That's a fine explanation. It sounds like you had a good low slop cable
unit, perhaps a rack & pinion helm and a low flex cable. I'm not so
fortunate as I'm getting ~ 45 degrees slop at the wheel and don't have
the lateral space for a rack & pinion helm. Thanks for the info, it's
appreciated.

Yep - mine were rack and pinion. Are you using pulleys? So far I'm
very pleased with the hydraulic. Good luck with your replacement.