The major difference between the Pioneer and the Sony is the much better tonearm on the Sony, due to the fact it’s a Biotracer. That damps the low frequency resonance almost completely, and removes one of the major causes of mistracking and distortion, as well as allowing any cartridge to be a good match with the arm, since effective mass is no longer an issue (the effective mass electronically becomes virtually zero, as any undue tonearm movement is resisted by the Biotracer motors). You can see how good they are on warped or off-centre records, where conventional tonearms have a lot of stylus cantilever movement, while with the Biotracer tonearms, the cantilevers don’t move, despite the tonearm moving up and down or from side to side!
So you get an excellent turntable, with one of the greatest tonearms ever made (the other contenders are all electronic – either Sony Biotracer, JVC Electro-Dynamic Servo, or Denon Dynamic Servo Tracer tonearms, with conventional tonearms of any brand a long way behind in tracking, distortion and resistance to external vibration).
Pioneer rumble -80db wow and flutter .025
Sony -78db .015
You’re comparing apples with oranges with those wow and flutter figures – the Sony figure of 0.015% for wow and flutter is measured directly from the platter rim via its speed monitoring head, without playing a record. The actual figure when measured using a test record is 0.025% WRMS, the same as the Pioneer.
Here are the comparable figures for wow and flutter, measured to the same standards using similar methods:
Pioneer 0.012% WRMS (measured at motor), Sony 0.015% WRMS (measured at the head monitoring the platter rim speed) – Pioneer better
Pioneer 0.025% WRMS, Sony 0.025% WRMS (both measured using a test record) – both the same
Pioneer ±0.035% Weighted peak (DIN), Sony ±0.03% (DIN) – Sony better
So with some of the manufacturer wow and flutter figures (WRMS measured directly at motor or platter edge), the Pioneer is better, with others (WRMS measured using a test record) they’re both the same, and using the third standard (DIN), the Sony is better! Who knows which is better? That’s the difficulty in comparing figures from one manufacturer with another. They’re fairly similar, is all we can say!
It’s the same with the signal to noise ratio figures – for all we know, the Sony figure could have been taken in a noisy lab in a large city, close to traffic and train noise, while the Pioneer figure could have been taken at a secret testing lab deep in the quiet country, and early in the morning (some manufacturers did used to measure their turntables at those types of facilities, to minimise external factors influencing the results, while others would measure them at certain quiet times of the day or night, for similar reasons).
So while it’s certainly possible to compare Pioneer figures with other Pioneer turntables, and Sony turntables with other Sony turntables, comparing the two manufacturers’ figures is fraught with danger, unless they’re from the same lab, with the same measuring equipment and methods.
Other specifications which are worth comparing (and less dependent on measuring techniques or environments) are the turntable weights, which influence acoustic feedback (one of the main influences on how turntables sound), since a heavier turntable requires more energy to vibrate the same amount. The Sony is slightly heavier (8.5kg versus 8.1kg), and also has the benefit of their excellent, very non-resonant SBMC (Sony Bulk Moulding Compound) material for the base, which is a mixture of calcium carbonate (limestone), fibreglass and polyester.