Uprgrading to a new head

[shredmonster]

dude, the cobra is the best amp i've ever heared/owned/played, hands down. as i already said, if it had slightly higher voiced mids it would be perfect, but it's great the way it is, too. definitely the most articulate, punchy, clear, noise free high gainer with the best clean channel on a high gain head there is. plus it's versatile as fuck. the only thing it doesn't do convincingly is vintage rock/oldschool marshall sounds in general, due to the low mid voicing.
A/B ing the cobra to the 5150 is like night and day...the 5150 sounds muddy, compressed, dark, harsh, and just undefined in general when put up against the cobra.
one thing though....it's VERY difficult to get a really GREAT sound out of it. definitely a tweakers amp.

100% Agree. I know guys that have tried everything out there - A/B'd the Cobra with Bogner, Diezel, Engl, Rivera, etc... And they say the same thing. The Cobra has is tighter, more articulate, more aggressive and has the best cleans. The cleans sparkle. Also capable of HUGE BASS with a lot of PUNCH. The 5150 is not in the same league.
But no amp gets every sound on the planet. If you want that Marshall sound you have to go with an amp designed to get those mids.

The Cobra is a high gainer with modern voicing. Not made for classic rock - although you could use the clean channel and a pedal probably.

Also if you are referring to getting a great sound out of the Cobra see my earlier post. They have to be tweaked and once they are set up right they are amazing. Use the tubes as stated and get it rebiased if you have not done so already. Also, set your Volume for each channel at the 2:00 to 3:00 position. This matches the channel master volume to the Global Master volume and you will get the best tone out of it this way.

Also, like a lot of good amps if you don't have the chops and are sloppy the Cobra will show it right away because it is so articulate. Even with regards to chords you can hear the string separation.

[yard dawg]

Try a Carvin V3. If ya hate it send it back.

[eaeolian]

what do you mean? what are the isssues with the dual?

I said that wrong - I think the Triple sounds better. The headroom makes the cleans better, and the distortion channels "punchier", if that makes any sense...