Goodbye VPI! Hello Empire 208 (also any ways to better isolate it?)

[Iansaudio]

As an owner of a quasi VPI hw19-4, I’ve gotten pretty pissed off with the looks (yes I’m that shallow) and the speed issues.
While it is a wonderful turntable, pretty much silent and well built, the slight speed inconsistencies have been pissing me off, and the motor hums crazy on some cartridges.

Well on the classifieds a few weeks ago, I found an almost New-In-Box Empire Troubadour 208! Well not exactly new, the previous owner drilled a Linn arm mount onto it recently, but the 98 arm covers the holes fine. I spent some time doing a bit of polishing on the plinth, adding new motor mounts, and thrust pad. Next is the motor ball bearing.

I thought the turntable would be a good “helper” for the VPI, but the Empire just sounds so much better. It sounds almost like my Lenco L75, but without the annoying “warm up” time period, and much quieter.

I mounted an AudioQuest PT arm on the original base for the 98 arm and to my surprise the alignment is dead on with my cartridge of choice (Sumiko Blue Point)… It sounds absolutely wonderful as is, but is there any better way to add isolation to it? Mortite on the bottom just isn’t cutting it.

 

[flavio81]

the Empire just sounds so much better. It sounds almost like my Lenco L75, but without the annoying “warm up” time period, and much quieter.

Strong words! I always wanted to have an Empire belt drive.

 

[tubeactive]

Isolation relates to reducing resonances.

Rubber or mortite can only do so much, sometimes even dulling the sonics. Resting the table on a wooden shelf or furniture can be a limitation. Resonance sinks to the platform. Wood resonates...

Mass cannot be replaced. The Empire deserves some mass under it. A slab of marble under the table could help. Changing the rubber feet to a more solid material "might" also help.

Experiment and please let us know what does the trick...

 

[frankmarsi]

I became a collector of Technics’ original SL-120 turntables about twenty years ago. I enjoy their ease of operation and their high level of performance. I’m from that ‘60s and ‘70s period and before so I always had my eye on the Empire series of tables. They are impressive looking and back then “Empire” had such a good reputation, the table certainly looked the part.

Five years ago I purchased another SL-120 that had its underside, platter, arm-board, case sides and anywhere a resonance might rear its ugly head and disturb the sound. Upon setup with a S.M.E. 3009 arm, a Benz-Micro ACE-S red, the table was completely dead. It lacked any sort of sparkle. All available dynamics were lost and everything else was muted and dull.
At first I thought it was the cartridge, my arm set-up, maybe thought it was the cables I was using.
My set-up and cables were all of a better quality as was my set-up.
The table sounded so completely dead, it was disturbing. I mean there wasn’t any realistic sound quality coming from it at all. The music had lost all of the very elements that enable it to sound exciting and like music. I was disappointed as what the previous owner had done to this table was something I always wondered about trying and did some reading on.
‘Mortite’ rope was used everywhere and had actually killed the sound so bad I ripped it all out, all of it!

So, the case in point for the original owner of over damping and a few other related methods turned out to be a motive and result of over thinking a situation that didn’t exist in the first place. I've read a couple of reviews in other sites that speak of making the same mistake. I realize to add damping to certain coponents can really be helpful in correcting certain abnormalities but, caution should be paramount especially on better designed componants.

A couple of years ago there was a company that offered tiny little ‘dots’ of a super damping material to be used and placed on the mid-area of a tonearm. Again it was meant to dampen any resonance. After attentively listening, I didn’t notice any obvious improvements. I also realized that my arms were well thought out in their design where additional damping was not warranted but, made no difference.
FM

P.S. I had my eyes on the VPI line for years and I’ll hold my opinions that I likely need not buy one unless it was offered at a great price. I’m content with my choice of a simple table that operates exactly as I want it to.

* Below is what I'm talking about, see if it'll work on your arm.

*
FM






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[Iansaudio]

I got rid of the Mortite and honestly it sounds way better. 3d printed TPU pucks really did a nice job getting rid of the “howl” when you turn the volume up.