Good Direct Drives

Got it @chakster

Btw, I don’t believe that one needs a super duper tonearm to evaluate a turntable’s greatness. A rewired jelco or Rega 1000 with a quality cartridge and phonostage will clearly show if turntable is average, good or great. Whether the Technics tonearm is as good as the jelco and Rega stuff, we need to see.

If the 1200G is really high end turntable then adding a super arm will definitely make sense.

I had Nottingham Analog Spacedeck and Specearm. One day I compared it with my friend Lenco L75 With Rega RB250. The biggest difference was PRaT accuracy. When we listened classical piano. When Lenco played, a message of musician was so clear! In opposite to it, Nottingham played a set of not connected sounds.

I bought Lenco L78 with SME 3009 tonartm and heavy plinth.
I liked it a lot. It was much more musical it has better tone naturalnes compared to Nottingham (espessilay on piano and organ). The base was more detaled and sound separation was better too.
I wanted to try something better. I bought DD - EMT948. Is was as musical as Lenco but even more accurate and detailed.

The love of audiophile to belt drive turntable is on of the biggest delusions.
Most of belt-drive turntables ruin PRaT the entity of music.
Producers started to built belt-drive (like Linn LP12 and Thorens 125), because they where cheap! But it is sad that now people buy turntables with toy car engine and price tag of luxury car.

Amen axelberger ! You told it like it is .

@alexberger SME Model 20 and 30 have the best wow, flutter, and rumble tested performance out of any turntable ever made at any price. And both are belt driven.

Some direct drive tables are great, but the very best have been belt driven historically.

The Papst motors SME use are state of the art. Definitely not toys.

@invictus005    
It was a rhetorical question but I largely agree with you.
I might feel differently if there were someone nearby who sold refurbished SP 10s and would stand by them if problems arose.