hold of and afford to buy, and since the only styli I can find for the 350DE so far are a conical and an elliptical, I'd have to say the AT95/AT3400 is better, since you can get advanced styli for it or go the other way and plug in a cute carbon-fiber-cantilever conical.

Which is a shame, since Azden supplied some very interesting styli for the cartridges branded Acutex in the US.
 
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It comes stock on the Pioneer PL-50 and 41 tables. With a good stylus, how do these Azden carts do with inner grooves?
 
Short answer: Good. Good enough for most LPs-- it's the "safe elliptical" shape: .3 mil by .7 mil, a good compromise between stylus/record wear and ultimate tracing ability. It'll be as good as any other properly made 3x7 elliptical.
 
KrisM said:
Azden made a lot of carts for different companies, didn't they?
My AR came with a Piezo Of Japan cart that matched up exactly to an Azden. There was model number that was close to mine that sold for $215 in the mid 70s, so they must have made some decent carts.
Click to expand...

Sorry I missed answering your question, especially since the answer is so simple: Yes, they did OEM several carts for different companies (I'm still learning which ones), including the one everybody in the US knows and which they helped create: Acutex.

The Piezo company became Azden (Atsuden): http://20cheaddatebase.web.fc2.com/needie/NDAZDEN/AZDENindex.html

And yes, their carts are decent and worth getting and owning. You may have another one already and not know it.
 
wualta said:
Sorry I missed answering your question, especially since the answer is so simple: Yes, they did OEM several carts for different companies (I'm still learning which ones), including the one everybody in the US knows and which they helped create: Acutex.

The Piezo company became Azden (Atsuden): http://20cheaddatebase.web.fc2.com/needie/NDAZDEN/AZDENindex.html

And yes, their carts are decent and worth getting and owning. You may have another one already and not know it.
Click to expand...

So far i like the sound of this one. You answered the question correctly. The sound is very relaxed, not fatiguing.
 
wualta: Afaik, Japan Piezo didn't really become Nippon Atsudenki (trademark Azden), 'cause it always was, as Japan Piezo is just the English translation.

And yup, they also provided several models to Empire (or what remained of the original Empire company...) - like for example also the SLM444, which was an elliptical variant of the YM-125.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
Oh. I guess that link above has a bad translation (from my browser), then. Well, let's take a look at Azden's own site where they talk about their origins.

http://www.azdencorp.com/new/pages.php?pageid=23

"Nihon Atsu Denki" translates as "Japan Piezo Electric". The company name wasn't "Azden" yet, though they made Piezo and Azden brand cartridges. The company opened US Azden in Chicago in 1984 and didn't call itself ("become") Azden in Japan until 1993.
.
 
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