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Just got an Empire 208 turntable yesterday!

captrockstar

captrockstar

Active Member
20200908_113947.jpg 20200908_113947.jpg 20200908_113924.jpg 20200908_113824.jpg Yesterday I went to my local record shop to get a few new albums and while there I noticed they had an empire 208 turntable for sale in their used hifi section in the back. I have always thought they were cool looking turntables and had looked at a few online over the years but never pursued aquiring one until I came across this one in person.

I felt the price was very fair, if not a steal for this turntable, even though it was dusty looking and some surface corrosion that looked like it could be buffed out. I was told it was operational and there was a belt on it so I pulled the trigger and purchased it!

Once home I cleaned it up some before my preliminary test. The belt seemed dry and appeared to be sitting low on the platter, and I realized it was left on the 78 section of the spindle for who knows how long which I think stretched it out as it would not even stay on the 33, or 45 sections on the spindle at all. There was just too much slack.

So last night I did a lot of reading about this turntable (still need more) and found that there are a lot of people selling belts for this turntable, but not all of them accurately keep the correct speed except the ones from Esoteric Sound which I am going to get a belt from.

I have intentions of fully restoring this turntable and getting it running like it should, but unfortunately will not be able to tackle this project for at least a couple of months but I just wanted to at least get a new belt so I can actually test it. The motor does work and seems fairly quiet to my ear while its running and the neon bulb on the power switch is still working. I read that this 208 has an AC synchronous motor but could not find the actual specs on it. I have an Eagle PSU speed controller for AC Synchronous motors and was curious about using it with this table. Anyone else try a speed controller before with one of these turntables? My Eagle PSU says it controls AC Synchronous motors of 25 watts or less so Im curious if it would work with this turntable.

Any suggestions or pointers would be greatly appreciated. I will still be doing more research in the night to come after work, as it seems there is a lot of info out there.
 

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Take your time, this is a really great table. They are easy to work on, and everything it could need is still available. Belts are tricky to get right. Mine almost runs fast, but it works within the range of adjustment to get the correct speed. I rewired my tone arm, and fitted up a denon DL-103R. Moving coil cartridge. Its been one of the best improvements ive made, for the money.

Congratulations you are going to love it!
 
trainbuftony said:
Take your time, this is a really great table. They are easy to work on, and everything it could need is still available. Belts are tricky to get right. Mine almost runs fast, but it works within the range of adjustment to get the correct speed. I rewired my tone arm, and fitted up a denon DL-103R. Moving coil cartridge. Its been one of the best improvements ive made, for the money.

Congratulations you are going to love it!
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Thanks for the advice! This turntable seems very well built and I'm excited about getting it going again! It just so happens that I also have a Denon DL-103r as well and will have to try it out on it when the time comes!

I ordered new motor grommets, belt, and thrust plate for it last night. I really don't have the time to tackle it since I'm working for the next two months straight, and then moving in November, but I know once the parts come in, I'll be tempted to find the time!
 
Supercool! said:
Have you checked the speed? Or is that what "up and running" means...just curious
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Well, the old belt was shot out so I was not able to play a record at all obviously. With the new belt in place, it is"up and running" meaning it is making the platter spin and I can actually play a record on it now.

I played a few of my go-to records that I've listened to hundreds of times if not more, and to my ear, they sound perfect, not too fast or too slow. I have a stroboscope disc but it has already been packed away in prep for my move, along with most of my records or I would have tested it. I know there are some online you can print out, but my printer is currently out of ink as well so Im letting my ear be the judge for now. :thumbsup:
 
dosmalo said:
If you install the DL-103 be sure you have enough gain to do it some justice.
Nice looking Empire table!
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Thanks!
I have a Jolida JD9 that has worked well with my 103r before. I also have a Sansui CA-303 preamp that has A-603 transformers installed to allow use of LOMC carts like the 103r.
 
Nice score. I also have a 208 that was restored and improved abit...mostly dampening, grommet replacement, sound deadening..the usual things people do on these. Been trouble free for me in the last 1.5 years until I moved it. It appears my belt has stretched. Anyway trying a new belt, also from Esoteric. Hoping that does the trick. Love this table!

Here's mine. Jelco tonearm and Hana EH cartridge.

IMG-1900.JPG
 
Hawkeye83 said:
Nice score. I also have a 208 that was restored and improved abit...mostly dampening, grommet replacement, sound deadening..the usual things people do on these. Been trouble free for me in the last 1.5 years until I moved it. It appears my belt has stretched. Anyway trying a new belt, also from Esoteric. Hoping that does the trick. Love this table!

