Best Practice Using PGXL w/o External Tuner (TGXL)

If your antennas are even reasonably resonant on the bands you're operating, you can absolutely run without a tuner and have no issues at all.

I've personally been running the Power Genius XL (PGXL) without an external tuner for years. The amp is designed to handle real-world antenna loads very well. As long as your SWR stays below about 2:1, the PGXL operates normally without any need for tuning assistance.

Once the SWR rises above 2:1, the PGXL intelligently starts folding back power to protect itself and your transmission line. It's not abrupt — it’s a gradual reduction, designed to minimize stress on the amp while still letting you operate when possible.

One of the biggest advantages of the PGXL is that it’s incredibly fast at detecting issues. It monitors the transmission line continuously and reacts long before the amplifier ever reaches full output power.

• It can trip offline or fold back in less than 20 microseconds — which is extremely fast in RF terms.
• That fast reaction protects the finals and internal components from damage.

In fact, the PGXL is so sensitive and responsive that it can sometimes find antenna or feedline issues you didn’t even know were there! It’s like having an extra level of system health monitoring baked right in.

As a real-world, not-so-planned "test," I’ve actually transmitted into an open circuit and even a dead short more than once (accidentally, of course!), and the amp handled it perfectly.
It immediately detected the fault and tripped offline without damage — exactly what you'd want a smart, high-end amplifier to do.

Bottom line:

• If your antennas are matched reasonably well, you don’t need a tuner with the PGXL.
• The amp will protect itself — and your equipment — faster and smarter than most human operators ever could.