Cheap turntables always have dust covers yet expensive tables do not. If dust is the enemy of vinyl, what's up? If you want to learn more, grab a copy of Paul's new book The Audiophile's Guide. www.psaudio.com/products/the-...
No problem. High enough for the toddler to not reach and cats.. Well.. Mine don't really care and they can also be teached not to touch it. I do have a cover but I dont really need it. Just easier to wipe dust from that then the turntable😅
I'm sure you might not believe this but my 54 year old daughter bought me a VICTROLA!!!! turntable for Xmas. I couldn't believe she would buy me something like that. She grew up in my house listening to a very good sound system. Not a surround system. I'm going to have her brain examend. Something wrong with her.
@@charlescalkins4732 I bought my father a Crosley turntable for Christmas .... i regret ever buying him that.. because after i never saw the unit again.. i think he threw it out
@@charlescalkins4732 I gave a friend of mine who's also into hifi a Crosley Cruizer as a gag gift for his housewarming party. After a few beers, it became subject to target practice in his back yard 😁
Dust settles on the table’s mat. When we want to play Side A we place side B atop the dusty mat. Flip it over and, sure, clean that side of the disc, but a wipe clean will not be completely effective. So I think your viewer has a very valid point. Some dust transfers and is driven into the grooves. I’ve always thought the absence of a cover to be an aesthetic decision, best practices be damned.
Absolutely right !! How could Paul miss this one ... And to make it worse vinyl records are as electrostatic as hell ! It's all about showing the turntable off to ppl ... that's the REAL reason you never see a cover !
Yes, the absence of a dustcover is for aesthetic reasons. VPI are high-end turntables made for fancy looks, but those aren't made for high performance.
After a friend relayed the story of a housekeeper ripping the stylus off of his very expensive cartridge with a stray dust cloth, I bought an after market clear cover for my VPI.
Happened to me. I started blue-taping the arm and dustcover down on cleaning day. True story. I use the dustcover but take it of when I play records. Pain in the ass but keeps dust off the felt mat, at least.
@@utub1473 The plastic lid resonates which makes a sound on its own but it also transfers the vibrations to the turntable itself. It's easy on/easy off, really.
My almost 40 year old Denon DP60L has a dust cover and all turntables in those days had dust covers. I think it actually looks cool when the dust cover is open at 60 degrees
Turntables do not have dust covers for the same reason many integrated and pre-amps do not have tone controls. The manufacturers are too cheap and greedy to make them that way - Now you have heard the truth.
Taking a tone control out of a signal path theoretically allows an undistorted or less distorted signal to flow to the outputs. I don’t see how lack of a dust cover has any audio rationale.
@@pdcragin33 - Actually, a properly designed tonal control circuit will add nothing to the signal path. This has nothing to do with theory in my case, just practical application.
Paul Cragin because theoretically it acts as a sonic sail; catching sound waves and adding to the vibration affecting the TT> tonearm > cartridge. Physics.
Back when I was playing vinyl, the dust cover was closed while the record was playing. I considered its main purpose to prevent dust from getting to the freshly cleaned record as it was being played. I seem to remember that could hear the difference in the amount of dust in the grooves between the start and finish of an album side if the cover was left open as being the reason I developed that habit.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I can understand turntable manufacturers not wanting to have an integrated cover, but at least offer a reasonably-priced cover that fits over the entire unit. Both my Linn and my Rega have integrated covers that were included. Tables can absolutely be made to sound great with a dustcover.
zulumax1 yes a simple perspex lift-on-lift-off lid is all that's required. I recently read about a higher end TT having a £600 lid on a £4K TT, now that is fleecing the customer!
Agreed. Make a fully removable cover without hinges. Bottom line, turntables have exposed operational parts. They need dust covers. It's also for protection.
@Jason Hoffer Hmmh that must be an old Valhalla... those are good turntables, but nothing compared to the modern LP12 models. While those modern models have the Karousel bearing just like the Cirkus upgrade kits, they're on another level. Especially the Ekos tonearm is a very good titanium tonearm. They all look very similar, so most people often assume that they're all about the same... but looks are deceiving.
One reason dust covers are not included would be to reduce resonances. Dust covers can create resonant chambers that affect the playback of the record. Thanks!
