You're missing the point. First, no question vinyl is imperfect. The point of the test however is to determine what is closest to the original master recording (i.e. the defacto frame of reference). By comparing a vinyl and CD, presumably sourced from the same master tape, that's as close as you can get, barring getting the musicians in the room exactly duplicating their original performance. As far as the Modi sounding a bit soft in comparison. Of course, that's possible if the cartridge is a bit bright, which is certainly possible. The point is, with the Modi to vinyl comparison, we're talking subtleties. With the e50 we're talking glaring differences, not only against the frame of reference but of actual instruments. Regardless of measurements, the E50 is either inaccurate in general, or my particular example is defective, which was the point of my original question (is my E50 typical or defective). If the sound of my E50 is typical, it is a flawed product regardless of test results.