just because he has an am radio doesnt mean he has to use a crappy amp with a bias design (or lack of) never intented for a modulated signal irreguardless of transmission mode . so he could get a texas star 350 (if the 399's arnt available) and have an amp designed not only for PROPPER am transmission but also PROPPER ssb transmission should he ever want to try it ,then and not have to upgrade because he has a substandard amp design . of course if you dont care about distortion and harmonics caused by driving pills 2,3, and sometimes 4 times their designed output then have at the class c amps . as far as durability goes , texas star has been building amps far longer than the class c copies of copies of copies . youll see old ones beat to crap by folks for sale that are still workin like a timex . look at the forums where people are having trouble with their amps , class C amps rule those threads .
lol @ recomending a high drive amp for a single final cb radio ! he'll have to get a bigger radio or a second amp to drive a high drive amp . makes great business sense . sell someone a amp that requires a another amp to drive it .
you can find good deals in the forum here . i got a texas star 500v for 180 plus 20 shipping from a forum member here last summer .
this hobby is all about options though . do you have a good antenna setup to make the most of what ever amp you do get ?
im done .