I dunno...

I don't own a tension meter but the wheels I build seem to come out fine, I've never broken a spoke, and only require the teeniest but of truing (if at all) after a few miles.

One thing I do after every truing pass, whether lateral or vertical, is stress relieve the spokes by grabbing opposite pairs and squeezing. That let's me gauge tension, helps seats the heads, forms the spoke elbows into the hub, and (I believe) also helps seats the nipples to the rim nicely.

If I'm doing it wrong I'd never know it.