Dust Covers

[welcomdmat]

I have had the same turntable for a little while now. I am used to listening to it and how it sounds.

I understand that there can be vibrations from attached dust covers affecting the music, but I usually listen at relatively low volumes due to my listening space.

I wanted to play around and took the dust cover off. The sound seems more open/ clear/ live. Is there anything to the record and/ or the stylus playing in an open environment? I keep my dust cover up when playing, but the music sounds different without the cover on.

I am a fan of Brian Eno/ Tangerine Dream/ modern analogue electronic music. It has a larger stage in my early listening experiments.

Equipment: 1200MK2, Hafler preamp, B&K amp, this is with the m97xe

 

[welcomdmat]

Perhaps proximity to my speakers made some difference as I've continued to test, and PF Animals at a volume that would annoy my neighbors (and is really disconcerting to my 3 cats and dog) is far more clear. I had no idea.

I am on a cement slab and did not think that there would be transfer. I honestly thought that this record was aged (I bought a large part of my record collection in 1992 (I was 13) from a gentleman who was a college DJ in the early 80s). I am using Pioneer CS-A700s (http://goldenageofaudio.blogspot.com/2014/03/pioneer-cs-a700-vintage-speakers.html), and I though that they were a weak point in my system. Maybe they are, but they have greater clarity and separation with the dust cover removed.

Mind you -- I have heard of these things, but no one seems to really drive the point home.

 

[scoville]

You must trust your ears! Always remove the dust cover. It's like a big microphone transferring vibration to your table.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Plenty of threads on this topic here for other opinions as well.