Mike, the Saskia sounds super impressive. It's hugely positive that all the positives of a "driven" sound that you've highlighted (the density thing) are not blighted by the very disadvantages idlers traditionally are guilty of (idler wheel-generated rumble).
Can you fill us in a little more on the other aspects that make the Saskia the success it is? How it achieves isolation? Speed accuracy? Etc
my thinking on the Saskia is in a state of flux as i explore more music and get my head around it. since it is a change in presentation for me i need to take my time to be able to sort out 'different' from 'improved'. and i've only used one tone arm and one cartridge so far. and not yet experimented with anything but my Adona granite shelf.
all that said here some random thoughts in my effort to answer your questions.
the Saskia projects that sense of commanding authority that you hear from the tip top echelon of tt's. there is no mistaking it. does it have more or less of this in degrees compared to other's? can't answer that. but it seems to be doing that thing. is this because it weighs 250 pounds? is it the Pabst motor? something about the idler design? don't know.
the Saskia projects a very holographic sound stage and the stage is even more of a 'reach out and touch it' sort of presentation. likely the density and weight of these images has something to do with a greater degree of reality with this.
attention to resonance attenuation, yet also attention to a lively and energetic presentation, is the twin pronged challenge for every tt. the massive one piece slate upper plinth likely gives the arm board and platter an ideal platform to sound great. the arm board design makes it easy to switch arms, but also is extremely solid.
the slate one piece lower plinth holds the motor, and i know there are multiple things happening connecting the upper and lower plinths. lots of resonance control involved there. the footer towers might extend through the lower plinth (maybe not touching it) and connect directly to the upper plinth. that's just me looking at it. and the footers themselves are 'stillpoint' type designs that are easily adjusted for height. i'm very impressed by the level of image focus and nuance i hear. so i'm not sure how much my Taiko Tana could help, or even if it will help at all. i will try it at some point. but if it never improved on resonance isolation i'm now hearing i would not have a problem with that.
i'm already over-the-moon on my perception of musical timing and things like sustain and decay, and how rock solid and steady they are. Win did explain to me a bunch of stuff about the motor controller which honestly went over my head. the post above (
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/saskia-model-two.28727/page-4#post-594860 ) gets into some details on the idler wheel. the way the Saskia works is that (1) i turn on the motor controller, (2) press the button on the front of the controller and (3) choose a speed. this starts the motor. then (4) i flip the lever to engage the idler wheel with the platter. it starts very slowly and (5) in about 20 seconds is up to speed.
after that, i leave the motor going for the whole session. changing speeds is just one button, and then in about 5 seconds i have a different speed. the spindle is taller than typical to make it easier for switching sides while the platter is moving. even though i've never had a tt where you keep the platter moving before, after 10 days i've had zero issues switching records. the platter has a friendly design which has slanted sides that guide your fingers to the edge of the pressing to naturally pull it up, and really it's very easy.
i've tried my Durand record weight on and off and cannot hear any difference. so for now i'm not using it with the Saskia.
i hope that's enough Saskia details to scratch that itch.