Yes. If set up steep(which makes the gameplay more fun without even considering the difficulty), and with slingshots working properly, 2001 is a brutally difficult game. The outlanes and center drains are all killer. My game had an unoriginal center post and nails in the outlanes when I got it. Now that I've fixed it, 5k's are about the highest I can get. It's an addictive game.

Funny, my 2001 was the same way, and after setting it properly(aligned with the inlane ball guide), I noticed the same things you did - it made it play a lot better, and you could trap the ball. I have since played 2 other 2001's, and I noticed they were the same way! Flippers down way too low, couldn't trap the ball. I told one guy about it, he fixed it and said he likes it better now as well.

One big gameplay effect of setting the flippers lower is, the drop targets are natural shots! When they're low, you'll see newbies shooting drops, and when they're inline, you'll see them slam the middle targets and drain. Setting them inline makes the edge shots a lot more difficult and precise, because they're all on the tip of the flipper, as opposed to the middle. It also increases the number of drops that can be shot directly with the flipper, because of the angle.