The question of how belt-drives sounded compared to direct-drives back in the day was asked. There was a discontinuity to the sound of the direct-drives, while the belt-drives ebbed and flowed like real music. The music on direct-drives seemed cut up and had the same sound-no matter what music was playing. I clearly heard this same sound on some higher-end Denons and that Nakamichi 1000(the one that centered the disc.). It was generally assumed that because the motor was directly coupled to the spindle, that there was no way around this problem with direct-drives. Now, since that time, I have become aware of the ability to hear what people are saying about something, and, yet, to listen beyond that(like cd). I still have no desire to own a direct-drive turntable, but maybe understand why the sound might not bother people. I do agree, though, that cd was considered better sound than most turntables in use at the time of its introduction. BTW, the original Walker tt was a cheap turntable when it was introduced.
