Hiho, There is much ignorance among us as to how the servo system of this or that direct-drive turntable actually works. From my casual observation, they are not all the same, by any means. But from a Newtonian point of view, max torque is only ever attained at the moment of start-up, when the platter is completely at rest and then must undergo a change of inertia to being in motion at 33.333... rpm. So, the huge torque of an SP10 Mk3 is what gets its 22-lb platter up to speed in 0.25 seconds (or something like that, according to the Mk3 owner's manual). Once the platter (any platter) is in motion at its set speed, it does not take much torque to keep it there, except that which is needed to counter-act stylus drag. Here is where the design and implementation of the servo mechanism is different for different vintage types. For example, I am not sure I understand exactly how the L07D system works, but it appears that the full torque of the motor is only invoked when or if there is a major loss of speed for whatever reason. (I think the service manual says more than a +/-3% speed deficit.) Otherwise, the drive system doles out torque in small increments, and I think this is done to minimize the audibility of tiny corrections that need to be made to maintain exact speed. The engineers of the 1970s and 80s were well aware of all of these issues that we are now still obsessing over. The L07D may turn out to be my all-time fave, and it's not the highest torque in town.
And, lest we forget, among designers of both belt- and direct-drive turntables there seems to be a divide around weak motor/huge platter vs strong motor/light(er) platter. There are logical arguments either way. So, I would not be so bold as to make any declarative statements.