@@malleyland5112 Here's to the light fantastic, Mal! But, for serious listening, open dust covers should be worse than closed ones. (No, that one can conceive of an extraordinarily design dust cover that it may avoid these issues.) While open it can have even more resonances (as a large Helmholtz resonator and flapping panel) since and it is only fixed along a single edge. (Thus, the leverage may more effectively transmit vibrations.) This can introduce extraneous vibrations into the system that should affect the sound. Therefore, it would seem best to remove it (and move it far away and/or leave it upside down) as opposed to leaving it on or, perhaps worse, leaving it open. FWIW, my friend...
You are correct, sir. My VPI HW 19 has a hinged dust cover, but it is easily removable for listening. I've tried it both ways, and now I always completely remove it when in use. The improvement is clearly audible.
Here's the reason: You can afford a cleaning lady to dust your house every week if you could can pay for a high end turntable so they don't offer a dust cover for that reason.
Well, like you said ‘it does not resonate’ (it does not make sense, you meant), but now literally: while playing music, it would catch low frequencies from the speakers and feed this back into the turn table, it would resonate indeed!
I was having this problem today! Whenever I played music on a used turntable I picked up a little while ago, I got a really nasty sounding hum from my sub. Removed the dust cover and voila! the noise disappeared.
Paul, usually great videos. I think you missed it this time. Many of us don't have such pristine listening rooms. Is it bad of me to open windows now and then? The dust in many parts of the country can be overwhelming. I made an acrylic cover for my VPI and it has saved me from extra cleaning on my vinyl.
I love how he goes on and on about how tacky (paraphrasing) and dumb a dust cover would be on that beautiful, high-end turntable...all the while it's parked next to some Ikea shelves with all kinds of odds and ends scattered upon it! Mainly CD's!!! Too funny!
My Thorens TD 125 on which I mounted a Rabco SL-8E tone arm had no dust cover. So I made a mechanical drawing of what I needed and had it made by a local plastics fabricator. It is a simple cover that rest on the corners of the wooden turntable base. It has a slot for the patch cables that go to the arm. It is completely removed when playing records. It is made from clear polished 3/16 Acrylic. (It can be placed over the turntable with a record playing, but I do not normally do this.)
Of all your great answers to the many questions that you receive, this was the least favorable one and I don't believe for a second, that this dust cover issue never crossed you mind.
I recently bought a new turntable after 35 years with my old one. It came down to a couple choices, one model which had no dust cover and one that did. I bought the one with a dust cover. It's not just the dust, but the protective aspect of the cover that I value. A tone arm and a cartridge are much too easily damaged by pets, cleaning people, and my own clumsiness to leave them unprotected when not in use. I would NEVER buy a turntable without one.
My VPI HW-40 came with a dust cover, packed in a separate box. Attaches with 4 screws. Think of it no so much as a dust cover, but protection for your $4000 cartridge. It helps to keep unwanted inquisitive onlookers away from the the most delicate component in your system.....Paul, your dust cover is probably still in the box in some closet (it’s too big to hide under the couch)
Finally. Someone said it. Dust covers (when open) act as a frequency/vibration sail transmitting back to the plinth and straight into the tonearm. When closed (down) the dust cover contact points will also vibrate.
@@TuneHead Yup. And you REALLY hear it when listening through headphones. Kinda shocking the first time I took the over off. Giant carpet of hum disappears.
A dust cover on a turn table, high and low end, acts as a resonance pit. It catches the soundwaves and transports these vibrations to the chassis. Place the stylus on the record (without the platter turning), turn the volume up and tik softly against the closed dust cover. Boing!
I have Bang Olufsen. it has internal suspension and floats softly the plate and arm independent from box with legs and attached plastic dust cover on twists . With tracking force 1g I can even dust record in time of play and it won't skip.The same outer shell and cover may be dusted without stopping . I lift cover enough only to put or grab LP and keep it so because as for me with every turn dust appears. Anyway worst side is that it looks as whole only like Hi Fi .
I would think if you flicked the chassis you would get your boing as well. I used to play some of my records wet on one of my turntables, and when I lowered the lid over the record, the sound would have a noticeable (downward) pitch change until I lifted the cover back up, as if it created a positive pressure on the record when covered. Not sure if this is what happens, but interesting.
