VTA depends on the cantilever angle, angle of stylus A_N_D what kind of Diamond is used. The side walls have different cuts (and more...) and they track the information. So it is logical that every change in that "angle" will give you different results. some record collectors say, you simply have to dial it in, until it "settles". You can hear it. Another chapter is the cutting angle from mastering...
The VTA adjustment is necessary when you listen to older records (until the end of 60's), when you use an old Mercury/London/RCA ... you can hear how the soundstage gets wider and deeper.
The SRA explanation is another - different - chapter and also has influence to VTA adjustment. But the VTA adjustment is only the way to get the angle the older records were cut for proper reproduction....
What you have done to find a good result is right, but to repeat it again, a VTA at a "given angle" is wrong, the given angle is for SRA and a statement from M. Fremer which sounds important in discussions but is totally overrated in reality.
It is ok when someone uses an Arm which can't be adjusted in the height, when he also uses an arm which is perfectly aligned from arm board to record surface distance (level) and when he listens only to records which were done after 1980 and when the cartridge height overall fits also for level adjustment with the given cantilever length, angle...and there are some more...it may be ok when someone uses a table AND a matched Arm from a Manufacturer ... anyway, forget it and do it the way you did before
The VTA adjustment is necessary when you listen to older records (until the end of 60's), when you use an old Mercury/London/RCA ... you can hear how the soundstage gets wider and deeper.
The SRA explanation is another - different - chapter and also has influence to VTA adjustment. But the VTA adjustment is only the way to get the angle the older records were cut for proper reproduction....
What you have done to find a good result is right, but to repeat it again, a VTA at a "given angle" is wrong, the given angle is for SRA and a statement from M. Fremer which sounds important in discussions but is totally overrated in reality.
It is ok when someone uses an Arm which can't be adjusted in the height, when he also uses an arm which is perfectly aligned from arm board to record surface distance (level) and when he listens only to records which were done after 1980 and when the cartridge height overall fits also for level adjustment with the given cantilever length, angle...and there are some more...it may be ok when someone uses a table AND a matched Arm from a Manufacturer ... anyway, forget it and do it the way you did before