I agree that this CD/LP comparison must be carefully done. This is why I picked the media. Usually, it was MFSL discs and LP’s.

Unrelated to CD vs LP, I once had a UK, US, Japan, and MFSL UHQ copy of Dark Side of the Moon. (All copies were CD’s) There were striking differences between the tracks. I spent considerable time satisfying myself that the tracks actually originated from the same session.

With respect to cartridge variation. I agree that there are sample to sample variations. However, there is also gross variation from setup to setup. In my opinion not many people know how to properly set up a cartridge and I avoid cartridge setup if I have a cold. I worked with one customer to pick a turntable/cartridge combination. We spent an evening fussing with this. For whatever reason he purchased that combination elsewhere. Days later he brought the turntable to me, claiming that it didn’t sound as good as my demo. For a price, I fixed that issue with proper setup.

LP sounding different, depending on radius? That’s the curse of geometry.