Empire 598 MKii

Cayuga

I found this TT the other day and just had to have it. It's (I think) a great looking table and just wanted to share with the group.

george daniel

I used to smoke ______ with a fellow that owned one--nice table--beautiful.

Cayuga

Thanks george, was that fellow me?

george daniel

Cayuga wrote: »

Thanks george, was that fellow me?

possibly--do you go by Captain Trips ?

Cayuga

No I go by Captain Crunch

audiocr381ve

george daniel wrote: »

I used to smoke ______ with a fellow that owned one--nice table--beautiful.

Might have been me as well. But I go by Captain O-rings.

Cayuga

A lot of captains out there

stuwee

Cayuga, that TT is rightous!! Right On :cool:. It's got the original headshell, a vhtf item. Nice grab, a totl Pickering, AT or Shure would really make her sing. I'd invest in a new belt too.

Cayuga

Thanks stuwee, I've got a new belt on the way. She's a head-turner and a lucky find.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Great find! I believe when I sold those, way back when, they were called the Empire 598 "Troubadour" turntable. Empire made several speakers that were disguised as end tables with marble tops. Even then companies were trying to find ways to hide the speakers from looking like speakers.
Enjoy, Ken

Cayuga

You are correct Sir, this is a Troubadour. I kind of like speakers that look like speakers, I don't want people putting drinks or there feet on my speakers.

[Deleted User]

I agree with you completely, but it was one way of improving the chances of a guy getting some good sound in a living room. This was before in-wall speakers became a good sounding "stealth" speaker approach.

Polkersince85

That's a nice table. I think a lot of folks trying to get into vinyl nowdays sometimes overlook the bargains out there from the "Golden Age of Vinyl"

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newrival

Cayuga -
That's my current table as well (i actually have two of them sitting here haha). They're fantastic. Desipite having a pretty high mass arm they handle quite a range of compliance cartridges and track with as low as .5g. I run an Empire 1000ZE/X or a 4000Diii with stunning results (They were designed for the 990 tonearm, or vice-versa). Ortofone Blue is a nice choice as well as Denon DL-103 or 160 depending on your phono section and/or the posession of a SUT.

Anyways, congrats. You have to spend a couple thousand dollars to reach this performance on a contemporary deck. At around 500-600 for these, they're a bargain in my book.

newrival

Oh by the way, there's a guy over at vinyl engine i believe that has done an amazing job researching the Empire's history and has a good deal of backstory and stats. can't remember his login name but i bet most web searches on this topic will lead to some one or more of his posts

Cayuga

Thanks for all the nice comments and info, I just love gear from the 60's and 70's makes me feel young again plus these tables can still perform but can I?

stuwee

Cayuga wrote: »

Thanks for all the nice comments and info, I just love gear from the 60's and 70's makes me feel young again plus these tables can still perform but can I?

:biggrin: Well, the ladies always prefer if you ask politely :biggrin: