what is the problem with too much tracking force?

When you wrote the dealer does final setup by ear, that's the ticket.

Let's look at it this way: The diamond on the end of the cantilever is kinda small. This diamond may have been installed by a human hand, or with a small 'guide', then glued. Does the glue allow a fraction of 'creep'?. Is the hole accepting the diamond perfect?.

It is likely no diamond is exactly perfect.

Final alignment should always be done by ear. Protractors are a starting point. Azimuth is my single most important 'fine tune'. VTA changes with album thickness.

Tracking to heavy will get you a closed in sound with no air.

Mark Tomaras, The fact that you now read VTF at 1.95g does not necessarily mean that your dealer originally set it at 1.95g; did he confirm that value?  VTF can drift over time for various reasons, so it is wise to check it once in a while.  Why don't you set it to any value within Lyra's recommended range, narrow or not, and listen?  If you hear signs of mistracking, it's never too late to increase VTF.  This is not such a big deal, and there is no one single exact correct VTF.  (Witness the fact that cartridge makers always give you a range of values.) Finally, you say nothing about what gauge you are using to check VTF.  There's good ones and not so good ones; it is crucially important that the stylus tip should be at about the height of the thickness of an LP, when VTF is measured, because VTF will change with height of the stylus tip.  So, if you have a good scale that puts the weigh pan down low at about the height of an LP, and if you made your determination with no LP under the scale, flat down on the mat, then you probably did get a fairly accurate measurement.

With modern elliptical diamonds that can respond to high frequencies, it is imperative that the diamond can follow the groove into the tightest cut. To do this properly you need an USB microscope as in Fremer's guide.

I always track as lightly as possible as the top end is better.

Too much tracking force can cause skipping too, by the way.
I would set it at exactly 1.7 to begin with and listen. If Lyra gives such a tight range, they must have a reason and want you to be quite precise, you are tracking too high - if your gauge is correct.
If 1.7 doesn't sound quite right, I would then set it at 1.8.
As others pointed out, analog set-up is a complex system, one small change will affect other elements to various degree.
I was impressed how my Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm with Goldring 1042 MM set-up reacts to small changes in anti-skate, more than changes of VTF but less than changes in VTA.