Richard Fry wrote:
"Physics is not application-selsctive."

True. The laws of physics are inviolable.

The FM amplifier does not need linearity. Amplitude distortion is
irrevelant. Severe clipping to remove amplitude variations is common
practice. Phase/frequency shift is the modulation of interest.

Clipping generates harmonics and FCC rules limit harmonic transmission
in all services. Any manufacturer wants to require the fewest user
adjustments. I`m not surprised that tuned frequency selective circuits
are minimized.

I would be surprised if some final filter were not used to guarantee
compliance with the rules.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI