Ok guys

This place is going to the dogs.

The name is scaf, underscore doubleohseven scaf-

Wow.. ok guys, from the sound of so many EXPERT opinions, do you think I should remove the top cover of my SACD and any/all my bluray players?

Removing the cover from my Aronov tube integrated was an improvement. The only way to know if it will be better or worse with your players is to try it and see.

From a few opinions, it sounds like if I let all my redbook CDs lie out in the open they should sound more open. Maybe that would work just as well with all my cassette tapes! And going one step further, I bet all my recorded VHS tapes should be stored in direct sunlight! I would hate to know what would happen to them all if they were to stay under optimum operational temperature for more than a few minutes, let alone for more than a decade..

Way to ruin an otherwise good question.

And you know what? I am man enough to admit Mike you are absolutely correct. I use the zerostat and so I know- it at best neutralizes charges while you're squeezing the handle. And I do mean "at best". There's times I've had a speck of dust on there and been using the z-stat and blowing and even with the z-stat streaming ions the darn thing is still stuck right to the vinyl. So yes of course smaller stuff you can't see is being pulled right into the groove. 

Your fO.q tape tweak recommendation was spot-on too. 

This discussion illustrates beautifully the problem with technical attributes. The subject at hand is dust covers. But it could just as easily be amplifier watts (is it better to have more or less?), speaker cables (is it better to have silver or copper?), or any of a hundred other technical items. 

Everybody wants a simple answer when the truth is there are no simple answers. Its better off, probably, unless its a table designed to be better with it on and down, in which case it should probably be on and down. Probably. The only thing we know for sure is which way it sounds better determines which way it goes- and not the other way around. So once again might as well just cut out the middle man. Go and listen. You will see.

I’ve got carbon fiber just sitting in my shop. So I’m thinking instead of a contraption that runs across every record inevitably picking up crud it then smears all over my pristine White Hot Stampers what I do is stick a little tuft of conductive carbon fiber on a stubby little arm that holds it to the edge of the record. Then it doesn’t have to go anywhere, doesn’t have to be moved every record, just sits there and each record contacts it on the edge.

Might not be quite as good as grounding charges closer to the stylus but then again I don’t have to worry about cleaning it after playing any of my less than pristine records- which is most of them!

A proper cover for my non-suspended table would be a project but probably worth the effort. I mean the way things are now my system is so freaking awesome instead of being content its actually making me want to make it even more and more perfect! This is sick! Its a sickness, I am telling you! I’ve got food and electricity and tunes and practically looking forward to being quarantined just so I can have the time to build my super static destroyer dust cover!

A dust cover is a no-brainer to be desired. Nobody wants dust on their records, turntable, tone arm. Nobody wants the acoustic energy in the room vibrating the sensitive cartridge/arm system. The trick is to do it in a way that doesn’t create more problems than it solves.

mijostyn makes a good argument for using a well-designed dust cover. The key words being well-designed. I've thought about it before and never bothered because of the difficulty of the well-designed part. Its not that I don't know how to do it. Its that I know it will be hard to do! But I'm getting to the point where .... and ditto static. What's that gizmo you use again, Mike?

Up or down, either way, as long as its attached to the table its channeling acoustic energy straight into the turntable.