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RE: Empire 698 tonearm overhang measurement ( ? )

Posted by gwarejp3 on September 27, 2021 at 08:31:28:
Basher52, I've owned 3 x Empire 698s and like all aging Empire turntables their Achilles heel is the tonearm
Speed: there's only Esoteric Audio as a source for the correct belt I've found, all others run about 5 percent too fast, apologies to any other supplier of belts that's got it right ( ! ) something to do with the belt thickness and compliance
Quality: a very handsome piece of furniture and extremely well made, the Papst motors are excellent and the only other turntable I know that's used these is the mega-buck TechDas; decent Empire 698s can fetch over USD 3000 it's only the failure of parts from old age ( always tonearm ) that are the issue and there are fixes
The platter run-out, balance, noise and speed accuracy were state-of-the-art when these were new and a nice example can still be a pleasure

30 plus years ago I was talked into trading a tidy 698 for a Rega Planar 3 and it was a significant downgrade and a real disappointment

Graham