Pheonix Engineering Road Runner

I find this discussion interesting since I ditched my belt drive VPI's for idlers-a hot rodded Thorens TD124 and a Garrard 301. When I owned my VPI Prime, I heard a distinct jump up in SQ with the Phoenix Engineering Falcon and Roadrunner, but after about a month my ears/brain became accommodated and I was no happier, sonically speaking, than I had been before. The Thorens on the other hand, once Greg Metz of ClassicThorens installed his custom designed huge main bearing and top platter along with a complete rebuild of everything else mated to a Reed arm has continued to thrill me for six months and I doubt that thrill is going to go away. Greg is fond of saying that the strobe on the Thorens is more of a curse than a benefit. Users make the mistake of obsessing over the strobe and continually adjusting the eddy brake and in doing so they undershoot and overshoot the speed. Greg suggests just setting the eddy brake at the correct speed once the motor has been running for an hour and then each time you intend to play music, get the table warmed up ahead of time and ignore the strobe. That is exactly what I do. Any variation from perfect speed is not detectable as affecting pitch. Someone above mentioned picking your shortcoming as all drives have them. I look at it just slightly differently; each drive method has it's strengths. Pick which strength you most want rather than pick which shortcoming you wish to avoid. 

They sound better or worse because they are poorly designed or built regardless of drive,

To put it diplomatically, you are naive. As with all other components in the chain, no amount of engineering can do away with the flaws inherent in recording and playing back vinyl. Perhaps you suffer from Mike Fremeritis. It's a condition where someone who used to embrace the limitations of vinyl suddenly aspires to and strives to challenge the theoretical limits of digital reproduction. In other words, a simple form of deluded madness. This syndrome is most often seen in 65-70 year old men who can not accept the simple notion that their time is nearing an end.