• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Unexplained level of distortion in parallel 300B SE output stage

Try to check, if in "low distortion" amp the 300B filament "+" and "-" in the same pin as in "high distortion" one.

Try to "increase" carrier level in measuring set to -10dB.
If then the 100Hz component at -70db (-60dB relative to carrier) it's enough good.
 
The 50 Hz thing could be nothing more than a ground loop formed between your test generator & the amp.
Crank the test gen amplitude down, if 50 Hz thing is still there start looking for a way to break the loop.
People long enough in the biz or hobby often have an audio transformer that can be wired in to provide a test signal path.
And the ground loop is broken,
😀