Empire Turntables New in Box-Worth Anything?

Empire 598 and 698 turntables, complete with arm, were good solid performers, and would satisfy most people today. New in the box unused is a plus for any piece of mechanical equipment, where wear could be an issue.

I wouldn't put much value on a decades-old cartridge. The stylus elastomer mounting is probably hardened up.

I am puzzled by the way that the spring-suspended table and arm is criticised vs the hard-mounted design. When I bought an Empire 598 it replaced a hard-mounted Rec-O-Cut and pretty good arm (of a brand that I don't remember). The Rec-O-Cut and arm were secured to a massive bluestone base. The improvement with the Empire was very great. I think the reasons were:

1. Suspended design. I could bump the platter/arm assembly so that it bounced up and down, and the LP would play on with no problem, because they moved together.

2. Movement did not affect the arm because it was staticly balanced. Downforce was applied by a clock spring.

3. I think the belt drive was better than the idler wheel.

4. The magnetic device to pick up the arm at the end was neat.

carl_e_miller@sbcglobal.net...Application of VTF by a spring was one of the BEST features! It meant that the arm was not unbalanced, and so was quite insensitive to vibration. (Will two audiophiles ever agree?)

Gregjcastro...Out of nostalga, I bid on one recently on EBay. I quit at $300...don't know what it finally went for.

The thing is very simple, and the belt and possibly the arm wiring are about all that can be a problem. Make sure that the arm bearings have not been damaged. (No looseness).

I replaced mine for two reasons. I wanted a linear tracking arm, and I wanted automatic set down as well as pickup of the arm. (I bought a Sony PS-X800).