On a related point, one thing I've been wondering is why not integrate a flywheel with the motor pulley. For AC motors in particular this would have the advantage of smoothing out cog noise at the motor source, rather than pass it on to the platter(or an outboard flywheel) through the drive system. I know some of the older heavy-duty high-speed motors have some built in flywheel effect; it's surprising that this approach is not taken with some of the smaller motors in current vogue.
Tables That Feature Bearing Friction
I recently had the opportunity to audition the DPS turntable which, unlike most tables, has a certain amount of friction designed into the bearing. This, when paired with a high quality/high torque motor, is said to allow for greater speed stability--sort of like shifting to a lower gear when driving down a steep hill and allowing the engine to provide some breaking effect and thus greater vehicular stability. I am intrigued by this idea and was wondering what other people thought about this design approach. Are there other tables which use this bearing principal? One concern I have is that by introducing friction you may also be introducing noise. Comments?