Ok guys

Mijo
It would be nice if for once you could just accept the fact that your opinions are going to differ from other members.
Nobody is arguing that what you state in your system is what you hear and great for you.
However maybe you could just accept that it is in fact just your opinion and not try to foist that off to everybody else here as being gospel.
It works for you and that's wonderful, apparently it does not work for a lot of other members myself included and that should also be wonderful, not an area of contention. 

Richopp, I did not endorse Kenny G. I included him in a list of things about which people disagree vehemently. If you must know, I regard his music as a particularly brutal form of torture.

Mijo, you have an inordinate dust phobia. I am glad your dust cover ameliorates your anxiety. I however will never ever even consider using a dust cover whilst playing an LP. I clean my LPs with the Audioquest carbon fiber grounded brush just before each play and I clean my stylus with Magic Eraser before each side. LPs that don’t have groove damage from previous owners play silently in both of my systems on any of my 5 turntables. I do also clean any used LPs I buy on an VPI HW17. If your sota sounds better with cover down, that’s a good reason to use it. It’s fine with me, even if you like Kenny G.

If the table has a hinged dustcover, it should be down. Look, it's your table...do what you want! I am sure that the reason that manufacturers included a hinged dustcover was so that it could be closed while in use.  

+1 to @audioman58 for asking what turntable the OP is using.

If the OP’s system description is up to date he is using a ProJect Debut Carbon DC, which is a non-suspended belt drive table weighing about 12 pounds and costing ca. $400 including an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Certainly a very different animal than the SOTA tables which are the only ones to which my earlier comments pertain.

Regards,
-- Al

For my part, I apologize if my last post was a bit rough on Mijo. Everyone should always do what sounds best to that individual. I guess I made my dust cover decision years ago and am now too old to change.