Here's mine. Jelco tonearm and Hana EH cartridge.

View attachment 1980121
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Very nice! Is that paint or did you power coat the chassis? Also, were you able to mount the jelco on without modification?

I did change out the motor grommets, new belt and used an air duster to clean out the built up dust in & on the motor, cleaned and re lubed the spindle and bearing well. Further tweaks and cosmetics will have to be done at a later date but it seems to be preforming very good for now!
 
I'm not sure how accurate these RPM apps are but I downloaded one and tested it out on the Empire. The 1st time using it was done after changing the belt only and this was the speed:

Screenshot_20200911-215302.jpg
I then switched out the motor grommets, jet cleaned the dust off the motor and lubed it along with putting a little oil on the turntable bearing and tested again and this was the speed:

Screenshot_20200912-190144.jpg
Then today the new thrust bearing plate arrived so I removed the bearing well cleaned out all the old oil, dropped in the new Delrin thrust bearing, relubed and tested the speed again, and this is what the last reading was:

Screenshot_20200915-175807.jpg

The speed seemed to improve with each step taken!
 
Installed my Denon DL-103r last night and using it with my Jolida JD9 with great results! After listening to about 15 albums between yesterday and today the speed seems to be spot on now as well.

20200917_153836.jpg
Screenshot_20200916-184111.jpg
 
trainbuftony said:
Some back burner project that turned out to be...
Glad you like it, i couldn't wait to fix mine either...
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HAHAHA! Yeah, even with my work schedule and preparing for a move, I forced myself to make time in the evenings!

I would love to work on the cosmetics and refinish the plinth to get it looking its best again but that will definitely happen after the move. Its good to know now that it is functioning properly without issues. I love how these Empire turntables are straightforward and easy to work on.
 
captrockstar said:
The new belt from Esoteric Sound arrived today and I put it on and it is up and running now! The cartridge that was mounted on it is a Staton 500 and doesn't sound all that bad but I'm thinking of putting my Denon 103r on it as trainbuftony suggested.

View attachment 1977841
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Hey, which belt did you order from Esoteric Sound? I'm having "issues" right now...

My belt is around 19 1/4" long.
The belt I got from Esoteric Sound was the 18 7/8" "rek-o-kut" belt...that they say can also work on the Empire 208. Did you get that belt?

With the Esoteric belt, my table reaches 32.X RPM but won't hit even 33.0 RPM, no matter how I adjust.

Would you mind letting me know which belt you ordered, and POSSIBLY even measuring thebelt you received, laid flat on the table?

Also, can you let me know what/where you ordered the thrust bearing plate?

Much appreciated, I gotta get my table back up and running before my new Leben gear gets here!!!! :banana:
 
Hawkeye83 said:
Hey, which belt did you order from Esoteric Sound? I'm having "issues" right now...

My belt is around 19 1/4" long.
The belt I got from Esoteric Sound was the 18 7/8" "rek-o-kut" belt...that they say can also work on the Empire 208. Did you get that belt?

With the Esoteric belt, my table reaches 32.X RPM but won't hit even 33.0 RPM, no matter how I adjust.

Would you mind letting me know which belt you ordered, and POSSIBLY even measuring thebelt you received, laid flat on the table?

Also, can you let me know what/where you ordered the thrust bearing plate?

Much appreciated, I gotta get my table back up and running before my new Leben gear gets here!!!! :banana:
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Since Esoteric Sound's site doesn't really have a "add to cart" feature, I sent them an email requesting a new belt for my Empire 208 and they sent me a PayPal invoice for the belt I received.

I removed the belt and tried measuring it with my measuring tape and it appears to be right at around 19 inches. I would have provided a picture but I was having issues keeping the tape lined up with the belt for the picture while holding my phone.
As you can see from my results, when I changed just my belt, it was not keeping 33.3 rpms but running a tad slower at 33.1. After removing the motor from the chassis, installing new rubber grommets, then removing the three screws on the bottom of the motor and cleaned the old oil and added a few drops of liquid bearing to the bottom of the motor, and finally...removing the platter to clean the bearing and shaft along with dropping in the new thrust pad/plate and more liquid bearing on the shaft and bearing.... it was then that it achieved the proper speed.

Have you done any other maintenance other than changing the belt? If not then I would try doing a few of the things mentioned above and test the speed as there could be other factors that are keeping your turntable from reaching the correct speed.

The thrust plate was purchased off that auction site.

What leben gear are you getting might I ask? I owned the little Leben CS300 amp at one time. They are beautiful sounding well built amps!
 
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