Empire Turntables New in Box-Worth Anything?

The two main things to watch out for are availability of drive belts and a poor condition phono cable. The phono cable mates to the arm with a funky and unique connector I was never able to find anywhere else. If that craps out, I think you'd have to directly connect the tone arm harness to a cable. Belts are also hard to find. I was able to find a couple of them in a small stereo repair stores old inventory. Oh yeah, another thing. Make sure the headshell cartridge mounting plate is there and in good shape.

I would take a 208 (or 398 and throw away the arm). It is a basic belt-drive TT with an excellent bearing, platter and motor. Belts can always be obtained or made.

Get two and I will make sure OUR TTs are tiptop. ;-)

Kal

Hi,

I just got a 398. A 398 is the same as a 208, except it comes with the spring-loaded 980 arm. There are two versions of the 980 arm - the original one, and a later arm that had anti-skating.

All Empire models that I'm aware of are belt drive.

Some prefer the early models, which had a much heavier platter than the later models.

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).