Most turntables that have dustcovers have detachable dust covers. You don't want to play a record with the dust cover attached because it vibrates. Two things happen. The dustcover vibration is transferred to the plinth, and depending on how the platter and tonearm are isolated that sound makes it back to the stylus and muddies the sound. If the cover is attached and closed while playing music there is a resonance in the enclosed space around the stylus, tonearm, and platter, and that resonance will also emphasize and mussy the sound. High end turntables are an exercise in avoiding all of that, and when you do see some kind of dust cover it is not actually attached, and is meant to be completely removed while the turntable is in use. As with everything there are always exceptions, but this should apply in the general case.
If I am going to spend a chunk of money on a turntable and audio equipment with the goal of the most realistic sound experience, the least I can do is to use a cover to avoid some lint, dander and dust on my record while playing and reduce the unwanted pops.
Paul, you hit the real reason ( but reversed) when you said “just doesn’t resonate” about a dust cover. The cost of a high end turntable comes in part from a dedicated effort to avoid any vibration arriving at the stylus except those coming from the groove. Would anyone intentionally hang a hard plastic box without a led (or even with one) on the wall of a recording studio or listening room? On the other hand, vinyl loves static electricity and dust will happily hop from a dusty plinth to a record. That is why the dust cover on high end Rega’s is so clever. Protects the table while not in use but there is no way to have it there or even near while the record is spinning.
You can make an excellent dust cover out of a large grey plastic (recycled), washing-up bowl. And, it will appeal to the most discerning (yet thrifty), post-modernistic audiophile ;)
As at least one person has noted below- but in case you missed it- essentially, covers (unless they were made to be extremely high mass/and or somehow a properly-suspended construction), would typically introduce unwanted resonance into high-end turntables, thus lowering the nth degree of clarity, dynamics, etc. that they're designed and intended to convey. Just having them connected to the table without somehow degrading the sound in some measure would presumably require, at the very least, a great deal of extra mass and cost to the turntableThe thinking by such manufacturers is that individuals will take the kinds of steps Paul discussed to protect records and tables from harmful dust buildup; and if one really wants a dust cover (or simply a protective cover) for a high end 'table, then there are third-party businesses that sell plastic cube-shaped 'covers' that one places over the entire turntable in question, onto the platform that that turntable is resting on, and that one removes to play the turntable, thus removing resonance while it's actually in operation.
British designed LInn LP12’s and Rega’s have always come with a proper lids to protect the mat from dust. You want to avoid dust build up so when you place your vinyl on the T/T the face sitting on the mat doesn’t get more dust on. They also designed it so that’s also easily removed if you think it sounds better off when you’re using it.
It's totally true. I recently purchased a EAT C-Sharp and had to find an oem aftermarket dust cover. Fortunately it fits perfectly on the table and lifts off completely when I'm using it. My theory is they figure if you can afford a high end turntable they can probably milk you for extra money for an "optional" dust cover
I did the same with my C Sharp---however covers shouldn't be used during play as the resonation is awful. Thus the higher market tables generally dont have hinged covers. Some do sell their own after market cover.
Many "high-end" manufacturers offer dust covers, but they don't show them in ads. Consumers are, of course, free to use whatever protection they choose for their equipment. I have always kept my covers on and closed when the 'table is not in use, but nearly always open or entirely removed when playing.
The dust cover for the VPI Classic is $300. I'm sure that they're very proud of it and that it's a quality product that meets exacting specifications, but that' just flat out unreasonable.
What an odd response!! Dust is a pain to all but those in pristine and clinical listening environments. Re the latter most of us have to use our every day living space anyway, the notion of a listening room is all but a dream, need to get real now and again!
As someone mentioned earlier, Paul might want to look around the room because his VPI 40th Anniversary turntable comes with a dust cover as per Music Direct's website.
My Turntable does not have an attached dust cover, but a heavy expensive removable one was available as an extra. I got a cheaper custom-made version. The only problem was it acted as a sort of psychological barrier to playing Vynil. It was big, heavy, I had to put it somewhere after removal. So I seemed to avoid doing it! Having removed it, I use the table much more. I like dustcovers. They have a nostalgic resonance as well as a physical one! If I buy another turnable it will have a hinged dustcover.
