Direct Drive turntables

I think many DDs, even in the early 1980s when TTs were at their volume peak and technology development costs could be spread over a large number of units, were hampered by less-than-ideal implementation of plinth/isolation features. Because BDs usually have an outboard belt, and a smaller motor which vibrates the platter bearing less (ceteris paribus), it is easier/cheaper to make a BD TT with acceptably low self-generated noise issues than it is to do the same with DD TTs. It was that way in the golden age and it is that way now. Also, a big high-torque but very quiet/smooth direct drive motor is a very expensive thing to make these days. If one can defeat motor speed stability issues on a BD through the combination of belt/pulley slippage being overcome by supremely mass-y platters, it is easier and less expensive to do a BD TT.

At the top of the heap of the best BDs and the best DDs, among all the tables and technology implementations I have heard, I find isolation and platter weight to be far more important than most people give credit for.

As it is, the best DDs from the past can easily compete with BDs of now for similar money (I would say they generally beat tables of now if one is willing to put the same amount of money into it). That said, you buy used, spare parts are limited, and there is rarely any significant manufacturer support (I have had Exclusive and Denon tables repaired by mfr-sponsored repair subsidiaries. I know Sony will. I know Kenwood won't, and lots of Pioneer, Sanyo/Otto, Technics, Sansui, Hitachi, etc owners are plain out of luck.

The problems associated with direct-drive were well known to the guys who designed the very best direct-drive turntables of the 1970s and 1980s, which was not exactly the Dark Ages in terms of electronics and engineering. The very best direct-drive tables of those days dealt with the issues in very effective ways. In many cases, their work fell down, if it fell down at all, at the level of plinth design and implementation. Poorly designed plinths account more than anything else for the colorations that one perceives in the mid-level Denon turntables, for one example. With a little ingenuity, one can build much better plinths for these products which mitigates their sonic character. Another source of sonic coloration may be that the built-in motors radiate EMI that can possibly pollute the signal at the cartridge. We now have very effective shielding materials that can eliminate such problems. The DIY effort is well rewarded. The same is true for the best idler drive turntables, despite their dismissal by "Elizabeth". If you want great sound for less money than any comparable belt-drive table, I would encourage you to experiment with top quality direct- or idler-drive turntables of the good old days.

Not all DD are equal. My Lt-30 is magnetically driven and has been superbly upgraded. It is also a linear arm. Generally Elizabeth's opinions have merit, however, not this time.

What Lew said.