Three locked regimes where EMA (or trackers) clearly beat balanced GSRF Practical:
1. Feedback delay as command path
On delayed measured-plant feedback packages, MAD to measured was worse for GSRF by roughly +59% (3 min), +97% (6 min), and +106% (10 min) versus EMA. The spring fights delayed truth. We lost. Do not deploy here.
2. Fixed false-alarm residual detection
At matched FA on synthetic excursions, residual recall was about 0.44 (GSRF) vs 0.83 (EMA). Peak compression + larger normal residual raises thresholds. We lost as a detector. Use a detector; use GSRF to calm.
3. Tracking MAD vs raw
Excellence hunt multi-family package: 0 / 52 MAD wins vs best EMA. Not noise—identity. If your KPI is hug-the-raw, you want EMA/Kalman/k_return≈0.
Why publish this?
Because the green lights (mid-band kill, peaks, adaptive x*) only mean something next to red lights. Full cage: Evidence → Boundaries.
Sources: characterization v4 delay · probes v5 alarm · excellence hunt v2.