@lewm , I am at Vail skiing so, pardon the delay. There are standard answers to ink plot tests but as anything with humans there is a bell curve distribution of answers. Most regular folks are going to think the Viv arm sounds fine. Those of us at the higher end of the bell curve are going to think it sounds like sh-t. When given the test all I could say was "it looks like and ink blot." Shows you how imaginative I am.
Distortion is like fog the heavier it gets the more impossible it is see / hear. Systems with really clear vision put distortion on Viv-id display.