William,
What some might call "obsession", others (including me) would call "thoroughness". More power to you!
If you have already received the Berroco UAF1214, and if it is NOT dye lot 2J9711, I will send you a sample of my yarn. Adding another yarn to your stash would increase the magnitude of your thoroughness, but you are in the best position to truly compare all of the Killer Bug contender yarns. I've not investigated many of the yarns on your web site Killer Gallery.
In the course of my search for a KB substitute (especially in obtaining the photos), I learned an awful lot about photography, illumination, color accuracy, and computer monitors. I still struggle to get the color balance correct. I'll send you a board message with some details.
Regarding the deep ruddy redness of my Killer Bugs when wet, I think the wire has a big impact. When I wet either Chadwick's or Berroco yarn by itself, the material darkens, but it does not become redder. On a finished Killer Bug, however, the color is markedly redder when wet than when dry. Not a bright red, but more of a brick reddish tan. This is true both of Chadwick's-tied and Berroco-tied Killer Bugs.
My wire is a modern red magnet wire similar in color to red Wapsi Ultra Wire. My interpretation of the color change when wet is that the red wire underbody is showing through overlying wool. If true, then the thickness of wool wrapped over the red wire underbody would probably change the final color. Thick wool would presumably absorb or scatter incident light before it ever gets to the wire (and also any light reflected by the wire). I haven't directly tested this idea, however.
On the other hand, the recent online viral buzz about "What color is this dress?" (for example,
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/26/us/blue-b ... old-dress/) shows that there is quite a lot of human variation on perception of color.