I suspect you could have just turned the "B" screw in a turn or two and removed say half the slack and everything would have been find.

Observe if the drivetrain feels quieter now or before you removed the links when you are in your normal gears. If it was better before, add those links back (maybe with your next chain) and tweak the "B" screw to pull the derailleur back. See if that seems better. I have run many triples with real slack in the small-small and had no issues at all since it only gets used going uphill then the hill has leveled out for short stretches. If after my suggested tweak, the small front-next to small rear is solid, I'd just call it good. In fact, I'd call it just about perfect.

Ben