Surfmuz wrote, " It’s a big deal to build nice quiet direct drive motor. Production
requires lots of work and investments so it should cost different
figures at exhaust." Can you say what you mean by "quiet"? Because, as I am sure you know, the DD drive system is inherently quieter than either BD or idler-drive. The DD platter rests on a bearing, just as does the platter of every other type. After that, the energy to rotate the platter is purely electromagnetic; nothing makes physical contact with the platter except the bearing. So where does the unique noise problem come from? In a BD turntable, we have a belt contacting the entire periphery of the platter, able to transmit into the platter any noises coming from the outboard motor, which of necessity is usually spinning its pulley at speeds far in excess of platter speed, making for motor bearing wear, wobble in the pulley, stretching of the belt, etc, etc. Now, one can argue that the belt is compliant, usually, and thus will damp out vibrations that inevitably emanate from a BD motor. But that compliance makes for belt creep and speed instability. If the belt is made noncompliant, then the noise problem raises its head.
Plus, as Chakster pointed out, Technics has been in the DD turntable business since the late 1960s; they know a thing or two about the requirements for DD motors, and they didn't have to start from scratch in building their latest models, but they did choose to break with their traditional iron core motors and implement a very advanced core-less motor. Would you care to guess how many of the 1200G, GR, GAE, etc, turntables are sold world-wide, compared to Sota Comets? I think we can agree that Technics has ample market share to spread out its developmental costs in a way that few other audio corporations can do.
Now, if you want to talk about EMI (as another definition of "noise") emanating from a DD turntable motor that of necessity is placed very close to the rotating LP, that is a fair criticism. But Technics engineers are not stupid, and they have that long history of building DD turntables on which to draw, which means the motors are shielded from the platter surface by both the platter itself and the motor casing. One advantage of a core-less motor, as used in turntables, is that it casts its field laterally, rather than in the horizontal direction.
Mijostyn wrote, "Having said all that the RB300 is a better arm than what is on the
Technics which is going to be more significant sonically. I have not
listened to this Technics but I have never liked the sound of direct
drive turntables. My main experience with them was decades ago, I must
have sold and set up 100 of them at Luskin's Hi Fi. So, take it what it
is worth." This is too easy. How can one say the RB300 is better than the tonearm on the 1200G series and then in the next breath say you have never heard the Technics? Only Mijo possesses such a skill set. Plus, were they selling a lot of SP10s at Luskins? I doubt it. Was the store quiet enough for you to even hear what your customer might have been saying, let alone the nuances of what one turntable sounds like compared to another? I am doubtful. (To those too young to know, Luskins was a chain of huge busy stores based in Baltimore, MD, with stores also in DC and VA, something like a Best Buy where the product lines were more narrowly focused on home hi-fi.)
As someone else said, you should buy what you like. If it were me, I would choose the Technics in a heartbeat, although I do have respect for the high end of SOTA turntables. Even Mijostyn says the major advantage of the Comet is that you can later trade it in on something better. That's not what I call praise. Of course, I am biased; I own and listen to four different vintage DD turntables of the highest quality.
