Sota Sapphire

there isnt a Sota around that gets up to speed in one revoltion, nor do any other belt drives that have a 12lb+ platter. If you want to get up to speed in one revolution, get a little rega with a glass or plastic platter, but I doubt they do either.

Manitunc, mine does. Any tt with good speed control has plenty of torque to accelerate the platter from 0 to 33 1/3 in a revolution or less.

when was it last lubed?

I used the supplied strobe disc with my Sota to measure the time it took for the bars on the disc to stabilize. If the platter gets up to speed in exactly one rotation from zero then it would take 3.6 seconds for the bars on the disc to stabilize after turning on the motor. Use the strobe disc to measure yours.
We had these discussions on another thread. Search speed control and torque. If I recall correctly, someone's DD tt gets up to speed in a quarter rotation.

I have an early version Sapphire, ca. 1983, which uses a servo motor. Later versions, or at least most later versions, use a synchronous motor, as I understand it.

I haven't taken the time to dig out my strobe disc, but based on a quick look my Sapphire completes the first revolution in almost exactly the 3.6 seconds Tony cited (I was going to say a tick under 4 seconds before seeing his post). It appears to be nearly up to speed at that point, although perhaps a fraction of a second away from getting all the way there.

Regards,
-- Al