Pioneer Direct Drives - Now and then?

FWIW, I had a Pioneer PL-600 (I understand there were two Pioneer turntables with this model designation...mine was the higher end one from ‘79 or ‘80 in grey finish). With, first, an ADC ZLM cart and later a Shure V-15 type (4 or 5), it was a good sounding rig.....sort of a “loaded out Chevy Impala” of a turntable.  The Shure cartridge was a step up.  It started having pronounced platter speed stability issues suddenly in about 2005-ish after a quarter-century’s worth of light/moderate use.  I replaced it with a Music Hall MMF 5/Goldring 1012 cart which has been an infinitely better match for my sonic sensibilities