So in winter months, when most indoor spaces are heated (resulting in low - sometimes very low - humidity), the removal of an LP from its sleeve is a static generator. Placing that charged vinyl on the platter probably means that collected dust has a good potential to be attracted to the grooves. I imagine that the severity varies widely due to conditions, but certainly its a potential problem that could be helped by adding an after-market cover.
The AR turntable got it right. The cover didn't hinge, it simply lifted off. AND the suspension system was internal and didn't depend on the outside feet, so even if it did have a hinged cover, it wouldn't have affected that.
The issue is that dust gets on my leather turntable mat, side B gets dusty while I play side A. My mid range system doesn’t have a dust cover (you can buy one separately but it’s like a shell and my table doesn’t fit it) and whenever I bring records over to my audiophile dad’s house he is always astounded how much dust my brand-new records have collected!
I have a technics automatic turntable that was given to me by my parents after they hadn't used it since the 80s. It has an interesting automatic track selection and skip feature, but it only works with the clear cover dropped down closed.
I agree with Bob Lucas in this "look at me and my stuff" culture. My old Phillips 212 has a dust cover and the only suspension system back in the mid 70's that wouldn't dance around as you walked across flimsy wooden floors.
I Thought so to my B&O and at first I made massive shelf mounted to concrete wall. Later I realized that it wasn't necessary at all and no vibrations were transmitted from outer enclosure. Now it is working on furniture and I can hit cover with hand. Tried to pull out on sleeves during work but at least this was too much shaking .
There is no dust cover on high-end audiophile turntables because every component attached could cause vibration issues. An audiophile grade turntable is usually big and heavy, so adding a cover would make the package even larger, which would increase transportation costs. Their dust covers (no contact, lift off) are usually sold separately, and they can cost more than mid-level turntables (extra profit).
I built my own dust cover. Just a woden box I made. Turned it upside down. Had a heavy duty cloth cover made for it. No hinge. Just pick it straight by two handles. Had the handles and the 1/2 plywood to make the box. Dust cover from the turntable mfg. cost $250.00. Mine cost about $30.00
Resonance is the answer. The high end Technics still have them if that's what you want. They can also be removed from them. Plus those are built like tanks so I doubt it's much of an issue, but I totally understand why most high end TTs dont have them.
When it comes to practical features it seems that the more you pay, the less you get. So many newer, 'high end' turntables have no dustcover, no switch for speed selection, no removable head shell and you can forget automatic operation.
The Linn LP12 has always had a perspex lid, which I believe is recommended to be closed when a record is being played, to improve acoustic isolation. Or is the LP12 no longer considered high end?
Dust covers are very important for protecting turntable. Those who cleans know how it is often very difficult to remove dust from hidden parts of anything, including turntables. No way that it can be cleaned without proper vacuum cleaner with brush or blower. Therefore it should be used. Also if there is dust on turntable prior to placing record it will be picked pu on side B while listening side A, maning in order to avoid the each time before playing a record turntable should be cleaned. I have piano black turntable and boy, there is lots of dust in air that we aren't aware of (I don't have small childeren or pets, or carpets). I gues those with silver/gray or wood colored can't see that. While cover can in theory reflect sound from cartridge back to it, it protect that same cartridge from all other sounds that come from enviroment including one that comes from soundspeakers. Also don't forget how records have static electricity and while playing they move and can pick up more dust than while not. Anyway it is up to each of us to decide should turntable have dust cover or not, or open/removed or closed during playing record. Simple testing would do. In meanwhile I have it closed all the time for last 40 years and never had to wash my records.
Try living in Arizona where all that dust contains SAND and gets on and in everything. I have to clean my stuff weekly and blow components out monthly, and when you wipe it off it can scratch if you're not really careful :-(
That's the best bit of bullshit I've heard in my 63 years. Maybe your playing it on your roof though which with a good wind would blow it over the fooking edge so sorry if this is the case. 🤔
@@malleyland5112 My Rega P6 when played at loud volumes with the dustcover up will start howling with feedback.....Remove the cover completely and there's no feedback...hardly bullshit.
