Suspended vs. non suspended turntable

The Walker, Continuum and Rockport are not suspended designs.
Just because two of them may be placed on air-suspended platforms has little in common with the principles of true 'suspended design' turntables like the VPIs, Linn and Sotas.
To join the 3 turntables mentioned above as non-suspended....add in the Raven AC and you will see that probably the most recognised top 4 turntables available today, are un-suspended high-mass designs.

Removing the four air ball suspentions of the VPI TNT and coupling the
turntable with a symposium Ultra Platform via three sets of rollerblocks Jr.
and couplers takes the TNT to a much superior level of performance.

Based on what I've been able to prove to my own satisfaction by tweaking a VPI belt-drive TT, I'm in agreement with Halcro regarding the merit of a non-suspended TT, but sited on a platform that provides a decoupling suspension.

An unsuspended TT with a standalone motor, combined with a belt made of non-compliant material such as thread or tape, should in most cases have superior speed stability relative to a suspended table with a soft rubber belt. The unsuspended design fixes the geometry between motor & platter. With a suspended TT, geometry & belt tension change constantly with variations in torque on the belt caused by modulation in stylus drag and plinth movement in the lateral plane-- resulting in variations in pitch.

Nonetheless, decoupling the TT from earth is still beneficial. If you can rap the rack with your knuckles and hear the sound through the speakers while the stylus rests in the record groove, then it's likely that the rack is acting as an antennae for LF vibration from earth or from AC transformers on the lower shelves or from acoustic waves from the speakers. Most of this energy can be absorbed in very low-frequency vibration by placing the entire suspensionless TT & motor assy on a decoupling platform of air springs or mechanical springs.

As an ancillary benefit it's easy to level up the TT by shifting the springs around.

i can not compete with the technical discussions between the merits between the suspended versus non suspended models. But my experience with the michell gyrodec (suspended) versus Maplenoll ariadne (High mass nonsuspended) using the same cartridge (zyx airy3s), i preferred the sound from my maplenoll. Granted a lot of differences between the two tables and arm systems, but i found the maplenoll had a very black background and the bass response was far superior. My daughter is currently using my gyro and she loves it. I was very please with it during my tenure with the table. But i am sold on the high mass table. I have use the nonsuspended table on a second floor and will say it was more sensitive to floor vibrations than the gyro.

Dear Keith: IMHO I think that more that ask for " suspended vs unsuspended " could be more important for the quality sound reproduction performance level another factors like: platter build material, speed accuracy and speed stability, isolation to prevent ( internal/external ) resonances/vibrations/distortions/noises/colorations, tonearm facilities, warranty/support over time, free trouble operation over time ( years ) to come, etc, etc.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.