I re-checked radio only carrier and it was 3.8 watts...?
Thanks for all your help! I brought out my vintage Uniden pc68xl, put an adjustable swing mod in it .Odds are the linear will sound better with around 2 Watts carrier from the radio. You could skip changing the low-side resistors in the amplifier and install a carrier control on the radio. That would let you get the carrier level down to the comfort zone around 30 Watts on High side without altering the amplifier.
73