@@malleyland5112 The idea is that the sound from the speakers bounces off the walls back toward the turntable, gets caught by the raised dustcover and bounced towards the cartridge where the feedback is created.
Good turntables have dustcovers that can be removed. It's important to remove the dustcover before play, so that the dustcover can't pick up resonances. Dust on the platter mat can definitely get into the grooves if the record has a slight static charge. But remember, the turntable Paul has is a VPI HW-40 turntable, so that's high-end turntable, not a high quality turntable. It's significantly better than the other VPI turntables though, because the HW-40 is direct drive.
I have an original SOTA Sapphire and it has a hinged clear plastic cover. I haven’t listen to the whole video yet but it hasn’t really caused major problems for me. Manufacturers could supply a lift up cover to put to the side. Dust is a real pain in the behind even if it gets on the cover. Everyone’s home is different and some have more dust accumulation and others. I think it’s important.
Hi Paul, thank you for sharing tour expertise and thoughts. Could it be possible that very expensive turntables simply do not have a cover just ro prevent parasite noise coming from the resonance of the cover itself while playing vinyl record. As you stated a lot of money goes in stability and isolation. Extra noise/resonance coming from the speakers would be amplified trough the cover. Best regards from Brussels, Waterloo Belgium. 🎛🎧🎤
I live in a drafty old house in W.TX with 3 big dogs and a cat running in and out constantly. My turntable has to have a dust cover!! I won't even play an album unless the dust cover is down to protect it from floating dog hairs....lol. Having a turntable without a dust cover would be unthinkable in my house.
I've wondered that same question, but I think the answer is simply aesthetics. People who pay thousands of dollars for a record don't just want it to sound good. They want it to look great, and the dust cover doesn't usually look very good. I'd suggest that if designers can create a $5,000 turntable that looks awesome, then they should be able to create a dustcover that looks elegant too. Now if they said something about reducing resonant materials, or undue vibrations, or something fancy-schmancy like that, then I'd have to cede to the experts on this. But, I think it's just about appearance ultimately. I'd want the dustcover just for practical reasons. I wouldn't want a bug, or pet hair, or sneezes to settled onto some tiny moving part and interfere with my precious record player.
The Lin turntable has always had a dust cover. I believe it's high end. It has a suspension system internally. On solid plinth turntables the lid can pick up airborne resonance. Never let anyone dust your turntable if you have an expensive cartridge especially not Paul!
I made my own cover from sheets of perspex I bought off eBay. Doesn't look very professional but it does the job of keeping the deck free of dust. I take to off completely when I'm plying records.
Paul. you've been always right so far. Not this time. The reason there is no dust cover is more about the feedback resonance it might induce on the record, rather than the looks. Dust sucks, but my guess is, people who can afford his kind of stuff, are taking care of the dust through some air cleaning devices. At least this is what I would do
I suspect that, as you climb the audio cost ladder, the chances grow exponentially high that you have staff to dust your record player. At that point, it doesn't really matter if they dust a dust cover or the record player, either way the record player is always clean when you use it. It only really matters in environments where the dust cover will be covered with dust when you go to use the record player.
Dust covers (when open) act as a frequency/vibration sail transmitting back to the plinth and straight into the tonearm. When closed (down) the dust cover contact points will also vibrate.
"Yippie!!!!" My copy of the "Audiophile's Guide" w/SACD arrived just now. Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Really looking forward to seeing what my system can do and how badly I currently have it set up. 😎✌
I also wonder if it’s due to the assumption that a high end turntable is going to be as much of a statement as it is a music playback device. Are you going to want to have it covered up or have it clear to view for guests to gawp at?
I live in New Mexico, and with the nearly constant "dust bowl" of dirt flying through the air pretty much all the time here, especially during the changes of major seasons when the temperature changes, like especially in the springtime for about 3-4 full months, there is major winds almost every single day, and that in combination with the extremely dry conditions, the dust here is ridiculous!... In order to keep my stereo system clean I have to dust it at least once a month, preferably more often, and every single time I do there's a layer of dust on everything that's so thick that you can write in it with your finger, "dust me"! Lol!... I kind of agree with you though Paul, about a flip up dust cover's potential issues, as you mentioned, so, I just think that every turntable should just have a totally removable dust cover that you take off completely, like a "cap", while you are using/listening to it, and then you can just put it back on after you're done, in order to keep the platter and all of the other relatively sensitive parts totally clean in between uses, and also therefore making it much easier and quicker to dust off, because then you just have a flat top to dust!
