So I switched out my Mark IV for my Splawn last night at rehearsal and got an interesting response from the rest of the band

[kmanick]

So an interesting occurrence happened last night at rehearsal. I've been working with a Whitesnake tribute project and I've been using my Mark IV, I love it, with my Mesa vertical 2X12 cab it sounds killer.
Last night I used my Splawn 50 watt SuperSport and unanimously the entire band liked it better, they said it was much more aggressive sounding, my IV sounds "polite" next to it.
I love my Splawn so I have no issue using it, but it got me to wondering is the IV that much smoother sounding than the III.
I briefly had a red stripe almost 20 years ago but I never had the chance to play it side by side with a IV.
I know how to dial in a IV (this is my 3rd one ) so it's not my settings they said it was the overall "tone" of the amp, maybe too dark? I was really surprised. My IV is "B"

 

[CoG]

for me splawns are all pretty much the opposite of the smooth, compressed mark iv sound. the marshall dna is strong. the QR I had was very dynamic and had a pronounced upper mid spike that made it kerrang! and pop right out in a mix at the price of feeling stiff/hard to play and seeming even louder than it was, and it was fucking loud. sounded killer in the room. loved it for jamming but it was painful/fatiguing to play solo and didn't record well.