I don't disagree with any of what Tom has said here, but I do think it would be reactionary to suppose that there is a looming "specs war" afoot regarding turntables. First of all, almost the entire market today for the type of turntables we are talking about consists of audiophiles, and that is not analogous to the situation with mass-market amps in the 70's. (In fact, I believe I'm correct in saying that the THD wars were one of the driving forces behind the true emergence of "the high end" as an alternative, and essentially separate, market for audiophiles.)
Secondly, just because specs were abused or misused once, and we learned to be wary of them, doesn't mean that all measurements are worthless (not that Tom said they were). The wow & flutter measurement could certainly stand some improvement as a protocol, but there's nothing wrong with the idea of meausuring turntable speed-distortion, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and trying to correlate that with audible performance and manufacturing and design practices.
And I think there's no quibbling that in theory, a turntable with lower and/or more benign speed-distortions is better *in that respect* than one with higher and/or more malign speed-distortions. Unlike with amp THD, I don't think there's anybody ready to argue that certain kinds of TT speed-distortions are actually euphonic or restorative in some way, or that designing to lower them will necessarily compromise some other area of performance. (In fact, all ultra-premium TT's are ostensibly designed to minimize speed-distortions, whether they succeed or not.)
Also, there's a difference between independent testing and "specs", given by manufacturers and often not worth the paper they're printed on -- especially regarding analog transducers (think speakers) -- in terms of reliability, stating of parameters, or use of a consistent industry protocol. Since turntables (and cartridges) have become such an essential feature of the audiophile landscape once again, the fact that none of these often-expensive components gets measured seems a dereliction of duty by the audiophile press. (Well, I guess by Stereophile anyway, but it seems unfair to single them out just because they're almost the only audiophile publication remaining that tests for anything at all anymore.) I think it would give particular insight to test turntable resonance, showing spectral distribution, amplitude and duration of inherent modes, and resistance to external stimulus.
Secondly, just because specs were abused or misused once, and we learned to be wary of them, doesn't mean that all measurements are worthless (not that Tom said they were). The wow & flutter measurement could certainly stand some improvement as a protocol, but there's nothing wrong with the idea of meausuring turntable speed-distortion, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and trying to correlate that with audible performance and manufacturing and design practices.
And I think there's no quibbling that in theory, a turntable with lower and/or more benign speed-distortions is better *in that respect* than one with higher and/or more malign speed-distortions. Unlike with amp THD, I don't think there's anybody ready to argue that certain kinds of TT speed-distortions are actually euphonic or restorative in some way, or that designing to lower them will necessarily compromise some other area of performance. (In fact, all ultra-premium TT's are ostensibly designed to minimize speed-distortions, whether they succeed or not.)
Also, there's a difference between independent testing and "specs", given by manufacturers and often not worth the paper they're printed on -- especially regarding analog transducers (think speakers) -- in terms of reliability, stating of parameters, or use of a consistent industry protocol. Since turntables (and cartridges) have become such an essential feature of the audiophile landscape once again, the fact that none of these often-expensive components gets measured seems a dereliction of duty by the audiophile press. (Well, I guess by Stereophile anyway, but it seems unfair to single them out just because they're almost the only audiophile publication remaining that tests for anything at all anymore.) I think it would give particular insight to test turntable resonance, showing spectral distribution, amplitude and duration of inherent modes, and resistance to external stimulus.