TT, 12" Tonearm. Who tried and ended up preferring 12" arm?

12-inch tonearm made of cocobolo must have very high effective mass. Fine for low compliance cartridges. Not so fine for high compliance ones. There is no single best length or best material for a tonearm.

I have to err on the side of Lewm regarding dustcovers.
I will be blunt and state I have no idea what causes the difference but playing with the dustcover in place and then with it off is akin to lifting a shroud on the music.
It sounds corny but it is more open and dynamic with dustcover off and this is from THREE separate tables.

I use the dustcovers for two reasons.
To keep dust off the tables when NOT in play.
To provide a nice resting place for my tired old cats who otherwise would sit on the darn platter I am sure! 

Everyone knows dustcovers down close in the sound. :-)  I found that out on my LP12 back in the 80s.

Metal lids do the same thing to tube preamps. 

Apparently not " everybody" it seems ....

Seller says he is shipping my TT monday from Canada. I re-arranged everything, made a big improvement in stability I was putting off, ordered a tempered glass shelf for the monster.