Lid up or down when playing vinyl ?
- Thread starter Johnny72
- Start date
david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
On an LP12 lid up sounds better than lid down, lid off sounds best.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
I wouldn't contradict that, but I've never seen a blind test which proves it can be heard in a typical set-up.
If you have the turntable right near the speakers then I'm sure it's true when playing really loud.
What bothers me about lids is that they do not seem to have been designed with acoustic feedback in mind. For example, the Technics and Linn lids are quite resonant when tapped, and if the needle's on the record it is easy to hear the thudding.
A really good lid, light and stiff, could shield the record, platter and arm from airborn vibrations without behaving like a bass resonator.
It wouldn't take an hour to DIY a better-designed lid out of foam board with stiffening ribs on top. A decent industrial designer could make it cheap and not ugly using, say, moulded and skinned polystyrene. I don't know why such a cheap accessory isn't popular.
Big Tabs
looking backwards, going forwards
Barrymagrec
pfm Member
A tea-towel on the lid would do that.
Audiophile Doilies - a new business opportunity
If you get the holes right it can double up as a strobe as well.
Big Tabs
looking backwards, going forwards
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
I'm not sure making the lid heavier but no more stiff is the best solution.
Also I've seen an Ekos levitate off a record due to the electrostatic charge on a Sondek lid, so be careful how you remove the tea towel at the end of the record. Lids are annoying enough without having to place and remove a damper with each side.
Also I've seen an Ekos levitate off a record due to the electrostatic charge on a Sondek lid, so be careful how you remove the tea towel at the end of the record. Lids are annoying enough without having to place and remove a damper with each side.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
I have a Sony ps-6750 with a replacement lid. The original had, I believe, an arrangement of wires or something - elven hair, perhaps - embedded in it, purportedly to reduce static.
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suzywong
Wot, no electrons?
Lid up.
and close the door, to prevent Burmese “zoomies” around the room. Especially now we have a somewhat energetic kitten!
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
Because it would be deemed ugly.
Colonel_Mad
pfm Member
Perspex cover on for me over a Roksan Radius 5. It only contacts the shelf, not the turntable, so hopefully the resonant mass doesn't have a huge effect. Can't hear a difference with it on or off to be honest, but I never really know what it is people hear differently in such comparisons.
Tim Jones
pfm Member
Probably because people can take the lid off.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Yes, agreed, but as I said, it shouldn't be impossible to sell audiophiles a lid which shields the record and arm from airborn sound to some limited extent, and taking lids off is a chore. I do it, but a lid which was rumoured, true or not, to make the deck sound better rather than worse could tempt me to abandon the practice ;-)
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
If it were an inoffensive colour, e.g. black or white, and no bigger than the standard lid, but used the internal empty space for stiffening and isolation of the platter-disc-arm system from airborn vibrations, it needn't be ugly while getting the job done, in someone's imagination. Neurotics like me might be happier keeping it on/closed while playing without imagining the horrors of feedback from the standard bass-resonator-type lid, or of reduced downforce from static. That's the advantage.
lawrence001
Basic Member
Some of the old Sony DDs had antistatic markings on the lid I think my old PS6750 was one.
david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
So either it makes no difference, or it can physically lift the arm off the record, which is it?
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
I don't know! As I said, I have seen an Ekos lift off the playing record. If you want to confirm this with an inexpensive cartridge, try rubbing the lid with something woolly while it's playing. I suspect it will not be impossible to cause levitation. I can't explain it otherwise.
I once found an open camera flight case with an inch of water under the foam. There was no sign of leaks on the ceiling. Again - a possible explanation is that condensation of humid air occurred over time in the foam and leaked down. Surprising physical phenomena which you observe with your own eyes must have an explanation. We do our best.