Stylus-Drag..Fact or Fiction?

On the other hand I’m sure that beyond a certain point none of us can readily hear speed imperfections, especially not those quoted for the Monaco 2. I mean I know turntable speed matters, it matters a lot, but this is overkill, isn’t it?

No - definitely not overkill.

The gains from stable accuracy are substantial. it’s all about time - the cartridge provides the amplitude of the musical signal but the time element - the frequency - of music comes from the turntable’s rotation, ideally at 33-1/3 rpm.

It’s not a question of what you hear when speed is off, it’s what you hear when speed is both stable and accurate. Wow and flutter are unmeasureable with the Monaco and a few other advanced direct-drive tables (eg NVS). We’re well beyond old standards.

Any aspect of reproduced music related to time - depth, soundstage, transients, dynamics, tonality, etc. - is better or worse thanks to timing in the creation of the original signal. And no amount of downstream electronic wonderfulness can ’fix’ that signal if the turntable rotation is not accurate. These are not just technical considerations, but tangibly audible results.

Perhaps Technics (orig Sony) claim of eliminating direct drive 'cogging' have finally turned the tide for good this time.

Use of spotless motors does this.  Equally important is the drive system that controls them.

@uberwaltz- Yeah; they were kinda special and now, pretty much unobtainium(popular and rare does that). Had I known then: I woulda/shoulda/coulda had mine retipped and kept it. That’s one of very few components, that I’ve sold and wish I hadn’t. Perhaps: thinking about selling his Sonus, pushed that member, "off the face....."? Still, I’ve had some very nice, high compliance MCs, since. My Soundsmith is no slouch, either. They’ve all helped me to address/minimize stylus drag, at the source(to me: better than Band-Aids). 

Nobody cares!

noromance, you can say it was me. If you read jtimothya's link you will see idler wheel drives are dismissed out of hand. Then there is a long winded dissertation on the pitfalls of belt drive. What he says is technically true and I am sure he thinks he can hear these anomalies. His and noromance's hearing is obviously better than mine. But he conveniently leaves out the opposite. The platter also dampens the motor. In an idler wheel drive the connection is more direct. The mass of the platter dampens the power surges of the motor. Partially and even totally diminishing the cogwheel effect. In a belt drive things get more complicated. Kuzma solves the issue by using a heavy platter and a very stiff belt which again dampens the motor. But, is motor cogging really an issue. I suppose it depends on the motor. Another issue this author seems to ignore. Some motors hardly cog at all. This author's view of suspended turntables is interesting. Yes, if the suspension were continuously bouncing it might induce speed changes. I suppose I jump up and down in front of the turntable while I am listening to music just to watch it bounce. It is at absolute rest 99.9% of the time. I will gladly accept minor speed variation versus my tonearm hopping across the record when someone walks into the room. Anyway, the problem with idler wheel drive turntables is noise more so than speed variation. 
I think the Grand Prix turntable is very cool and I would love to hear one in action.
The fact that friction slows the turntable down a little should not surprise anyone. Some tables now will maintain a constant speed/pitch regardless of load within reason. A good idea given with modern motors and electronics it should be easy to do. The Monaco certainly does this at high resolution. But is the motor well shielded. Having your cartridge floating above an oscillating magnetic device is counter intuitive.  

Mike, you need to get rid of both the Wave Kinetics and Saskia. Get yourself one of those Monaco 2.0 tables and put a Gabon Ebony Durand arm on it. The Gabon Ebony has seriously better timbre than the rosewood and has much lower stylus drag. And here I am stuck with this crappy Clearaudio Statement. But don't worry. I just ordered a Basis Work of Art. I can put the Statement in my Summer home in the Catskills.