dustcover up, down or off

if you don't hear a difference, do what you want...if you do hear a difference, the answer is the same.

if you don't hear a difference, do what you want...if you do hear a difference, the answer is the same

Exactly.

but I recently read an opinion

And it was exactly that , an opinion. Nothing more.

What works for one may not work for another person....somethings just have to be tried first before an opinion can be made.

I agree with what the others have said so far, with one caveat: If there is even a remote possibility that the dust cover could fall down while playing a record, I would either play with it down or removed entirely, as the effect of the dustcover slamming down could easily cause damage to your record and/or the stylus.

My two cents worth.

Any turntable I had always was better with the lid off.The lid resonates easily and transfers the vibration to the platter,or record.Different models had different vibration characteristics,but worse with the lid on,up or down.