Turn table speed variation question

How about "rarely equalled"?
But it was not I who made the claim re the Victor, altho I am sure it is excellent in respect of speed stability.

Piano is a great way in which to test the speed stability of a turntable, especially if you concentrate on the decay of notes. Very revealing. I suppose any stringed instrument could do the same, but I think that the rapid variations in stylus drag invoked by the attack and then decay of a sustained piano note is just a more severe test.

Frogman et al. You've made some great points. In the last instance, the most famous case of pitch instability caused by the master tape is Kind of Blue. For decades I listened to the wobbly and flat piano tones on KOB, and it was actually part of the mystique of the LP. I once listened to one side (Blue and Green) over and over again from late evening until dawn. The music exactly fit my mood. (Well, I was in college, and there was a girl who dumped me.) Then they finally told us that the tape speed was off!!! Flat because of that; wobbly because of belt-drive pitch instability. I really can't get used to the "corrected" versions played on my "issue"-less direct- and idler-drive turntables. (Joking with Frogman.)

Doug and Frog, Can you define what you mean by "original" vs "modern" instruments? Are you talking about 16th century vs 20th century, or what? Surely the trumpets played by Dizzy in the 50s and in the now by Winton Marsalis, while each was selected to suit the respective tastes of the two players, are not fundamentally different in terms of vibrato (although they could be, if their tastes led them to opposite conclusions about vibrato). But I suspect you're both referring to early classical period vs 20th century.

While I myself have become permanently smitten by my Lenco and by high end direct-drive, I agree with whoever said that we should not here dredge up again the dreary arguments about belt-drive vs direct-drive. Henry, I would say it's already been shown that the Victor TT101 can be equalled by more than one other turntable (other than the Saskia) in terms of the Sutherland Timeline test. It's not so terrible to admit that, unless you're saying that failure to post documentary evidence in the form of a video on Youtube is incriminating. (Absence of proof is not proof of absence.)

On KOB, I have not reviewed my original and apparently provocative comments, but I was referring to the conglomeration of problems with the off-speed version, which is all any of us ever heard for the first 30 years or so after it was recorded in 1957 or 58. These issues included the fact that inexpensive record players of the day were usually themselves running a bit fast or a bit slow and that they were hardly icons of speed stability under variable loads. (I wager none would pass the Timeline test.) These were mostly cheap belt-drives. Later, my first "hi-fi" turntable was an AR; we all know about it's built-in problems that contribute to pitch instability (compliant belt that stretches and contracts when the spring suspension is activated for any reason). I got used to the wobbly piano tones. Sometimes a bit flat, sometimes a bit sharp. One thing I know for sure about myself as an amateur jazz singer and as an audiophile: I don't have perfect pitch. But, as someone else mentioned, I too am very sensitive to unstable pitch. Thus, one got used to the imperfections of the original tape transfer. If you are like me, the music of KOB is kind of imbedded in your brain. That made the "corrected" version sound a bit odd at times.

I've actually cut down drastically on the frequency with which I listen to KOB, because I want to get back to the surprise I felt when first I heard it and for many playings thereafter, in my youth.