Is smaller and taller basket better for channeling?

[DamianWarS]

take a 58mm basket and compare it with a 52mm basket of the same dose and you will get 2 baskets that holds roughly the same amount of coffee but one with a more shallow puck and the other deeper. I suspect the two will produce different cups releated to the depth of the puck. Is the deeper more forgiving with channeling as water needs to pass through more coffee so more chances to extract?

[TomC]

That was the prevailing theory, but I don't know if it really is true. My Leva group/baskets don't hold a drastically taller puck height. The internal sleeve of the group extends further down than any of my 58mm groups, and prevents exxageratedly tall pucks. They'll mash into the inner sleeve if I do and that generally causes channeling.

[K7]

Very different cups for sure since grind size is quite different.
I feel thinner puck is harder to get it right but gives better cup (flavor clarity) if I nail it.
Makes sense to me because you get more even extraction vertically.