Distortions that the human ear likes. Are there any ?


This is based on a post from another thread, where someone speaking to a studio mastering engineer, repeated a quote by this engineer, stating " most audiophiles like certain distortions ", and it quickly started a debate. I did not want to continue this on the other thread, as it had little to do with the OP's direction on his thread. What say you, Geoff, George, Almarq, Ralph, anybody......if this thread goes nowhere, I can always have it removed. Enjoy ! MrD.
mrdecibel
We covered all that in class yesterday. You know, the difference between harmonics and harmonic distortion.
I was playing hooky yesterday, but I still would answer the OP by saying that fundamentally speaking, that I don't think that there are distortions that we might prefer, just those that we might think we prefer until we hear it done better more properly and come to prefer it instead.
@tatyana69, you're not the only one sceptical about the use of record player pucks.

Adding weight directly above the main bearing seems counter intuitive to say the least. On so many levels. 

I think the Rega and Technics decks get bearing/weight ratio just about right. Neither see the need for pucks.
Nelson Pass has been investigating the subject of "pleasant distortion." He made a presentation on the subject at the 2017 Burning Amp Festival. Here's a rundown on what he's been up to:
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/the-pass-h2-harmonic-generator/