Not trying to correct you, we all have different experiences with our set-ups. I'm sure you've had success with things I could never make work.
I was using a proportional at the time (several in fact) and I think that was the key to the even heating with out big temp drops. I had good luck with a UTH that was 25% or so the size of the tub. I also use paper substrate, so I think that helped with the heat transfer. I think I should also mention that these were not full size adult tubs. I was using Iris MCB-M's at the time.