Vinyl heresy-overhang induced distortion is not that important

It takes an open mind to talk about distortion not mattering in the way we would assume. Sort of like people assuming a simpler signal path is always better....

One should never assume but all things being equal (which is a qualifier not an assumption) the simpler signal path is always better. How could it possibly be otherwise?

The above is a perfect analogy. The first statement points out the oft-held assumption and the second confirms that people make this assumption. 
Many of us think the way millercarbon does. It makes perfect sense on paper. I have been "disabused" of this notion. My ARC Ref 6 preamp has circuit boards and not PtP wiring and it has a BAT-like maze of capacitors and signal paths from input to output. It sounds amazing. And yes, it has a sound. A preamp on paper should not have a sound, right? (Sam Tellig evil laugh here). Well, not so fast. Those who love their passive or buffered attenuators say yes to that, those of us who have active preamps of the likes of my ARC say otherwise. The debate goes on. This whole concept of all distortion being bad is just another form of the same argument. I think audio enlightenment lies in embracing the reality that there is always distortion. 

No one thinks the way I do.

Dear @fsonicsmith : I can't argue against what you are " listening " in your home room/system.

I can comment some issues about your thread and other gentlemans posts:


"""  I submit that any differences in distortion due to sub-optimum arcs and deviations from the two null points and where they are located (those peaks in distortion) are masked several times over by distortion imposed by my tubed gear..... """

Exist several reasons why in an audio system we can't be aware of distortion levels on cartridge/tonearm alignments.

First is that distortion levels is changing at each single LP groove and the difference in between two concecutives grooves is really tiny for any one but a bat could hear it.

Our ears/brain/body can discern on distortion levels when the difference in between those distortion levels is a little higher than tiny tiny differences. We as human beens have limits about of what we can detect and each one of us due to our age and over the time we all have less sensitivity about, the loss of audibility each day goes fall down.

Other reason is the room/system resolution level and its distortion levels where tubes has  distortion levels and resolution truly inferior to solid state good designs: everything the same tubes is way inferior to solid state electronics from inside a  price range. 

You are full of tubes and agree with your statement where in other words you said can't be aware of the cartridge/alignment  distortions levels due that your electronics/speakers high distortion levels: agree with you. The resolution levels in your room/systems impedes to be aware about.
By coincidence lewm owns electronics that has tubes. Btw, I owned the RSA-1 tonearm and never like it and sold.

Other reason is that to be truly aware or detect differences in any kind of room/system evaluations/comparisons we need to have a well proved full self test proccess where at least needs that " always " make the evaluations using the same tracks with different LPs and not even that but to have identified at each LP track the part or parts we use for different kind of evaluation/comparison characteristics. With out that proccess and self training on it we just do not know exactly where we are " seated ".

Other reason of what lewm posted is that we are accustomed to some quality listening levels and when we listen something different  a priori we can say: wow !. But that wow is really a precise better quality sound?


Now, the orthodox cartridge/tonearm alignments what makes is to achieve " more or less " the distortion levels at minimum with and the underhung or what you experienced means almost nothing with out all those I pointed out.

One thing is what we like and other thing is to listen with distortion  ( any kind ) room/system at minimum. Exist a measurable difference in between, many times what we like it is really wrong but who cares: that's what we like it.

I'm in the other side: to stay truer to the recording and what helps to stays nearer to that target is to put room/system distortions at minimum and the cartridge/tonearm traditional alignments is a true way to walk in that road not what you experienced about.

But that is only my target and opinion and for you the validity is only what you like and your experiences, at the end is you who live with and you are satisfied. Good.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Raul, my Beveridge system is mostly solid state. The Manley Steelhead is a hybrid. The Beveridge amplifiers contain active solid state crossovers and the amplification is entirely solid state. Only the output stage uses tubes, a necessity for direct drive of the panels which requires high rail voltages.All the observations I reported regarding cartridge alignment were made using this system. 

Further, you, Raul, used to claim that exact alignment was over-rated. I know you've changed your tune, just as you changed your tune on MM vs MC cartridges.  All of that is OK, but don't pretend to be perfectly consistent in your views.  

For my part, I was asking for trouble with my post, because of the un-scientific nature of my report, NOT because I do or don't use tubes, and I hope not because I am not worthy, as you infer.  This subject is not really a matter of opinion.  The hypothesis that accurate alignment according to one of the popular algorithms is or is not vital to purest reproduction of music from vinyl can be tested.  All we need is a test LP with a single pure test tone encoded over the entirety of one side, lets say 1000 Hz, a very high quality protractor, and a distortion analyzer.  Maybe the test LP would have a mono signal on one side and a stereo signal on the other.  I would be very interested to conduct this experiment.  In fact, I would be willing to buy a distortion analyzer in order to do it (they are readily available on eBay and cost is nominal), but I don't know whether the required test LP exists.  If anyone has info on that subject, please let us know.