You're right--I just listened to that scene on the '97 SE and there is definitely distortion going on, especially just after Vader says, "I find your lack of faith disturbing". Yuck! It sounds like garbled low frequency static or something, I don't know, but it's nasty. Reminds me of turning up the volume way too loud on crappy tv speakers, except it's just in that one sound effect. Bizarre . . .

It's also definitely a main channel thing, because I heard it listening on headphones, and the LFE track is discarded without a subwoofer being present.

So the good news is that my version will definitely not sound like that, because its main channels are primarily from the '93 mix, which does not exhibit anything resembling this distortion, and I don't think the LFE portion has that problem.

If you like the '85 mix, you're in luck, because the overall sound of this should be very familiar, with improved dynamic range and bass extension, and just a few minor differences in sound effects. I grew up with the '85 mix on vhs, and I have no trouble accepting this version as completely authentic.