Is extremely accurate "VTA" adjustment necessary?

I think it depends on how fussy you are, and how much trouble you want to go through to perfect the sound of every record.

Since record thicknesses vary, you'd need to adjust the VTA, for every record you play, if you want "perfection". I don't think anybody does this.

I'm pretty fussy, and I just make a single setting that is good for all my records, but only perfect for some of them.
I still enjoy my listening.

You can get "crazy" trying to make everything perfect all the time.

Addressing the issue of "golden ears" here, for a minute, I'd suggest that everyone has "golden ears", and by this I mean that everyone has an idea of what they think it the best sound performance in their own systems.

So, in this respect, each person can decide which settings are most pleasing to them. There is no "perfection", so everything is some kind of compromise. Even with the most accurate measuring equipment, there is an accuracy tolerance which will allow error, even if small. Some might say that the ears are flawed as measuring devices. Others would say they are the most meaningful measuring device for audio systems.

Regardless of your measurement techniques, getting the audible results that you desire is the end goal. I know that opinions vary greatly on this issue, and there are some who don't want to accept any compromise, while some will easily accept compromise for ease of use.

To each his own. If measuring everything precisely with meters and gauges makes your experience more satisfying, then by all means, go to it. If just simple "set it and forget it" adjustments make you feel better, then that's fine too. It is all in what you want as a listener.

I think many of the above posts gave excellent information for people who are trying to maximize the performance of their systems.

Doug, that is correct, the overhang will be affected in a minor way, when adjusting VTA.

I agree it gets very difficult to make everything perfect on every record, and I don't even try to do it. I just get it as close as I can by ear, and go with it.

It is great to make things as accurate as possible, and as long as it doesn't intrude on your listening experience, then it's fine to do as much tuning as you are comfortable with.

I totally agree with Lloyd on this point.

However, it could be argued that the problems Lloyd has pointed out might be minimal with certain tonearm systems, and the trade-off may be considered by the user to be a worthwhile trade of convenience in VTA tuning vs absolute stability and geometry.

In an absolute sense, Lloyd is correct on this issue, as I think would be expected of the producer of a turntable at the quality level of the Walker.