As explained in my earlier, lengthy post, there can be a net information gain by applying analog gain before the signal is fed into the ADC if media are scanned with a density range less than the scanner's dmax.
If this is the case, and it may very well be, then analog gain is indeed used, it seems. One of the ways to amplify the signal on a photo site is to increase exposure time. This logically results in a longer scan time. It also increases noise, but again, the net information gain can outweigh the disadvantage of the noise generated.
This is discussed in a few other threads on camera scanning and the best light sources to use for this. What this doesn't address is the issue of frame-to-frame or roll-to-roll consistency, or that of color balancing. Using a color head doesn't automatically mean the scans come out perfectly balanced. Also, (quasi-)modern Fuji Frontier scanners use an RGB LED array for illumination - is this what you understand to be a 'color head'? Keep in mind that when printing color the old-fashioned way, you still adjust filtration based on the film used and usually for exposure conditions, and you may have to account for deviations in development if that happened to be a little sloppy. There's no auto-magic when using a color head.