Members Chrisjd Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 I own and love both the 5150 II and the Framus Cobra. I play them both in practice and live. I still cannot decide which one I like more.What I am going to do is break them down a bit, one trait at a time in an attempt to help forumites form more of an opinion on these beasts. 1. Build Quality: While the Cobra is a prettier, more specialized looking amp, it is not nearly as rugged as the 5150. The 5150 is built VERY solidly. I pick it up and it feels very reinforced. its box/frame is thick, tough, and solidly put together. the Cobra on the other hand, seems a tad bit flimsy. Conclusion: 5150 is a brick, but treat the Cobra with a little respect and it will hold up without a problem, ie, it aint gonna fall apart. 2. Clean Channel: people like to bitch about the 5150 and 5150 IIs clean channel. being that i own a 5150 II, i will comment on that. the 5150 IIs clean channel is perfectly alright for me. it is not as soft and bell like as the cobra, it is more glassy. A metal clean if you will. Never have I had a problem getting a true clean out of the 5150 II, its CLEAN, ie no distortion. The Cobras clean is soft, very warm, bell like, chimey, real, etc. very nice clean that is very rich in color. Better than the 5150 II for sure. 3. DISTORTION! This is where things get interesting. Both these heads are notorious for being the most savage, aggressive, and cutting heads out there. Let me start out by saying that the 5150 II is TIGHT! unboosted it is hardly any looser than the cobra which is known for being about the tightest hi gainer out there, with the exception of MAYBE the VHT UL. So, cobra= marginally tighter. Single note riffing is something where the Cobra excells at greatly. single notes are very bold and jump out of the amp. they are very alive and punchy. the amp is very responsive in this way. the 5150 II sounds great for this as well, but single notes arnt QUITE as big sounding, and dont leap out quite as willingly. Powerchords are where the 5150 II eats the cobra. bar/powerchords through the 5150 II have this mean swirling grind to them that are unmatched imo. they are INCREDIBLY abbrassive, and VERY cutting, VERY barky. powerchords on the cobra sound a touch less pleasing to my ears, but not much. so, single notes on the cobra=bigger and nicer.power chords on the 5150= more aggressive and grindy. Leads are great on both, i am not a corksniffing progressive wanker so both the cobra and peavey do leads great for me. 4. EQ. both eq's are very good at shaping the tone. although the cobra is MUCH more sensative and it is much easier to dial in a bad tone with the cobra, whereas the 5150 II sounds great at most places. 5. Both amps are clear, although i would give the cobra a slight edge as far as clarity between notes and in structured chords. 6. cutting through in band and live situations: both does this VERY VERY well, and while i cant really tell a difference, the 5150II is voiced slightly brighter so I would assume it does this a little better. again though, they are both very cutting i have never had an issue. In conclusion, I love both amps a ton and will probably never sell either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timmott Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 I like the Cobra more cause it has red LED's . Plus the Cobra just sounds more full to me, I thought it was way better than the 5150II I tried out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jesusatan Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 thanks for the side by side! i was interested in the cobra for awhile but at the end of the day, i just felt that i wouldn't KNOW where the extra money went. i've owned and played a few 5150s and for the money, it doesn't get better...for me and what i need it to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurityS.L.G. Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 I own both too and I couldn't tell you which one I'd rather have. Plus the 5150 is for saturation and the cobra is for dry voicing. I'd hate to sell either cuz I wouldn't get what I thought they were worth. Great Review btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tsunamijesus Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 5150II=tight and punchy, high mid centric.5150= loose and aggressive, incredibly pissed off, thick meaty articulated roarcobra=metalcore. perioddragon= 3channel hot rodded 5150 with a fender clean god damn but i do love my dragon. im just not IN love with it haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PurityS.L.G. Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 thanks for the side by side! but at the end of the day, i just felt that i wouldn't KNOW where the extra money went. +1 Cobras are definately WAY over priced and you can't beat the value of the Peavey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JesperX Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 Nice comparison, thanks for the info. I'd love to try a cobra some day but I love my 6505+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kinggeoff Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 thanks for the side by side! +1 Cobras are definately WAY over priced and you can't beat the value of the Peavey. That's the kicker...when you can get a 5150 all over the place for under 700, it's REALLY hard to pass up for the tone you can still get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman967 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Awesome. I agree with some of the points you had with the Cobra but I've never had a 5150 II to compare it to.1 thing I will say is that the VHT UL is not as tight in the Bass register as the Cobra from my A/b'ing of the two (CLX as well)and it certainly wouldn't surpass it in that area.. To me that's always been one of the Great HC myths. How tight VHT's are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chrisjd Posted September 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Awesome. I agree with some of the points you had with the Cobra but I've never had a 5150 II to compare it to.1 thing I will say is that the VHT UL is not as tight in the Bass register as the Cobra from my A/b'ing of the two (CLX as well)and it certainly wouldn't surpass it in that area.. To me that's always been one of the Great HC myths. How tight VHT's