why is belt drive better than direct drive?

Psychicanimal, please explain what you mean by "no one can PLAY records on a belt drive" ??? I'm sure that i'm not the only one that got lost on that one.

I think that Fisher came out with a table that should've been the BEST in theory, but like most of their products back in the 70's and 80's, was WAY under-designed. It used magnetic propulsion instead of any form of direct contact to the platter ( belts, idlers, direct drive, etc... all make contact with the platter one way or the other). Since there was NO contact between the drive source and the platter, it would offer the greatest isolation from motor induced vibration. That is, IF it was properly implemented.

As was typical of most "budget" brands back then, they took what could have been a PHENOMENAL idea and implimented it as if it was going to be sold at K-Mart. Low grade parts, no isolation in the chassis, junky tone-arm, etc... Like most other "junk" made back then, it went the way of the wind and a great idea never received the attention that it should have. Sean
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Sean, regarding the magnetic propulsion there is a German TT (Gabriel) that works in a similar way, with no contact between the (very heavy) platter & subplatter. The sound is phenomenal -- as is the price, contrary to the Fisher. As expected, the engineering looks top-notch.
Cheers!

Yeah Psychicanimal, I would love to have kept my Denon DP-80 direct drive motor installed in my Mitchell Cotter B-1 Isolation base; the speed accuracy and looks alone were spectacular. The mass of the setup enabled me to drop the stylus in the groove without the record spinning and turn the gain up to 3 oclock with NO howling. I really loved all that precision,stability and immunity to feedback. Then in 1980, I brought home an Oracle and heard my records for the first time.............Frank

Play means play, Sean...go borrow a high torque DD with electric brake like my 1200 and you'll find out. That's why I chose it over a Sota Comet (after finding out it could be modified for high end performance). I realized I still wanted to PLAY records. Maybe I haven't grown up and am still a HiFi bum. Oh, well...

"Yo le digo caballero que los niños quieren jugar--ellos tienen que jugar." Carlos Santana

To summarize-

If you are going to play with your records, do as the DJs do and go for a direct drive TT. It's easy to "cue-up" a cut and a high torque motor will get a record spinning very quickly. That, and you can "scratch" to you heart's content without fear of the belt slipping off the pulley.

If you are going to listen to music, get a good belt drive TT. Speed is more constant, less noise, "blacker" background, more musical and involving. (Remember all the receivers that had rumble filters when DD tables were popular in the 70's? Ever wonder why?) Don't skimp on a cartridge!