I have responded to very few threads in the time I have been reading this forum, mainly because I lack alot of listening experience, but I can't help responding to this thread. Based on Arthur Salvatore's review of the re-plinthed Lenco, I recently changed from an Aries 3 with super platter and jmw 10.5i tonearm to a Lenco drive (motor and idler) in my own diy plinth, a Graham 2.2 tonearm, and the super platter. I used the same cartridge (XV-1s). I was stunned by the difference. The vpi was a fine table, but the improvement in transient response, clarity and bass was so blatantly obvious even to my relatively inexperienced ears. Some might argue it could be the tonearm difference but I believe it was primarily the idler drive vs the belt drive. The original poster asked if re-arming and re-plinthing these older tables advanced analog playback - my answer is a definitive yes. Note that I can't speak directly to the technics DD table, only the Lenco but I suspect results would be similar. I can't see myself ever going back to a belt drive table.