Express 5:25 vs Mk III musings

[MaxBoogie]

Okay, I've had my 5:25 for about a month and it's a great grab-n-go amp with great versatility and tonal range. The 5W is super loud and the 4 micro switch sound options are great. Even the 25W setting it enough to keep up in a band practice setting.

However, I jumped back to my MkIII the other night and I so forgot what a KILLER sound that thing puts out. The punch is amazing, and the cleans are gorgeous and even at 15W we won't even go into the sheer volume it can put out.

SOoooo while I'm happy with the 5:25 by itself, once I compare the two, the MkIII wins hands down. But the MkIII at 70 lbs is nearly double the weight making it more of a pain to haul around for casual practices. So what to do?

The Mk III has the EV 200W speaker, so I wonder how much of a factor that is to the total sound?

The two amps use quite different power tubes so maybe my ears just prefer the 6L6? How much does the tube type affect the total tone?

I haven't played a 5:50, so with its 6L6 tubes, maybe I'd like that one better? (I'd take this one back and do a swap if that's the case)
But is it a ton heavier?

Maybe I can put a nice cast frame (JBL K-110) 10" speaker in the 5:25 to give it more of an EV tone?

Thoughts?

 

[Sling Blade]

I bought the 5:50 last weekend and I must say that I like it. This being my first Mesa it took me some tweaking time but I think I have it set up the way I like. Today was the first the time that I got to give it some real VOLUME and I must say the louder it is the better it sounds, unlike my 65w Crate amp. My Metallica riffs have never sounded criper. Though I must agree the 5:50 is one heavy mo-fo