2. analog
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Some thoughts on dust covers

Over the course of time there have been many discussions concerning the subject of dust covers.  They tend to revolve around the central question:  Should the dust cover be down or up while playing records?  Some of these discussions have been nasty, consequently I have refrained from participation.  It is hoped that I can provide some common sense that was given to me by someone of unquestioned authority many years ago.  During college and after, from 1970 to ~1980 I worked in HiFi retail, selling high end lines of audio equipment.  One of these lines was Thorens.  Sometime around 1977 or 1978, if memory serves, Thorens introduced their new TD126, as a top of the line TT with their own arm and I sold the first one at our store to very good customer.  He came back very unhappy after the first night of frustration with it.  The problem was that with the dust cover closed some of his favorite records were hitting tangentally on the very back were the platter came closest to the dust cover when it was in the closed position.  I called the manufacturer's rep and he set up a three cornered phone call with himself, the Chief Engineer of Thorens at the time, and me.  I don't recall the man's name, but it doesn't matter, it is what he said that matters, then and now.  The Chief Engineer explained that the problem was caused because the hole in the offending records was slightly off center so there was an eccentricity as such a record rotates about the spindle.  The solution was simplicity itself, the dust cover should be removed always when playing records.  That the intent of the cover is to protect the turntable when not in use.  I pointed out that we lived in a semi-arrid environment (San Diego, CA) which is dusty to which he replied that if the environment was too dusty for records it should also be considered unhealthy for people to be breathing the air.  He recommended are filtration, not dust covers to address environmental concerns.  The rep asked about air bourne feedback from speakers and the Thorens guy laughed and said that if that was a problem in a given system, relying of the dust cover was a very flimsy and ineffective solution and that proper measures should be instituted to provide meaningful distance and isolation to ameliorate the problem.   So the often offered extremes:  a) Always play your records with the dust cover down, or b) put the dust cover away in it's box and never use it, should both be recognized for what they are are - not solutions at all.  First principles:  Identify the problem(s), seek solutions and alternatives, prioritize.

billstevenson
mylogic
31 posts
 

I think the easy way out of this impasse and high blood pressure is….

 

Cover or lid, which ever way you want to play it…..

———————-

 

1. If the thoughts of dust filling your groove ruins your musical enjoyment, and have a lid…keep the lid down.

2. If you are worried that the sound will be compromised with the lid down or know it will be, as Arnie would say….’Don’t dooo iit!

3. If your hi-fi sounds great to your ears, you are happy with listening to music and you don’t notice a difference up or down….and have a lid, stick it down and save a lot of additional cleaning!

4. If you have a turntable without a lid, content or enjoy sometimes a little dusting fore play each time you want to listen….stick to a turntable without a lid!

I think l have about covered it?

That’s my Logic

 

dogberry
689 posts
 

I'm not qualified to speak on static, but dust I do know about, especially with respect to inhaling it and the allergies it can cause. When you wrote, @lewm ,

"Shredded skin" does not strike me as an important cause, if it is any cause at all, of dust, unless you keep 30-40 people in your listening room. Maybe you were trying to be funny.

I'm afraid you are wrong. The predominant, component of household dust is human skin, though I expect it has been shed rather than shredded.

wyoboy
277 posts
 

@lewm @dogberry According to this it's a "myth" that dust is mostly dead skin

https://www.livescience.com/32337-is-house-dust-mostly-dead-skin.html

Couldn't read the Canadian dust study w/o a subscription...

FWIW

lewm
13,201 posts
 

Googled "what is the composition of dust".  Found this on the Martha Stewart page: "But there is one important myth to bust: While dead skin cells certainly do make up part of the dust in our homes, it's not as big of a portion as you may think. Sean Parry of Neat Services notes that people often assume that more than 50 percent of dust comes from dead skin, but in reality, "most of that is carried away by water when we bathe, ending up not on our floors, but in our sewers." '

I have no dog in the fight.  I am a dusty nihilist.

mylogic
31 posts
 

DUST and all that!

Yes there is so much on the internet about dust!

Most comments on here and debates describe the problems of household air contamination. Within the original post the hi-fi element of turntable covers was the question…dust or sound constraints!

One thing that there has been no real quantitative answer to is, what is the shed skin %

Shed skin may not be a big percentage overall but it would certainly be one of the highest individual components. Perhaps one other high pollutant should be an added element to the debate controversial or not….

Smoking could be the biggest additional problem as by smoking habitually, intentionally (or not) adds to the mix arguably the worst pollutants of all into the living environment. Various dangerous chemical particulates and sticky nicotine just love records, electrical equipment and other clean surfaces.

If you have ever had to redecorate a house of a chain smoker the evidence is there as old nicotine burns right through a first coat. I know lots of people who advertise books, records or equipment are quick to emphasise that they come from a smoke /pet free environment.

 

Does any authority on the subject have a scientific breakdown as to approximately what percentages of household airborne components normally contain?

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