[AMRadio] Good solid state/hybrid rigs for AM use

[W3CRR]

I had a 40 meter chat the other day with one of our AM cronies, a 
retired broadcast engineer.  He sounded terrific using a high-grade 
vocalist's mike straight into a late '70's era hybrid rig.  He's a 
subscriber to the "less is more" and "'KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid" 
philosophies.  After hearing his clean, broadcast quality signal, I must 
agree to his point of view.

This brings me to my question.  In your experience and opinion, what is 
a good solid state or hybrid rig for full, "real" double-sideband AM 
use?  My friend was, obviously, using one of the better ones (I 
purposely haven't revealed his choice), but I'd like some other ideas, 
too.  I'm perfectly happy with my gen-u-wine Howard Mills 32V-2, but a 
solid state or hybrid transmitter-- other than a $10,000 Nautel -- would 
be nice to have, too.

Many thanks and 73,

Craig
W3CRR