are. I think its that the vhts are so dry, that is what people see in it. because they are so dry it allows for a lot of string note separation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman967 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 I think its that the vhts are so dry, that is what people see in it. because they are so dry it allows for a lot of string note separation. The Clarity is badass. It's right up there with the Best I've tried.I find the Cobra's Crunch to be the Dryest head I've tried though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chrisjd Posted September 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 The Clarity is badass. It's right up there with the Best I've tried.I find the Cobra's Crunch to be the Dryest head I've tried though maxing the channel volume and gain on the crunch channel makes it compress and saturate rather nicely however. that is how i run my cobra all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Herald of Light Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 2. Clean Channel: people like to bitch about the 5150 and 5150 IIs clean channel. being that i own a 5150 II, i will comment on that. the 5150 IIs clean channel is perfectly alright for me. it is not as soft and bell like as the cobra, it is more glassy. A metal clean if you will. Never have I had a problem getting a true clean out of the 5150 II, its CLEAN, ie no distortion. Yeah, if you never play large chords and pick like a {censored}. You can crank the master volume way up and have the preamp gain way down. It will still distort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chrisjd Posted September 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Yeah, if you never play large chords and pick like a {censored}.You can crank the master volume way up and have the preamp gain way down. It will still distort. mine wont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman967 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Yeah, if you never play large chords and pick like a {censored}.You can crank the master volume way up and have the preamp gain way down. It will still distort. Which amp? The 5150 2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jesusatan Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Yeah, if you never play large chords and pick like a {censored}.You can crank the master volume way up and have the preamp gain way down. It will still distort. STFU BRO0TAL GAINZ HAT3R! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman967 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 maxing the channel volume and gain on the crunch channel makes it compress and saturate rather nicely however. that is how i run my cobra all the time. Yeah that probably works but I can't max my CH volume because I use the FX loop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chrisjd Posted September 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 I know this isnt the piping hot thread, but I would like to think that it could get some more insight from other users... Bump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cobrahead1030 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 cool comparison i just sold my 5150 (again) the cobra's going nowhere i loved the 5150 tho, just wanna try other crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members telephant Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Thats a good review IMO. I actually defend the 5150's all the time. There is a reason why they are so popular - because they can sound awesome. But if you were to make me choose between the two, Id probably go Cobra. Although Id have to a/b them back to back to decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Megatron_69 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Awesome. I agree with some of the points you had with the Cobra but I've never had a 5150 II to compare it to. 1 thing I will say is that the VHT UL is not as tight in the Bass register as the Cobra from my A/b'ing of the two (CLX as well)and it certainly wouldn't surpass it in that area.. To me that's always been one of the Great HC myths. How tight VHT's are. To each there own......I love 5150's, many of my friends play them. But I've had my amp side by side with them in practices for the last 2 years and everyone in the room will agree the the UL is tighter. I like a real quick transient attack and tight lowend. Juicy tits and ass aswell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chrisjd Posted September 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 Thats a good review IMO. I actually defend the 5150's all the time. There is a reason why they are so popular - because they can sound awesome. But if you were to make me choose between the two, Id probably go Cobra. Although Id have to a/b them back to back to decide. Thats a fair way to look at it. They can sound amazing, and they can sound not so amazing given a bad eq'er. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chrisjd Posted September 11, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 To each there own......I love 5150's, many of my friends play them. But I've had my amp side by side with them in practices for the last 2 years and everyone in the room will agree the the UL is tighter. I like a real quick transient attack and tight lowend. Juicy tits and ass aswell! and the 5150 II is tighter than the 5150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dimebag11 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 I've owned a handful of cobras and 5150s I love both, but would pick the cobra over the 5150 everytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steveanders86 Posted September 11, 2007 Members Share Posted September 11, 2007 ive owned both, and i had a hard time deciding what to sell.. i sold my 5150 in the long run and i miss it soo much now. i sold my cobra for a splawn and couldnt be happier. splawn is like a less fizzy sounding 5150 with an awsome clean channel and more options for sure. but im planning on getting a 5150 soon to match up with my splawn. cobra was too much of a 1 trick pony for me. and too dry for my taste. i gave it a year and a half and liked it to a certain extent, but in the end, im a marshall/5150 kind of guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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