Mark,
IMO, when the manufacture designed a tonearm, they calculated and set the P2S distance and all the geometry of the tonearm to get the best out of the cartridge with the least of distortion possible. When you changed the P2S distance, it will lead to the change of the offset angle of the cartridge mounted on the tonearm. It works, but it might cause more distortion (the ear might not detect it) and affect the life of the tonearm (might cause more friction on the pivot bearing).
In conclusion: If it was mine, I would spend sometime to reset as the manufacturer recommended.
Enjoy,
Calvin
This is the exact type of misconception I have been trying to remedy. I should just give up. People try to reason it out for themselves that if the pivot point is further or closer to the spindle than specified that ipso facto the arc traced by the stylus must change. This is incorrect SO LONG AS the slots in the headshell allow you to reach the proper total distance from pivot plus overhang.
As mentioned above, one (you) only need to look at the SME design to see that this is true-with SME arms there are no slots in the headshell and the mount is fixed but the pivot point is variable on a sled to go back or forth. One also can look at the plinths made by many plinth builders that have sliding leaves on them so that P-S can be varied (though that design also is there to provide maximum flexibility as to choice of tonearm.
Let's go back to Stingreen's comment above. Ironically, he is a VPI fan. VPI is notorious for being sloppy in their manufacturing process and varying from the specified P-S (which Harry and Mat like to keep to themselves-hmmmmm). And guess what, most times IT DOES NOT MATTER because the VPI owner can still achieve alignment and overhang anyway. Where VPI gets into trouble with their sloppiness is when the owner uses a specified P-S distance to order a protractor such as the Mint and then the P-S is other than specified leaving the owner with an expensive paper weight.
