2020 update : JC Verdier La Platine

@ledoux1238 i think the SOTA is a good idea.  three phase AC from the power supply is sophisticated.  my crude AC motor sounds great.  i am sure the SOTA sounds alot better.  i think the fundamental benefit of AC is that it wants to run at something that is in the ballpark and that gives it a drive which is very satisfying, very good.  along with relatively stiff coupling via belt this lends the platine a vigor that it can lack when thread is loose and DC motor is in control.

i also find it fun to use the record player without the constant speed adjustment of the old motor.

@mr_gray @ledoux1238 

With belt choices its important to remember than the shape of the pulley has to be suitable for each belt type -

Thread drive - the pulley needs a hemispherical groove for the thread to self centre and remain stable. Must be large enough for knot to go through uninterrupted. In terms of knots, I use with silk thread the knot recommended by micro seiki, the knot aligns itself automatically facing outwards from the pulley surface. I have checked my knots with various speed checking devices such as shaknspin, KAB speedstrobe and others and cannot see or measure any perturbation caused by the knot. The caveat here is that I use quite thin surgical silk.

Flat rubber belt - should ideally have a slightly concave pulley so that the belt does not wander up and down the spindle. The best belts such as those made for the original well tempered and the basis TT's are precision ground.

Tape - I have friends that have trialled various tape drives using mylar etc - you need a flat surfaced pulley with tape drive, and of course the pulley surface must be perfectly parallel to the side of the platter ( and the platter side must be perpendicular ).

As an aside I installed adjustable feet (3) on my Verdier motor pod - this enabled me to dial in precisely the correct alignment of the pulley to the platter - this is important for both accurate speed and stability of the belt as it rotates.

The original Verdier belt is round rubber - its main fault is that it is just a cheap O ring that is poorly made. Mine use to move up and down the platter by about half an inch as it rotated - this because the cross section was not round and quite rough. For a round rubber belt again the pulley shape needs to be concave so the belt does not wander up and down from the pulley.

I would assume the SOTA motor system and pulley is designed for a flat rubber belt as per the SOTA TT. I would assume Gallibrier designs his pulley for tape if that is intended. Any changes from the designers intention in terms of belt material may require a different pulley. Bear this in mind.

Personally I would probably try the SOTA Eclipse system because of the 3 phase AC. It's been in the market some time with good feedback. The speed controller system itself is very good. The original designer phoenix engineering also designed the motor drive and controller for the American Sound AS2000 TT which also uses heavy platter and air bearing. If you have a ton of money you could contact American Sound to see if you could buy their motor drive. I believe its a heavy duty version of the Sota Eclipse.

@dover this is excellent background to why my experimetn with mylar failed on a "vee" type pulley (sloped sides of channel and then small width of "flat").  

generally it is quite hard to find pulleys that have correct diameter for one s purposes but also a range of interfaces.  i got my pulley from a place called "Harfington".  i was not spoilt for choice.  

i received the wellfloat double today and have installed it and listened to it.  i do my main listening very late at night.  but i gave it a shot on a friday morning.  it does not magically solve footfall issues (which is not the reason i got it but i did think it would).  it does however create a wonderful tranquility about the record player and it allows for greater transparency and less distortion overall i think.  i will listen to it further over the coming days.  it is beautifully made i will say that.  

also i agree the SOTA is looking very good.  and possibly close to one third the price of the Galibier option (depending where price ends up for that) (albeit the Galibier is in a housing and the SOTA would require one to install it in a housing).

sorry one more thing @ledoux1238 you might appreciate this.  i had to take the whole record player apart to install the wellfloat.  everything came off the cabinet and then was reinstalled.  i even used a new thread as length changed between table and motor.  i got some tension on the thread.  started her up.  checked speed.  bang on 33.40 (which is where i like to be to allow for sone stylus drag).  the verdier motor would never!