Comments on: Empire’s Troubador Turntable is Making Some Incredible Music in the House: Exit to Vintage Street

By: tonyE

tonyE — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 07:18:54 +0000

Aaah.. vintage.

Sure, it looks very good, but by the early/mid 70s we had the Ariston, Linn, AR and Technics tables which were by then the High End.

The Pickering XV15/625E was a fine cartridge… I had one in my Kenwood belt table, back in ’75. Sounded really good but it was beat -no, trounced!- by the Stanton 681EEE -which I got later in ’77.

I understand you are getting in love with the looks of those vintage tables and components… but their sound is not all that accurate… if you want nostalgia looks but state of the art work get a used Linn LP12 with Lingo, Trampolin, Karousel and Ittok… plus a nice modern cartridge.

I believe I commented on this earlier. I must sound like a -pun- broken record -/pun- but it is true.

Sure your vintage table looks great, like a nice 66 Mustang, but I’ll take the modern car with traction control, ABS and computer control mechanicals.

By: Gaetano Selandari

Gaetano Selandari — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 08:09:26 +0000

Hello Larry from Italy; very interesting article. I own a 598 mkIII 220 Volts with high satisfaction. Mine has the wood an GLASS cover. I have seen some with plastic plexiglass covers, may be they did change production in the meanwhile, mystery! Very best regard. Gaetano

By: Eric Pye

Eric Pye — Sat, 16 Apr 2022 18:03:20 +0000

In reply to Bryant Michaud. No plans to sell it, Bryant. And yes, I'm loving it. Rather than having it inserted in your coffin, it could BE your coffin! Massive ;-)

By: Bryant Michaud

Bryant Michaud — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:17:14 +0000

Read your saga on the Empire 598 Troubador, which I have owned since 1971 (that’s right, 51 years!) I have had to re-construct the plinth because the original was damaged in a move, so it gave me the opportunity to improvise on the positioning of the motor capacitor and other electrical components under the platter. I also installed a grounded AC power cord, which helped reduce hum (it had never been a huge problem anyway). The results speak for themselves; this turntable is yet to be challenged for rumble and mechanical feedback figures — and that makes it the beauty that it STILL is. Don’t dare sell it. I’m having mine inserted into my coffin! (LOL)

By: Eric Pye

Eric Pye — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 18:09:54 +0000

In reply to B T Tan. Cheers. That's the plan!

By: Ian White

Ian White — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 01:39:09 +0000

In reply to NJ Flanigan.

NJ,

My fully tricked out Thorens TD-125 crushes the Planar 3. In every way. Fully restored and with a better arm and Denon DL-103.

I love Rega’s tables but there are some very good vintage tables that are superior.

Ian White

By: NJ Flanigan

NJ Flanigan — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 01:16:11 +0000

when you look at the offerings from Rega it does not make sense (to me any way) to buy vintage.

By: B T Tan

B T Tan — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 22:15:54 +0000

In reply to Eric Pye. What an impressive turntable! Beautifully made! Enjoy your Empire to the fullest!

By: Eric Pye

Eric Pye — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 14:29:33 +0000

In reply to Louis McFarlane. Yup, we're all nuts. Would love the opportunity someday to hear the models you mention. For now, I "settle" for the Troubador.

By: Ian White

Ian White — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:38:00 +0000

In reply to Louis McFarlane.

Louis,

We’re a tad nuts here in regard to turntables. The Oracle is a wonderful design. I always liked their tables.

Best,
Ian White