I, too, have the same clicking sound on my Scoutmaster. At first I thought it was the belt. Concurrent with turning on the motor, I also help lesson the start-up load by giving the record platter a little twist. But I have also had the same noise since day one. But not one complaint on performance with the Scoutmaster. I love it. I don't pay attention to the noise. It goes away after the table is at speed, usually about 1 second or so.