EMPIRE cartridges

[Cobra2]

Well it's been awhile; I mentioned last year that I was going to change the Empire2000E over for the AT95E cart and i did and thought it a very nice smooth sound. Today the cantilever on the AT95 died somehow so I put the Empire back into service - and what a revelation - I had been complaining to some about the lack of bass on my TT, but with the Empire it's back there in bucket loads. Played a few tracks from the Allman Brothers Live at Filmore East LP and I am rapt . The Empire will stay.
Just wondering why the AT95E might have lost some bass and WHY the cantilever collapsed. It is less than a year old

IMHO, Empire (from this body-type) and AT pickups are as different in sound as apples & oranges...Empires will be softer, with midrange-focus, the AT is "sharp/punchy", with emphasis on top & bottom.

Empires compared, update:
01) 66/x ; 500ohm/225mH
02) 1000E.D; 525ohm/275mH
03) 3000 I; 530ohm/280mH
04) 2000 E; 500ohm/300mH
05) 3000 II; 500ohm/350mH
06) EXL-10; 500ohm/350mH
07) 4000 XL I; 500ohm/330mH
08) 4000 XL II; 500ohm/330mH
09) 2000 E/III; 1kohm/570mH
10) 250ES; 1kohm/630mH
All these can use same stylus.

They all share the "family-sound", slightly soft, very "analog". With the better needles, they are close to my Grace F-9, great midrange, likes to be loaded from 62-75k ohm for best top-end.



Arne K

[silviajulieta]

Dear friends: Very nice thread. This one ( 4000D3 ) is very hard to beat and only a few other cartridges can even:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl ... 1275323834

no Grace, Stanton/Pickering, ADC, Shure, Sonus, Azden, etc, etc , that I heard/0wn/owned are IMHO near the 4000D3 quality performance.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

[1200y3]

http://www.needledepot.com/
Needle Depot has about 5 pages of Empire styli, but in particular is the 4000 D11/D111. It is illustrated with a tapered cantilever, and if it is the real stylus they sell it may be a bargain.

[silviajulieta]

www.needledepot.com/
Needle Depot has about 5 pages of Empire styli, but in particular is the 4000 D11/D111. It is illustrated with a tapered cantilever, and if it is the real stylus they sell it may be a bargain.

Dear 1200y3: Unfortunately those are not original ( NOS ) Empire D3 stylus replacements.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

[Doubleplay]

If this is true (first post by Richard), it could be very difficult to find original Empire styli http://lenco.reference.xooit.fr/t38-Cellule-Empire.htm

[lini]

Dp: In my view that's highly exaggerated...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

[zeplin43]

What about the Empire 100s i have one without a stylus that i have never heard.
From our library i know it can take the same Stylus as the 600lac,500id,200e etc.
what can you guys tell me about it.

[Doubleplay]

Just bought a 500id. Clean sounding cartidge, with open and transparent midrange. A real bargain IMHO.

[raymondo75]

I found 3 Empire 400TC's lying in the basement of local electrician. They are new in the box (There was also 3 Philips GP-412 Mk III's witch I was so excited about that I reviewed it the second night I was listening to it) Bought them all and I'm happy I did!

The 400TC seems to get better day after day. Sound stage is wide and the sound! I'd use words "more tone" compared to more modern cart's I've used. A lush sound. It's also my second experience of lp's being played througout without innergroove distortion. (the Phillips was first

Just a-b tested some cd's to lp's with this cart. I used Luxman C-300's phono stage. no contest.. the pleasant highs and lush midrange much richer in nuancer and character than digital. I was just about to sell my 80's Rainbow records 'cos I thought they sounded bad.. well now they are staying.. very nice to hear Ritchie's guitar floating in the air with all the edge and nuance but without fatique. Never heard it like this before.

Hope to find 600lac.. so if someone can help please do!

Btw.. The Phillips is also nice. Not quite as wide soundstage or lush sounding but pleasant with qreat resolution and very tight powerfull bass on a RB300 arm. Great for pop and Lee Ritenour kinda records..

[bauzace50]

Hi,

During many years I had a love affair with Empire cartridges. The latest one is one New Old Stock 2000 Z (moving iron, of course). I had great expectations, but it had somehow taken a steep dive in treble response. Its sound is mostly dull, lifeless. The very same thing happens with one 1000 Z/E I have...GREAT tracking ability, but strangely dull treble response. Totally different from its great sound when it was new 30 years ago.

Does anyone have an idea if the internal magnets may have lost magnetism? Any other idea about this strange behavior?

Thanks,
bauzace50

[Cobra2]

Get new "load" resistors in the riaa/phono-stage, the old Empires "freshen up" with ~75k ohm load, 47k kills the top-end

Arne K

[bauzace50]

Cobra2,

thanks for the solution. To be sure, it is a tweak which had not been necessary when the cartridges were fresh out of the factory...30 years ago. Age seemed to charge for its "services".

Regards, and THANKS, again,
bauzace50

[Cobra2]

In the 70's, it was not uncommon for receivers/amps to have adjustable loading for MM, and many of the MM-pick-ups designed for Quadro, should work into 100k ohm

Arne K

[dean man jim]

I found 3 Empire 400TC's lying in the basement of local electrician. (snip)... I was just about to sell my 80's Rainbow records 'cos I thought they sounded bad.. well now they are staying.. very nice to hear Ritchie's guitar floating in the air with all the edge and nuance but without fatique. Never heard it like this before.

Hope to find 600lac.. so if someone can help please do!

I thoroughly enjoy all of the small group of Empires I have, and like you none result in listening fatigue. Only engaging music! Regarding the 600LAC, it along with the 900GT and LTD750 seem to perform similarly (though not identically). I mention this because your 400TC styli will work with any of them if you run into a body without an LAC stylus.

Listening to some Mozart string quartets tonight (Quartetto Italiano on Philips) via my Empire 888TE. Just lovely.

Jim