Halcro, the Empire is equipped with a belt, and an extremely robust drive motor, one that is just about unstoppable. The speed of this machine is so stable that the usual effects of soundstage drift due to speed variation don't seem to exist- its soundstage is a lot like that of reel to reel.
I am of the opinion that a robust drive is what is important, more so than the *type* of drive. If it is wimpy it will not matter what kind of drive it is!
As a result, if you look at vintage turntables, you will see a following around certain models that were better at getting things right than their competition. All of these machines have very robust drive systems too- the Empire, the Garrard 301, the Technics SP-10.
I think this topic was covered elsewhere.