I can understand why you might not want a dust cover while the turntable is in use. But why not have a cover that can be placed on the table when not in use?
My Gold Note Mediterraneo does, but I have unhinged it so I can lift it on and off, when being used. My concern is dust in the other parts of the turntable when not in use for long periods. I'm happy my manufacturer provided one at the cost I paid for their product... imo.
2:47...actually it does resonate, and that's the biggest reason they don't have them. A gigantic flimsy dusk cover becomes a wall for bouncing sound and vibration. Alternatively if a dust cover was made of super thick glass or granite it would probably be ok
I use a 30 year old high end turntable with a complex suspended chassis that isolates the platter and arm very effectively from the plinth. It has a dust cover hinged to the plinth that is almost always closed when a record is playing. Why? Because it acts as a barrier to airborne feedback, especially when playing at high volume. Oh, and it also keeps dust, pollen, smoke and other pollutants of the playing record Paul as I don't listen in a clinically clean environment 😁
I notice that on my turntable when it on and the needle in up with the dust cover down and ya lightly tap it the sound comes thru the speakers. Does the Dust cover induct noise into the sound? You can have a cover of some sorts for when your not using it but remove it for playing. Just guessing here.
Indeed my cat did playfully want to engage the spinning disk after studying it a while. I had to get a new needle. The sapphire had come clean of the stylus.
I agree that you wouldnt want a hinged dust cover left open as this is sonically compromising and is bad listening practice and like you o wouldn't put it down while playing, but the dust cover doesn't need to be attached by hinges, just remove it when ther turntable is in use, and as others have mentioned dust on the turntable mat isnt good either. Great little video 😊
High end turntables seem to have dust covers, but it’s just that they’re usually huge and cover the entire plinth and then some. Not to mention, if I remember correctly, it seems to me that they’re almost always extra / an addition, as well as the fact they do not come stock.
It's because of static attraction between the record/cartridge and a plastic cover. There may be some effect of a resonant cavity over the system as well, but static has always been the reason I've heard.
Thanks Paul, for this video. I have never read a laboratory analysis of the effect of a dust cover on the perceived performance of a turntable either with, without, up, or down. People often trot out theories about why it should matter (or not matter). I myself have never heard a clear difference, with, without, up or down. I would very much like to read a lab report about the true acoustical effects.
I have a fairly entry level Audio-Technica and the dust cover has rubber pads where it touches the chassis and dampened hinges in the rear. I don’t notice any harmonic noise when the lid is on the unit, or when it is taken off. I did have an instance of playing vinyls wet on another turntable, and the sound would experience a noticeable downward pitch shift when I closed the lid, then returned to normal pitch when I raised it, as if there was a positive pressure on the record when the lid was lowered.
Static is a much more formidable enemy to vinyl than dust Ime. Deeply imbedded dust/dirt is where you start having serious problems. I can’t wait to finally have a good ultra sonic cleaner. Keep your records in good quality inner sleeves, clean your styli frequently & use a good carbon fiber cleaning brush regularly.💪
That VPI HW-40 behind Paul comes with a dust cover and the hinges - you guys at PS Audio didn't install it - - many think the cover (of any turntable) transmits resonant noises or otherwise degrades the sound so they don't install it - - - by the way, I know what I'm talking about, I own that same table - yes, I've run the table with and without the cover - my ears aren't what they used to be and directly tapping on the cover itself aside - I'd be a liar if I told anyone that I could hear any difference when listening to music with the cover down (closed) during playback or with it completely removed, hinges and all. I do think it's slightly less than ideal to play a record with the cover installed but in the up position (of this particular table) - but again, I'd be a liar if I told you I could A/B it and tell 100% of the time whether it was up or down in a dark room.
Saw this question being addressed in some video or maybe I read about it, dust covers when left open with a record playing has a possibility of catching all the vibrations and transients from the speakers.
