So I have a question for those of us who advocate using a dust cover during play, for the primary reason to avoid the accumulation of dust. (The acoustic argument is different, I think.) Let’s assume we all agree there is some sense to using a dust cover when the TT is not in use. Presumably, that keeps the area under the dust cover free of dust during those periods. Furthermore, when you remove an LP from its sleeve and place it on the now uncovered dust free platter, we can have reason to believe that the LP playing surface is also free of dust, relatively speaking. Then most of us use some sort of record brush prior to play, and some of us take steps to reduce the static charge on the playing surface, which would go further to delimit the possible accumulation of dust during play. Moreover, it takes about 20 minutes to play one side of a 33 rpm LP, so the net exposure time to the environmental dust is about that long. Do you in the dust cover user during play camp suppose that in the course of 20 minutes, the LP could possibly accumulate enough environmental dust to cause ticks and pops (presumably that could only affect the innermost grooves, since they would be exposed longest to the air before being "read" by the stylus) or to otherwise damage the LP? Even accounting for the fact that when you set the stylus down on the outermost grooves, the LP is likely to be "clean"? And finally, what do you think happens to dust in the air that you trap over the LP surface, by the very act of using the dust cover? At least with no dust cover, the airborne dust has a chance to pass harmlessly across the LP surface and land somewhere else. Once the dust cover is placed, the airborne dust has nowhere else to go but the LP surface.
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.
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- 63 posts total
- 63 posts total