Tired CRT symptoms that aren't a tired CRT?

[lnx64]

Hey so I've been preparing to try and open my own arcade, and visited a local one to get some ideas on how they are laid out, and I saw that a Ms. Pac-Man machine was down because it was broken. I spoke with the owner and found that they explained the CRT is busted because it got necked by the previous owner and they didn't know until it was setup on the floor.

Knowing that my 80's Samsung TV, C911OMA (which has a K20 chassis) actually uses the same exact CRT, though tired, I offered a temporary solution so the machine could work. I brought my TV in (since I haven't used it often much anymore), and we did a CRT swap (and deflection yoke because we weren't sure if the yoke would be the same), found that the tabs were slightly in different places where it mounts, but it still fit behind the bezel of the arcade cabinet just fine.

Powered it up, and um, I got fairly confused fast. On the TV itself, the CRT smears when too bright or the colors up too high, it's blury and just all around appears tired. On the Ms. Pac-Man machine? It was bright, vibrant, sharp and doesn't actually seem tired at all!!

What's going on here, how could the CRT have tired symptoms in the set, but in the arcade cabinet appear like an entirely different CRT? I know it's RGB but even with the contrast cranked, no smearing at all, no blooming, it just looks good. The TV's K20 chassis however, cannot do anything even remotely close to this.

Is it possible to have perhaps a fault on the TV chassis causing symptoms of a tired CRT? I did when I originally got the TV years ago when I joined this forum, needed to change out the flyback to an HR Diemen as the original was internally shorting, but the picture quality did not change between flybacks. What else on the CRT's chassis should I be looking at?

Currently the TV is without a CRT but still with me, as the CRT is currently being used in the arcade as we speak and racking in quarters which is nice, so it's getting use. They are planning to source a proper replacement and give me my CRT back (I didn't charge, it was a favor to help out a local business), but I'm still at a loss, I've never seen this CRT appear so good before, and the Ms. Pac-Man cabinet does have a tinted glass, and yet is still brighter than if the CRT was in the TV with no tinted glass in front of it.

Ideas? I know this TV ain't worth saving, but it appears the CRT is actually VERY good on it's own, but the chassis is garbage.