Help me understand cartridge alignment

Have to agree with @cleeds that being 5mm off on alignment you are not getting the most from your setup. Yes I'm sure it sounds fine but when aligned perfectly I would bet you would be amazed at the sonic improvement. 

The only way to have tangency and lowest distortion from outer to inner grooves is to use a linear-track arm.

you need a headshell with long slots that go further to the front.

this one has azimuth adjustment, slors, and is plastic, so you could extend the slots or drill holes closer to the front if needed

this one, also azimuth adjustment, the slots go near the front, BUT, how long is it? It is metal I think

I do have a Fidelity Research headshell on the way that has enough adjustability to make for correct alignment. 

I guess I expected to hear the distortion if it was off by that much which is the point of the question.

I'm interested to see if there is any sound difference when the proper alignment is achieved with the new headshell.

dhcod

I expected to hear the distortion if it was off by that much which is the point of the question.

That you couldn't hear any distortion suggests problems elsewhere in the system, such as a sworn stylus, improper P2S, turntable way out of level, low-res phono preamp ...