2020 update : JC Verdier La Platine

Sorry Ledoux1238 for late response - too busy elsewhere. It is difficult for me to give you exact difference between AF-3P and La Platine. I have many arms and cartridges and until you do not put the same combo on both TT you can not be sure about direct A-B outcome. I moved last week Glanz MH-124s and VdH Colibri MS from Verdier to AF and got some conclusions which mirror my previous experience with AF.
AF-3P is much more quieter. This brings more transparency, more details and bigger soundstage. AF is also more dynamic and more neutral. Verdier is smoother with more body and more darker - some people would say - more natural. But do not forget that this is very tweaked Verdier. Last year I got from my friend another Verdier motor with battery power supply made by Graham Tricker ( Tron ). Since I put Mylar tape on my Verdier I have never compared it with regular belt and metal pulley. I liked it from the beginning and did not care - you can read impression about it in my previous post. But when I got Graham motor I tried rubber, original thread and some special fishing string as a belt again before I changed it to Delrin pulley and mylar tape. Difference was huge and striking. The highs were so dirty and compressed! I could not believe it. I measured speed (3150hz) and W&F ( 0.07% ) using AnalogMagik software. The only conclusion would be that these tiny thread and string transmitted huge noise to platter! Hard to believe but it is my experience. Another advice for Verdier fans would be to use use the shortest length of belt possible which should not be tight in tension. Platter should be mostly turn from its own weight inertia.
AF-3P is engineering marvel. Simple, beautiful, easy to operate - real jewel! From my experience it is the best sounding TechDAS model regardless the price. Better than any old Micro as well. The only TT I would go after AF-3P would be Karmeli’s American Sound AS-2000. I think Dave helped TechDAS in developing 3P. Very similar designs but AS-2000 is a piece of art!
In conclusion - AF is better but much more expensive than Verdier. If money is not object I would go with AF. In case you have to save money to afford it - forget AF. Keep Verdier and enjoy your life. I would rather take La Platine than ANY TW Akustic or Brinkmann....

But when I got Graham motor I tried rubber, original thread and some special fishing string as a belt again before I changed it to Delrin pulley and mylar tape. Difference was huge and striking. The highs were so dirty and compressed! I could not believe it. I measured speed (3150hz) and W&F ( 0.07% ) using AnalogMagik software. The only conclusion would be that these tiny thread and string transmitted huge noise to platter! Hard to believe but it is my experience.

From my experience of owning the Platine Verdier, the motor is the issue.
It is tiny, and not really designed for side loads on the spindle. Ultimately it will generate noise, which is transmitted via the belt. No doubt the delrin pulley helped you in this case. If you ran a double pulley, with a flywheel mounted on the opposite side of the pulley from the platter, you could reduce motor noise by "balancing the load" on the motor spindle.

By the way, I remounted my Verdier motor into a cradle clamp arrangement inside the main housing and eliminated the rubber mounts. This enabled me to reduce the motor noise significantly by reducing noise from the motor case itself by carefully tuned clamping. I replaced the rubber mounts with teflon washers. This arrangement also improved speed stability.

As a test to get a handle on the performance of the motor, I ran my Final Audio Parthenon AC motor and controller, driven by a 60wpc power amp on the Verdier in a trial ( both with thread drive ) - the improvement in timing and drop in noise floor were significant. The Final AC motor is dead silent, even though its about 4/5 times larger, it has a proper machined spindle, oilite bushes, thrust pad arrangement.

@vuckovic Thank you for that concise summary of the AF3. It solves a year old curiosity about the sonic differences between it and La Platine. Rereading reviews of the AF3, I am struck by the contrast between the two. With the AF3, you are operating in highly controlled environment. There is even provision for a spacer dictating the correct distance between motor and plinth! And despite the sonic advantages of the AF3, you have decided to keep the La Platine. I think it speaks more for the French deck. And you are right, I won't be saving up for the AF3.

I am still in the tweaking phase. And in my last post, I have serious doubt as to a substantial 'braking' force acting on the platter. The platter is  spinning on its own inertia if not acted upon by any drive material. In order to allow the platter to do its thing, there should be as minimal a force acting on it as possible. This is what you have found with the loose drive material and short distance between motor and platter. This observation is consistent with mine.

What is most interesting is your arriving at better SQ with the tape drive. Tape has the best combination of least friction and better control of the platter? Definitely an avenue worthy of exploration. I was going to investigate a Tron motor, but perhaps a Delrin pulley or a Galibier motor using tape drive? 

@dover Your post should be underlined with 'It's the motor, stupid!'. I have reluctantly come to this only very lately. 

@ct0517 Chris, thanks for that short excursion into your analog world. I find your table fascinating. Even more so, your experimentations on the ET 2.5 are inspirational!!

Just to clarify few things:
- I was talking about AF-3 Premium version of TechDAS. It is way better than regular AF-3. It is also more expensive .. I think like 40% more. 
- Tron use the same Verdier motor with some upgrades I assume (?). He made a very nice battery power supply for this motor. That would be its main advantage . I did not have time and wish to compare his battery power supply with mine. Both works great but mine is way cheaper. - Verdier motor generally makes noise. I think that Myler tape actually is the main reason why is that noise is not transmitted to my platter. It is much cheaper to make Derlin pulley and use tape than to buy a new motor. Otherwise Verdier motor is excellent. My friend who has 2 Verdiers has tried several motors of very prominent TT manufacturers and was very disappointed. One of them had W&F of 0.2%!!!. If you use tape find black Mylar tape ! Silver one is peeling and leave residue on platter.

Ledoux, I decided to keep Verdier because it is not worth to sell it. For the money you can get on the market you can buy nothing which comes even close to its quality and sound. I will keep it forever. My main TT is AF-3P where I have 3 tonearms, on Verdier I have 2 tonearms and I also use occasionally Versa Dynamics 1.2 with its own tonearm. A lot of choices! Ha!