Empire 598

[Anthony R]

I have an opportunity to buy an Empire 598 in excellent condition. The asking price is $800 which is not a great deal but a fair price.

My question is the turntable has a Shure V15 type III cartridge. But after some research some people are.saying this cartridge is not a good match for a high-mass tonearm. Is this accurate? I'd rather not invest more money in the turntable due to the initial investment of $800. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[billyz]

I had an empire 598 and ran a shure v15 IV on it for years . No problems , sounded very good. Later I ran a grado (forgot the model) and then a dynavector . All them sounded fine. The arm looks massive but it is the effective mass that counts. Also, the empire arm had pretty high quality bearings.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised .
The motor is a bit fiddle to get quiet with its supension and tilt adjustment. . I have always regretted selling mine.

 

[Anthony R]

I had an empire 598 and ran a shure v15 IV on it for years . No problems , sounded very good. Later I ran a grado (forgot the model) and then a dynavector . All them sounded fine. The arm looks massive but it is the effective mass that counts. Also, the empire arm had pretty high quality bearings.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised .
The motor is a bit fiddle to get quiet with its supension and tilt adjustment. . I have always regretted selling mine.

Thank you for your input. I was hoping the Shure V15 type III would work well with the tonearm. I really like the turntable. Thanks again.

 

[billyz]

Also, empire made some mighty fine cartridges that work well on low mass arms and presumably well on the empire arm .

 

[malden]

I have an opportunity to buy an Empire 598 in excellent condition. The asking price is $800 which is not a great deal but a fair price.

My question is the turntable has a Shure V15 type III cartridge. But after some research some people are.saying this cartridge is not a good match for a high-mass tonearm. Is this accurate? I'd rather not invest more money in the turntable due to the initial investment of $800. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have a Empire 598 that I used to only use medium compliance cartridges with. Last week I installed a Shure M95HE cartridge which has a similar compliance as the V15 lll and was really impressed with how the well it tracked and sounded.

 

[Empireman]

I currently have a Shure V-15 III on my 598 and like malden, I too am impressed with it's tracking and superb sound. Go for it!

 

[LoStrings]

I also have a Shure V-15 IV on my 598, and it works just fine. Great table...like everyone else says...go get it.

 

[ear4audio]

I currently have a Shure V-15 III on my 598 and like malden, I too am impressed with it's tracking and superb sound. Go for it!

The OEM Type III stylus has the highest compliance of any of the V15 types. However, the cartridge is also the lightest of any of the V15 types. Not sure if after-market replacement styli have the same compliance, but the light weight of the cartridge probably makes the tonearm/cartridge a good match.