What is distortion due to?

Dolifant, when you say:
" I checked and did not have a twist in the wire. I increased my VTF to 2.2g, using a digital guage placed on top of the platter"
- do you mean you placed the cartridge directly onto the digital scale?

If so, the indication on the digital scale may be reading 'high' by a significant amount due to magnetic attraction to the scale parts. My own pocket digital scale would read about 0.3-0.4g higher than the actual VTF if the cartridge was placed directly on the weighing tray. Those MC magnets are quite powerful.

The best option is to build a small ladder adapter (Wally Malewicz's idea) that distances the cartridge from the scale and also allows measurement adjustment to record height.

You post is very interesting. I too have a VPI Scoutmaster with Dynavector 20xL feeding into a Musical Fidelity A308. It's a great phonostage for being inboard, don't you think?

I had the same problem, a light crackling echoing high soprano voice and some high staccato piano passages. I tapped in the counterweight about a millimeter, (my audio guy set my TT up and I don't kwow where he set the tracking force, I hope it's not too much now, I'm waiting for him to call back), and it removed the problem, except for a very few passages of which I have since tested on multiple pressings. Same problem, whether London/Decca/SXL.

One of the worst offenders was Solti's Strauss Der Rosenkavalier in the final Rose trio; luckily it's not a problem on the Karajan EMI. I find it interesting that the VPI tracks 99% of other, sometimes insanely demanding high vocal and/or piano passages without any problem at all, why is that? Some pressing simply may be incompatible with some turntable combos. Luckily for us, as you seem to like Classical, we get to choose from many performances and pressing of the same thing.

I want to thank everyone who responded to my question. The problem is solved. It was the anti-skate, or rather the lack of.

I assumed I needed a counterclockwise rotation of the wire to provide the anti skate. WRONG! When I read the manual it said to balance the tonearm with the counterweight and move the tonearm toward the spindle. It should stop and back up away from the spindle. If not, then untwist the wire one rotation. It turns out that was CLOCKWISE, not counterclockwise, as I had suspected. When I twisted clockwise it applied force in the centrifugal direction, as needed. BINGO. One clockwise rotation and gone was the buzzing at high frequencies. I am again in analog heaven.

I promise to read the manuals carefully from now on.

Thanks again