Years ago (40!) I had a 698/Dynavector 20B. Presently have 4 Empires (all older than yours) in my collection. Excellent belt-drive TT's! SQ competitive with today's big-buck stuff! No need to replace it! Consider a mc cartridge upgrade instead (Hana LS?). You might need a new red LED. Try Parts Express! |
Thanks. Is Hana the brand of cartridge |
Yes it is! A Shibata line-contact stylus mc. Read Herb Reichert's review in the October Stereophile. Glad to know that someone else likes the vintage Empire TT's! Well engineered, USA built! |
Are you sure that it's an LED that's out? Given the age of the turntable, I'd suspect it's just a lamp.
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Thanks. I will take the bottom module out and see if it is a lamp. |
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I swapped the lamps and it didn’t fix. There is something wrong in the circuit.
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I picked up a 498 for $5 at a garage sale. Shouldn't be too difficult to work out your issue as simple as the innards are |
Great TT. I own two Empire 208's. One has been refurbished with a Wand Tonearm and Hana SL, its sounds as good as my big rig. I enjoy it so much I purchased the other one for parts. |
We built a whole new plinth for the 208 that is machined out of solid aluminum and has exactly the same lines although that big hole beneath the platter isn't there.
@falmgren, are you sure the new lamp was good? Did you test the old one?
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I moved the one not working tot he slot that was and it did light
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Sounds like corrosion in the socket is the culprit. A little DeOxit should sort that out.
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Hello all, I took advice and cleaned up contacts and roughed up LED. The are not bayonet lamps, bit an Red Led. I must have put the wrong lamp back in the down cue. I now thin the LED is bad because swapping again identified a bad LED. I will try to find one.
Thanks
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The original part is not an LED!
If that is what is in there, either someone modified it, or else the LED failed shortly after installation.
The correct lamp is a neon lamp as I indicated earlier.
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The schematic I have from the manual shows a LED and documented in the manual. Why would they put that in the schematic? Thanks |
I just went out to a site called Tapehead and they had pictures of the LEDs and documented. I think Empire had different versions of the control board for the model. I must have one of the later models which also includes a cueing Pot. There was pictures of boards with different boards. |
Does anyone have a recommendation for grease to use on the solenoid for tonearm damning. I cleaned mine and used a synthetic oil, but it drops too fast. Recommendations appreciated
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My apologies- I had this confused with an earlier machine.
The LED is a basic type- nothing particularly special. If you felt like it you could put a different color in if you liked. The damping fluid is a silicone damping grease. Something similar is used in damping troughs on some tone arms.
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Thanks for all the feedback. I got the LEDs from Parts Express. Installed and bingo, works just fine. Added a Parasound JC Junior and just listening to it. Good so far. Nice to bring my Empire back to life. I also would like to understand where this TT compares with the new TTS being sold today.
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