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Empire head shell

I recently purchased an Empire 208/298 turntable (with the tone arm) and have a spare head shell for it. The headshell in the turntable has the (stock?) Empire 108 cartridge in it, which I am currently using. I'd like to put something in the spare to try out; however, the leads where the clips are soldered to attach to the back of the cartridge are clipped, and would be too short to do anything with. Can these leads, and/or the whole piece that goes through the back of the headshell be replaced, and is it cost-effective? Where or how would I do this? Thank you.
dalehimself

Showing 2 responses by kr4

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,712 posts
 
You can replace the leads themselves quite easily but you will have to de-solder the old ones and solder in the new ones. The insert cannot be replaced as replacements are not available.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,712 posts
 
I do not recall if the insert is removable but I would not remove it anyway in order to maintain the precise alignment of the pins where they meet the contacts on the arm shaft.

The unsoldering/soldering can be done with the insert in place. (I have done that but many years ago.) One should use a small tip iron and tread lightly as these are tiny objects without much heat transfer abilities. Anyone who has ever resoldered on of the cartridge clips to a lead can do it.

Kal
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