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Vintage Entry Level Options

needlestein said:
1-2g. Empires are light trackers. Original spec is something like .75-1.25 as far as I know.
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Thanks dude. I noticed when I was searching online that they seemed to be really light - I was kinda surprised. Couldn't find that 2002 though, but I figured it would be close to the others.
 
Bryan Davies said:
Hi, i have the protractor printed, let me know if you can help me out with this at any point tonight. If not, no problem
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Sure thing dude.

First thing you'll want to do is unplug the turntable from AC power.

Next if you haven't already done so, as perfectly as you can, cut out the spot on the protractor that will go over the spindle (the shiny knob that's in the middle of the platter). If you've got a razor blade or xacto knife, even better.

We need that protractor perfectly centered over the spindle.

Which one did you print? It should have a name underneath it.
 
Once you've got its cutout centered over the spindle, pull off/on the lever to down. Since the table is unplugged, you'll have to manually turn the platter a couple times around to get the cue mechanism to drop out of the way. You can do this with the tonearm still on the rest.

Next, turn the antiskate back to 0. Only the antiskate, leave the other weight on the tonearm where it is.

Loosen the cartridge screws just a little tiny bit, we want the cartridge to be loose enough to move, but snug enough to stay in place by itself.

In the pic below, you'll see the Loefgren protractor, with the Baerwald on the other side. For ease of aligning cartridges, I have attached them both to the underside of my platter mat with super thin double sided hem tape. That way, they stay exactly centered, and are easily accessible by flipping over the mat. If you wanted to do this, you could just put tape on the edges.

816A0262-7FF4-4256-B4B7-887BC770022A_zpsc1nsyyno.jpg
 
Next, let's identify what you're going to be working with here.

Here's your empire stylus. The silver metal leg that is sticking off the front(left in photo) is called the cantilever. If you look really close, you can see the stylus mount (diamond tip) there at the end of it.

Empire-S906E-stylus-md.jpg


Next we have the protractor. In this photo, it's the Baerwald, but it's up to you which one you want to use.

bearwald_example.jpg


There's no perfect one, each have advantages/disadvantages. Just pick one and roll with it. If you like how it sounds, leave it. If you want to see how the other sounds, just repeat the process with the other set of grids.
 
The idea behind the alignment is to first get the diamond stylus point to land at the exact intersection of the big + of one of the grids. Once you know that it's sitting exactly on that spot, turn the cartridge (if needed) to get the line of the cantilever to be exactly in line with the vertical | of the grid. Make sure the stylus still lands in the center of that +.

EA1EA70A-C85A-49B9-821B-7D7DE212C914_zps5xthpqmw.jpg
 
Ok, one technicality.

Some will argue that since we don't have a record on here too, it will be slightly off due to that missing couple millimeters height of the record.

If you want to take the chance, and keep in mind that there's a possibility of scratching a record, you could pull off the platter mat, place a record on the bare platter, then place the upside down mat on top of it.

That is a do at your own risk option, it will make it even more exact, but runs the risk of scratching the record.

You make the call on that.
 
Bryan Davies said:
Yes, so theres no specefic spot i should be dropping the arm, other than aiming for that intersection.
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For the first grid, no.

You'll need to turn the platter a little to get it to land there, and that's fine. But don't turn the platter while the stylus is touching it - only when the stylus is in the air.
 
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