Dustcover Blues

@mahler123 Avoiding the dust cover is old audiophile dogma, the fear being that the dust cover resonates and affects sound quality. In some cases this might happen. Most people like yourself can not hear a difference. Dust covers that sit directly on the chassis that the plater and tonearm sit on might cause trouble. If they are not hinged taking them on and off during play can be dangerous. Ideally a dust cover should be hinged to the plinth of a suspended turntable. The dust cover does not have direct contact to the important chassis, it is isolated. A good example are the Heritage and Cosmos Sota tables. Using a dust cover that is hinged and isolated poses no danger and actually improves sound quality by attenuating sound around the cartridge by up to 10 dB at some frequencies. I have actually measured this. 

Dust is the enemy of records and fine mechanical devices. I will never use a turntable without an isolated dust cover in my system. I will never use a turntable that is not properly isolated by a tuned suspension.  

Jeez. That’s only two Commandments from Mijo. Do you suppose a dust cover can be isolated from the TT, if it’s firmly attached with hinges to the TT? Especially a spring suspended TT where induced vibrations of the cover are easily transformed into activation of the suspension? Anyway, if you hear no difference with vs without, then do what floats your boat.

@rauliruegas Glass is a bad material to use for a dust cover as it can ring. Have you ever made a wine glass sing? If it is thick enough to prevent ringing it will be very heavy and difficult to manage even if hinged. 

The dust cover I use now is 1/8" thick Lexan which like wood is self damping, it does not ring. It rests on a thick felt gasket and is sealed all the way around. You can see the felt gasket and the dust cover on my virtual system page. I can drop the dustcover during play and it won't affect play in any way, you can't even hear it even if the volume is maxed out. 

I apologize to Mijo for being facetious, but I don't like dust covers anywhere near the turntable when I am playing records.  When the TT is not in use, a dust cover is a good idea.

@lewm And that is why Howard Johnson's made 28 flavors. Best Hot Dogs ever.

The idea behind a suspension Lew is to isolate the cartridge from all environmental mechanical vibration including anything coming from it's own plinth including the dust cover. I can turn the volume all the way up and tap all over that dust cover and you can not hear a peep. If I give it too hard a lateral blow the table will skip because I provided an impulse below the suspension's cut off frequency. Anything above will be filtered out. Now in your case, you have a slate plinth and no hinges.  We are both old men, but as you previously related you are 10 years older which makes you REALLY old. Any really old man trying to put an unhinged dustcover on a running turntable is a recipe for disaster. It is not such a great idea for just a plain old man never mind a young man with an essential tremor.

@rauliruegas Pardon for the late reply. I stumbled over an old post of yours. Forgot to push the "LAST" button.