with the diode the choke mag field is supposed to collapse, and this will interact with the other choke too, so maybe there is an interaction with the matched chokes that you will not see in the simulation, you would have to have them on the same core and see that magnetic field collapse across them
i do think the chokes have to be matched because in all the systems we actually see, the appear to be equal, in the 8xa they are equal bifilar, in the rvic they are equal bifilar, in the 3-23 they appear to be the same size, although separated... no indication of tuning? in the 6-1 coil he does not use the tuning symbol on the second choke anymore does he? he always says they are in balanced electromagnetic intensity, physically same size and shape
interesting stuff you guys are playing with for sure, but i wonder about the diode and matched collapse of the field which is not in the simulation, just another piece of the puzzle