Ok guys

Hi Uberwaltz,

Is the room air conditioned?  Especially if it is not, I'm thinking that the humid conditions which tend to occur in your neck of the woods may result in lower static levels than in more northern regions, at least during the cold weather months.

Best regards,
-- Al

And please do not tell me about dust, nobody leave vinyl on the platter longer than one side, often just for a few songs and then it’s back to the sleeve on the shelf. So WTF we need dust covers for ?

The concern, IMO, is that static charges on the record could pull dust particles that are on the platter into the groove of the side of the record that is not being played. And when the record is turned over so that the side which had been in contact with the platter is then played, sonics, tics and pops, and record wear may all be adversely affected as a result.

...nobody leave vinyl on the platter longer than one side, often just for a few songs

As one who listens primarily to classical music, when I listen to a record I usually listen to both sides in their entirety.

Again, though, I do not doubt that removing a dustcover is sonically beneficial with many and probably most turntables. My earlier comments pertained exclusively to the SOTAs.

Regards,
-- Al

+1 to @audioman58 for asking what turntable the OP is using.

If the OP’s system description is up to date he is using a ProJect Debut Carbon DC, which is a non-suspended belt drive table weighing about 12 pounds and costing ca. $400 including an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Certainly a very different animal than the SOTA tables which are the only ones to which my earlier comments pertain.

Regards,
-- Al

Have you tried without?

No, I haven’t. Even if taking the dustcover off would somehow result in minor sonic improvements, which I can’t imagine with that particular table, I’d give a higher priority to keeping dust off of the platter (which is made of a material that is not necessarily the easiest to keep clean). And I’d rather not have to take the dustcover off and put it back on before and after listening sessions.

Best regards,
-- Al

I still use the SOTA Sapphire turntable I purchased in 1983, which btw still works as well as when it was new. I can pound its plinth with my fist with light to moderate force while a record is playing, with no audible consequences. Given that, it’s hard for me to imagine how vibrations induced in its dustcover and conveyed to that plinth could have any audible consequences. So in the case of that particular table, and presumably its later incarnations as well, I agree with Mijostyn.

Regards,
-- Al