Combo flubby sound

Hoping for someone with experience to weigh in.

I owned a 25 watt head which sounded just fantastic. Traded it for a mint lefty SG Standard with HSC. No regrets thats for sure. I replaced the amp with a 90 watt combo. Super surprisingly, the combo sounded nowhere near as good and tight and powerful as the head into a 2x12. Is it the fact that the speakers were better and in a closed back cabinet? They were eminence governor/cannabis rex.
I tried a 35 watt combo and I found the same problem. Flubby weak sound when trying to play metal. Tried a 35 watt head into a Mesa 4x12 with V30s. Of course that was back to amazing.

If I buy a 35 watt combo and plug it into the 2x12 with eminence, will I like the sound or not??

I prefer closed back cabs for metal. It gives you a steadier bass response and a more solid "thump".
So yeah, I think you would definately like the sound from the V:35 into a 2x12.

I am not a huge fan of the MC90 speaker. Always had an odd tone to it. At low volume it sounds great but when pushed it does not. When I converted my Mark V90W Head to a combo, I did not use the MC90, I decided to get an EVM12L Black label (actually had the speaker). No flub and much more punch. However the EV is not a direct drop in when trying to do a rear mounted, the basket is too large and will make preamp tube changes a challenge. Best to install the EV on the front of the baffle, hole needs to be opened up just a small amount with a rotary sanding drum on an air compressor run tool. then the grill needs to get routed by hand to provide clearance for the rim of the speaker. Probably more work than necessary.

Drop in type that is great once broken in would be the Celesiton Creme 90W alnico. That speaker sounded amazing. I am sure there are other speakers that have a minimum of 90W rating that could be used in the Mark V combo. I found the EV to be the hardest to beat. Organic Timbre is simlar as it is a re-engineered EV but had too much top end roll off. Actually it sounded really good before I made mods to the Mark V preamp. I have not revisited that speaker since the mods.

So far, nothing beats the Vertical 212 for metal style. That cab sounds huge, has the top end and tight bottom that I cannot get enough of. I run that cab with the JP-2C and my TC amps. Too bad my Mark V is no longer a head as that would have been the go to cab.