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Empire Troubador 598 Turntable: Exit to Vintage Street
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye shares his experience with a stunning direct drive turntable.
Back in 2021, I wrote about what attracts me to Vintage Audio. I discussed several factors, like style, craftsmanship and environmental friendliness. I ended by highlighting the intangible value of a piece’s story.
Sometimes the story is about the item itself (who owned it, how it came to the seller, what it was used for in the past) and others it’s more about the manufacturer and model (innovations, where it fits in a brand’s history).
For example, my Sansui AU-555 was given to my brother in the early ‘80s by his boss at his part-time furniture re-finishing job. After sitting in his basement for decades, it came to me 5 years ago, and the hand-me-down tale adds to the special feelings I have for it.
My KEF Calinda speakers were some of the first ever speakers to feature cabinet and driver placement designed on computers; speaker technology has moved on since 1976, but knowledge of that innovation enhances these speakers’ value in my mind.
Two weeks ago I purchased a new (to me) vintage turntable, and this one also involves stories, both of seller and buyer.
In early 2019, as I was just getting back into vinyl, my Instagram friend Kevin (@mistachen) shot me a message about a turntable for sale that he thought would be a good step up for me. An Empire Troubador 598 (forget which model). C$450. Beautiful. The photos don’t even do this remarkable turntable justice.
Having just gotten my first turntable a few months before, and not knowing too much about what was what, I hardly even knew what I was looking at. Old for sure, and sexy, and shiny-champagne-gold. Intimidating. Too much turntable for my system of the time. I dithered. It sold. I didn’t think too much of it.
This article originally appeared at ecoustics.com and an intro has been published here with permission.
Read the full article: https://www.ecoustics.com/articles/empire-598-troubador-ii-turntable/
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