For much of the modern era the focus has been on lowering noise and vibration abatement along with voltage stability into the motor. Cognizance of stable rotational accuracy was there but mostly at the level of lip service to wow and pitch stability - easy to understand why. Until something came along that showed those to be mere threshold standards, there was little causing sufficient awareness that might lead a manufacturer to focus sharply on the most fundamental of a 'table's jobs. Earlier Japanese DD 'tables made a fine go at it with the technologies of their time. Lots put into their restoration and preservation. Coming from outside any tradition, GPA was not bound; their's was a fresh start with a clean slate and an eye for the obvious. I speculate they worked only on a hunch that turned into a process of discovery, but their recognition of what is primary (spin the platter at 33-1/3 and do it quietly) was spot on. Just what the analog realm needs - fresh thinking. And a recognition that our ear/brain listening system - honed over many thousand years - is more sensitive than most analog implementations address.
Daveyf - out of professional courtesy I won't talk about MF's assessments of those two 'tables; saying that much may be more than enough.
The technology stuff is fun to talk about. Ultimately it is proved out by listening. It was by listening that the difference between the Monaco 1.5 and the 2.0 woke me up. The oceans rose and unicorns shat golden musical ducats.
