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40 year old Empire 2000e/III

The Fuxtor

The Fuxtor

Addicted Member
Picked up an Empire 2000e with original stylus a bit back. Finally mounted it! Curious about a couple things....
This was bought approx 40 years ago and was never used according to the previous owner , would the suspension on the cartridge be hardened? How does one tell ? Is there a certain characteristic to a deadened suspension? Also the upper range on the sound doesnt seem to be all that " crisp" , kinda dull , I have set the cart to 49mm overhang on my Realistic Lab 400 and use 1.25 g of vtf. Maybe i need to tweak it more?? Need some feedback from others who have experience with this cart!
 
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You'll have a lot of answers here shortly. A couple of members got all into Empire carts and have been putting together a lot of info. I have a few 2000 carts. They shouldn't sound dull. At 1.25 g it should not ride too low and one trick is to use a small drop of WD-40 the suspension(micro-drop) to soften it up a little if it's hardened out.

A big giant cumbersome thread has been started for Empires but it's too much to read through, but if you do a search you can see others that have had similar problems with them sitting up and not used. In my experience, the carts that were used a little over the years tend to work okay and the ones I've seen just sitting up and never used risk dried up suspensions.

There doesn't seem to be a great source of new stylus, but they are making some copies in Japan from Pfanstiehl and EVG. Do a search and look around, Gary at the voice of music and LPgear, turntable needles, etc. have some.

Most claim that the originals sound better than aftermarket, but some have good results with aftermarket.

Good luck with your endevors and let us know your results.

Double check your set up, try 1.5 vtf, take a pic of how it's riding and post it up so we can see.

dr
 
If the cartridge is the 2000E and it has a 2000E/lll stylus, then the stylus has been changed. I would be suspicious of the claim that it was never used.
 
malden said:
If the cartridge is the 2000E and it has a 2000E/lll stylus, then the stylus has been changed. I would be suspicious of the claim that it was never used.
Click to expand...
well.... I am not sure what cart exactly i have? All i know is that the person i bought this from stated that he bought this cart 40 years ago and never took it out of the box! I would assume that the stylus would be original to the matched cartridge? according to the chart, a 2000 e /III.
EDIT: I will change the title
 
The Fuxtor said:
well.... I am not sure what cart exactly i have? All i know is that the person i bought this from stated that he bought this cart 40 years ago and never took it out of the box! I would assume that the stylus would be original to the matched cartridge? according to the chart, a 2000 e /III.
EDIT: I will change the title
Click to expand...

Doesn't the cartridge have the model number stamped on it?
 
malden said:
What cartridge have you been using? Maybe it's the phono stage that is the problem.
Click to expand...
the cart that was on this table was a Shure 97xe, not the brightest sounding cart but still slightly better then this Empire.... Do you feel this cart would benefit more with a different phono stage? I have a Schiit Mani , but the Lab 400 doesnt play nice with it ( muting circuit issue) . My comparisons are just with built in phono stage on a 1962 Trio WX-400 recently recapped....
 
The Fuxtor said:
the cart that was on this table was a Shure 97xe, not the brightest sounding cart but still slightly better then this Empire.... Do you feel this cart would benefit more with a different phono stage? I have a Schiit Mani , but the Lab 400 doesnt play nice with it ( muting circuit issue) . My comparisons are just with built in phono stage on a 1962 Trio WX-400 recently recapped....
Click to expand...

If it sounds duller than the M97 then maybe the stylus is toast.
 
FWIW, I bought on E-bay a NOS stylus (just in case) for an even older Empire 880P. On arrival I discovered it's suspension had petrified for whatever reason. To her credit, the vendor gave me a refund (minus shipping) and did not want the stylus back. The one that was with the cartridge when I acquired it was in good shape and played fine. Go figure.

But, I also have a 2000 E/I or E/II body that I've had for nearly 40 years which never had a stylus since I've had it. Last year I bought a Tonar brand E/III stylus to try it out and it and sounds fine. It's been on a Pioneer PL-630 ever since. I have not been motivated enough yet to change it out despite having a number of other cartridges on hand.
 
The only stiff suspension I've experienced was a V15 Type lV, it sounded horrible, like finger nails on a chalk board.
 
malden said:
The only stiff suspension I've experienced was a V15 Type lV, it sounded horrible, like finger nails on a chalk board.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm. As far as the low end and mids I have no complaint, mids are very lively in fact! So just for my own benefit, this combo should sound crispier compared to the Shure 97xe? I kinda assumed this buying it...
 
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