Direct drive vs belt vs rim vs idler arm

Peter, I can have no opinion of your SME, because I have never even seen one in the flesh. By all accounts, it is excellent.

Fleib, I was saying that the modern SOTA tables (e.g., Cosmos and Millennium) no longer suffer from the sin you and I described (mounting the motor on the unsprung plinth whilst the belt drives a suspended platter). So, I would also say that they have taken their corporate head out of the sand, for the past decade. If I am incorrect in that assumption, please let me know. I owned the SOTA Star Sapphire Series III, with vacuum hold-down, for several years starting around 1990. Thus it was a later version of the Star Sapphire series but still very guilty of the flaws you describe. I went from that to a Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace, which even with all its possible other shortcomings, was nevertheless a revelation by comparison to the SSS III. The vacuum hold-down and felt mat added yet another form of coloration to the sonics; in the end I was not using the vacuum at all, just the excellent SOTA clamp.

Dover, I quite agree with you on the desirability of "loop rigidity". We've spoken of this issue before. My 100-lb Mk3 plinth is home-made with a view to establishing just such a mechanical linkage. As we've mentioned before, the L07D was built from the get-go with a very effective mechanical linkage between bearing/tonearm. I noticed the other day that my friend's TOTL Galibier table is beautifully engineered with that in mind, as well. In fact, it seems to me that the high end Galibier (belt-drive) is very close in concept to your Final Audio. You wrote, "There are only a handful of exceptional turntables out there in my experience." Wouldn't it be more fair to say, "There are only a handful of turntables out there that I find exceptional"? After all, it's your opinion in the end, albeit a well informed one.

Fleib/Peterayer/Lewm
Having set up 100's of TT's when I was a high end dealer in the 80's, it became readily apparent to me that suspended TT's with the motor fixed were not speed stable - particularly noticeable on solo piano pieces. Some are worse than others - the worst I had were the Oracle/Pink Triangle with their very lossy suspensions. The major problem with the early Sota's were the PAPST motor board regulators which were unstable. Knocking these out and replacing them with a decent regulated supply cured much of the SOTA instability. Later SOTA mounted the motor on the sub chassis which is a much better solution in terms of loop rigidity between motor and platter.
My experience selling gear is that many folk can't hear poor timing and therefore it is of no consequence to them.
The SME addresses the issue somewhat by using a hanging suspension and the platter is stabilised to some degree by anchoring the bearing using a rubber O ring looped around the bearing and fixed to the chassis on the opposite side to the motor.

Here is a graphic example of what lousy suspension is doing. When I bought a Platine Verdier ( for a second deck, its way behind the Final Audio ) I set it up with the supplied rubber belt. The Verdier has a very lossy suspension. No matter how I set the tension, the rubber belt vibrated and jigged its way through the music. Removal of the suspension and replacement with fixed adjustable feet ( custom inserts with BDR cones ) eliminated over 95% of the belt creep. Of course going to thread drive ( I use surgical silk ) gets rid of the rubber belt compression issue.

Peterayer I have not heard the SME 30, but certainly the Verdier (with suspension still in) outperformed the SME 20/V in the same system, significantly more resolving and music had a much more substantial foundation. The original owner of the Verdier never listened to the SME 20 again, it was consigned to the office. Cartridges used in the evaluation were Lyra Helikon SL, Koetsu Rosewood & Soundsmith Paua in rotation. For your information the Soundsmith Paua was an outstanding match for the SME combo, providing a very musical system.

The Final Audio Parthenon indeed represented engineering which was ahead of its time. Dover, for clarification, the latest version Artisan Fidelity Garrard 301 Statement uses an internally damped Magnesium alloy based and Copper modular platter with inverted hydrodynamic bearing. You were correct, however, in that the first production runs utilized an Aluminum and Copper based platter architecture and incorporated internal damping provisions.

A close friend who lives in France has a Platine Verdier which he just recently replaced with one of the new Kronos turntables, the belt drive with a counter-rotating platter underneath the top platter. He put his Verdier up for sale immediately upon hearing the Kronos. The major problem that I saw with the Verdier is its top heaviness; you have a huge massive platter way up at the top with a rubbery set of feet way down below. It's bound to wobble, even if microscopically. I know there is a heavy granite base too, which probably serves to ameliorate the problem, at least mostly. And then there is the motor, mounted several feet away on a stationary platform; not such a good idea, either, IMO. On the other hand, when I have heard the Platine at shows and in showrooms, it sounds very "nice".

A close friend who lives in Germany has a Platine Verdier which beats nearly everything which is out there. But it is an original one with the original magnets from Mr. Verdier.
The next models were DIY units with various magnets and variable results. They can't be compared, the name Verdier is also used for inferior copies. Mr. Verdier published from time to time some hints on his website to "His Pirates" knowing very well that they will never get it....always funny to read.
The original Verdier is a work of a Genius who solved a lot of Problems modern units still show.