Hmm...Without having to bring you into the Ph.D. and Admissions office...
Yes, to many of your questions...but it will take a long post in which to answer them all...
Remember that this discussion is about; "How many watts can you put into xxxx transistors?"
The truth is, not much as far as actual power input, but you can use the amp, it's the output power the radio has to put into it, is. That's the problem, you just have to fashion a way to Attenuate (reduce) the power of the output of the Radio to do this.
- you brought up an interesting Amp to try and relate the amp to running the transistor "pair" and how it differs.
- On thing I tried to point out, are those differences in the values - the circuits are essentially the same to both.
- So when you mention things like Finals toasting and getting toasted, - Yes, there is some truth to those rumors...
- It's in driving the amp PROPERLY without killing both in the process...
- True? Yes, but there are SUBTLE changes in both amps - Caps, Resistor Biasing and even the transistor pair themselves - small changes give you 150 watts, or 220 watts.
- It's incorporating them into your radio and Amp - unless you want to play Doctor - it's best to get a techy involved... Becasue this will not be an easy surgical outpatient clinic sort of operation.
Here's the problem, these amps run Class C - so they aren't made very well for AM and nearly impossible on SSB at least not without some work.
So this brings you to what you have, a Palomar 350HD - Great little Amp - so, if you want to use it with the Lincoln - hmmm . . . now you just have to "turn down" the Lincoln to run it.
That's part of the problem - the Lincoln is capable of a LOT of drive to hold it's own Unless you have a really big amp, which can utilize the DYNAMIC output the Lincoln has (AM, SSB, FM modes to name a few) the Palomar is really meant, and designed for small 4 watt Cobra 29's or similar platforms - not a lot of power needed to drive the amp - the Lincoln will kill it in just a few minutes.
You can try to "pad with resistance" to tame the dynamics of the Lincoln, but it's not a cure all, nor is turning down the Lincoln innards at the ALC and AMC with Carrier swing limits, for if you try to run it stock without the Boot, you're a Sitting Duck...
So, if you want to run the Lincoln, the Palomar can do it, but limits both in performance, can't run one without the other sort of thing.
You have to make some decisions...
How do you want to proceed?