Just thinking out loud here...."What if I doubled or tripled the number of, as Trev calls them, "gravity columns" but still have the sluice the same total length? After all the gold is noted (and shown on some online pictures) to drop out first so why not have more of them? Each one should work their magic to some extent."
Per the above, most who use gold cubes on the beach use four or more trays so maybe, just maybe your unit set up as per my thoughts could equal their recovery rate(?). I have thought often about doing this but normally prospect Oregon beaches...no power allowed...and gave up because streams do not have enough drop to operate so gave up. This gives me more inspiration since I now have started working at Cape Disappointment.
Good luck.