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Dustcover Blues

Most of you probably know that I have always championed the use of dustcovers on turntables even during play, the goal being to protect the record from the environment and shield it from sound. For the first time in my audio career I have stumbled into a problem with this and other than not putting the dustcover down I have not come up with a solution. 

Yesterday I was playing Herbie Hancock's Secrets and I cranked it on my favotite song. After about 30 seconds the room started to rumble. My subs were putting out a remarkably clean 20 Hz as if I were playing a test tone. Feedback! Just turn the volume down a little and it disappears. Turn the volume back up and within 30 seconds it starts up again. Did I screw up my cartridge set up? I veiwed the tonearm during the feedback and it was rock solid. Usually with low frequency feedback you can see the tonearm shaking. I played the resonance tracks on an Ortofon test record and both lateral and vertical resonance were centered on 9 Hz With the feedback going and the house shaking I wanted a better look at the cantilever. On lifting the dustcover the feedback stopped!  The dust cover is attached to the plinth which is isolated from the sub chassis (tonearm and platter mounted on this) by four springs. The resonance frequency of this suspension is 2 Hz. Nothing above 2 Hz can pass directly through to the platter and tonearm. What is going on here? Any of you scientists out there have a clue? My best guess is that I am dealing with a type of Helmholtz resonation. The dust cover is lowered on four hard rubber pads, one at each corner. There is a 1/16" slot all the way around. This combined with the weight and dimensions of the dust cover creates a resonance at 20 Hz. To get it going I have to turn the volume way up. 

Today when I get home I'll play around with it to see if I can figure it out. Any ideas would be appreciated. 

128x128mijostyn
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn OP
8,570 posts
 

@vinylzone , The springs are dampened. The sub chassis is a 1" thick aluminum plate. Think SME 30/2

@jasonbourne52 , IMHO that defeats the purpose of a dust cover. Records never have a neutral charge. Just playing the record develops a small amount of static charge. Static always attracts dust like a magnet. Small particles can be sucked right into the groove. Keeping the records covered and discharged are the best ways to maintain clean records. If you are doing a good job you should never have to clean your stylus. (hardly ever)

@fuzztone , I have an 80 dB/oct rumble filter 3dB down at 18Hz. The feedback is just above. It does take a vigourous bass line to get it going but the thing about feedback is that it is self perpetuating and it does not require a 20 Hz tone to get it going, like blowing across the top of a bottle. 

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 

Gosh, what a great time to have not called cable elevators porn, and to have not dismissed with scorn every tweak you do not understand and insulted all of us who use them. Because if you had not done those things then I would be happy to help and tell you exactly what is going on and how to fix it.

 

lewm
13,114 posts
 

Duh!!!

You demonstrated for yourself that your problem goes away when you lift the dust cover, yet your excessive fear of dust and static electricity and feedback induce you to want to change anything else but removing the dust cover during play.With all due respect, don’t you think that is a bit silly?

Not to mention the fact that there is static electricity buildup even with a dust cover down, and the moment you left the dust cover the LP becomes a magnet for dust.

Kudos to you, however, for having the cojones to admit to this human frailty.

cd318
2,636 posts
 

@jasonbourne52 

Just remove the cover when playing an LP. That's what I do.

 

It feels a little strange to get used to but that's what I do now too.

The problems with using any dust cover, any of them, can be sidestepped by removing it.

At the last show I went to, not a single demo room was using a dustcover with their turntable.

In fact, in the case of the Rega 10 (truly a sight to behold in action), I'm not even sure whether they could have even if they had wanted to.

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 

Did you ever measure your room with EQ Wizard (it’s free software) ? You can see what's going on in your room with low frequency.

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