Soundminded said:
I have ... a 999VE... I've found that these cartridges only perform well with genuine Empire styli. I finally acquired NOS for the 999VE. I'm wondering if I can upgrade the 999T/EX to a 999V/EX by just replacing the stylus.
According to the published specs, ZE/X and VE/X are 550mH; the TE/X is actually lower, 350mH, so they're not an exact match, but the error is in the preferred direction of "warmer", more "mellow", and it's not going to be a large error, so you should be able to EQ it by ear if you even hear a difference. Compliance figures are close, ETM (effective tip mass) is the same. Try it.
I keep my eye on the ETM figures over compliance figures, because I like to imagine a pingpong ball rocketing down a complex groove rather than a golf ball. With that in mind, and with NOS styli for the ZE/X relatively cheap (less than $50 shipped), why not do your swap and put a ZE/X stylus in the VE/X body? Down from 0.7mg to 0.5mg.
And yes, I agree that just as with the PickerStan twins, the better Empire styli sound/track better than any of the aftermarket jobs I've tried, including expensive ones. The problem is there are what you might call posthumous Empire styli out there, from when Empire had become not much more than another Pfanstiehl, that look original but are nothing but aftermarket jobs in "original" clothing. Caveat emptor.
beej said:
... the UFR is a rather unique animal. ... From what I've been able to learn (and I'm not certain about this) there were several styli in that series that have the external magnet design that the 800UFR has. ... I've run the 500ID in both the UFR and the OP4. Sound is amazingly good in both but clearly superior in the 800UFR.
I'm envious of your 500 ID stylus-- been trying for many months. But it's "voiced" for a 350mH body, and would sound dull in a 700mH body like the OP 4. Apparently the "helper" magnets [again, we found that they aren't magnets] aren't absolutely necessary for styli to sound good in the 800 UFR body, which is good to know.
All those magnets you mentioned are from the Empire sales literature, and they're inside the body. If the 800 UFR's specs are the same (do you have the owner's leaflet you could scan for us?), that's another clue that all the Chunky bodies share the same basic design. As for inconsistencies in VE's specs chart, well, that's why I never trust what I find there without some corroboration.
beej said:
Can anyone:
1) confirm that the magnet designs on those lesser styli are similar to the 800UFR; and
2) shed any light on what those magnets are supposed to do?
1 ) I think you yourself provided the best evidence that the UFR body is at least very similar to the "lesser" bodies and that the difference is [mostly if not entirely] in the stylus.
2 ) Empire has published many exploded diagrams of their rather complex cartridge design over the years. Lots of coils, lots of magnets. It's a variable-reluctance design, so all three magnets are inside the body (the main magnet is all the way in the back, behind the coils) and often made of different magnetic materials-- the final layout is described in the
patent-- the result being, as you said, very hum resistant and with good separation. And heavy, until the EDR.9 and later.
NB: Some of the later Azden-made Empire-branded carts (eg, LTD 150, 350DE, etc) are clones of the Azden YM-10E and use the moving-magnet principle. So did the early-1960s Empires like the 880P and 108 and 88.
Wualta, I wonder if the snuggers could be the "lightning rods" mentioned in this ad.
The way I read it, the antistatic path is supposed to be the gold "plating" on the stylus and cantilever-- a literal "lightning rod". Looks like gold paint to me. But that means the cantilever material isn't conductive, which tells me it's anodized, as I've long suspected. The "snuggers"
might have helped with this, but they're plastic..