turntable speed control

Melm wrote, "...belt drives (which may measure worse in some respects) sound better."  This is so so wrong and short-sighted.  Yet, CLeeds agrees with him. Well designed and implemented turntables of any kind sound better than those that are not well designed and implemented. (I am not going to say that one drive system is per se better than the other; they all [3] have trade-offs.) But an advantage for us direct-drive aficionados is that we don't have to engage in snippy contretemps with each other about belt creep.  From what I know about it, Phoenix engineer is basically correct on all counts, and I would choose their products over the SDS, at this point in time. In fact, I might buy into the technology for my Lenco L75.

Melm and cleeds, My apologies.  I was to some degree playing for laughs.

Anyone tired of fiddling with belts and belt tension might want to consider any of several vintage Japanese direct-drive turntables, the creme de la creme, not the bargain basement ones, as an alternative.  Examples include Denon DP80, Victor TT101 or TT81, Kenwood L07D, Technics SP10 Mk2 or Mk3.  Only the Mk3 would cost anywhere near $10K. The rest are typically cost less than $5K, ready to roll. In a modern plinth, these turntables can be bulletproofed and made to sing.