Looking for ACCURATE SPEED turntable/tonearm combo

I, like you at one time, was a disser of Direct Drive Turntables. I still have some skeptisism towards Tables like the new Technics.

But, I have to admit, for the money, you'll be hard pressed finding anything to compare in thr Belt Drive arena, especially, accurate speed.

Of course, I do achieve highly accurate speed with my VPI HW-19 MK-IV, with VPI SDS, where one can watch the KAB Strobe Disc for 15 minutes, and with reference line marked on the hand held Strobe Light, cannot detect variance in seed. But of course, this comes at a cost.

Wanna shell out $750-$1400 alone for a Speed Contoller that the Table Plugs into?

One can buy a Technics, without Arm, and if you like, slip a Origin Live Silver Arm on Board, a $1,000 Arm. An Arm which is reputed to be very good, but no VTA on the fly.

The Technics Arm can take a huge jump forward with the Cardas Arm rewire. and Tonearm Damper. Of course many other mods can take the stock Technics up a notch, such as external Power Supply, Strobe Disabler, which the Strobe is said to be a source of noise.

Don't be ashamed-reluctant of possibly throwing a $2K-$3K MC Cartridge on the Technics, you might be pleasantly surprised. Want a vintage look? Opt for an optional Wood Base to wrap around the Technics.

I of course apologize if I'm somehow twisting your arm to become a Technics Fan, you must of course choose your own path.

I like my old VPI, and it of course is not considered a Class A Table in any sense of the word today, but does offer very good sound. It did take a lot of hard earned money to get this Table to the point of where it is at right now. Mark

Like it or not, you are not going to get the speed accuracy of a Technics DD until you move up to about the $5000 range. Why not the Technics? They're dead-nuts accurate on speed. They are also very quiet, in spite of what the shills for the British cottage turntable industry say.

The Technics has a very sophisticated speed control, but not much in the way of isolation. If you're budgeting $1500-2000, you can easily get an SL1200 plus outboard PSU plus Origin Live armboard and Origin Live fully-modded OL-1 ($800) or Silver ($1095) tonearm. Add Isonoe or Mapleshade Threaded Heavyfeet set on a nice thick butcher block or maple plank supported by sorbothane, cork/rubber, or gel pads and you're there.

I can definitely recommend the Rega P5, with the separate power supply, which helps to keep that speed accurate, also Nottingham makes some fine tables in that price range. You can do much better than the Project tables for that money.

new dual 405 or 505...or denon

I'll echo what Mard51 and Johnnyb53 posted.

Buying on a budget means choosing between compromises. If speed accuracy/stability is primary then no inexpensive (< $4K) belt drive will provide what you seek. The brand doesn't matter. They're all audibly compromised when it comes to maintaining speed through musical transients because they all use elastic (stretchy) belts. When the stylus hits a big transient the belt stretches and the platter slows for some brief instant. Once the transient peak has passed the belt rebounds toward its original (shorter) length, speeding the platter back up again. If you're very sensitive to pitch variation this effect is audible - every time. It's more audible when such a table is A/B'd with a more speed stable design.

A good source would be the modded Technics 1200 tables from KAB USA.

Take a look at the Galibier Serac. It's above your budget, but it's the lowest price table I know of that begins to do both speed stability and resonance control at high end levels.