The reason I sold my Shiva was that even with my critical ears I couldn't tell the difference between the original amp and a profile of the amp with my power head into the Shiva speakers. There was none.
It's always about how you're listening to the Kemper and what your expectations are. My primary expectation is to sound like a guitar track on a record and not dominate the whole stage. I rarely need the old amp in the room config, but when I do it's the Kab or a 2x12 with V30's, which sound like an amp at amp volumes.
Oh nice! So you have the Kemper Powered Head! I would think that is the ultimate solution. But since I already have amps, I'd spend more buyng the powered head with controller. I ended up going the Stage route to save money.
If Kemper ever upgrades the hardware, redesigns there units, I'd be happy to then buy the newer design. I know the current Kemper has been around a while.
Any of you try the Neuro Quad Cortex?