MusicRadar

The relatively thin weight gives the crashes deeper pitch and shorter sustain than average

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In fact, at first the sound may seem so smooth as to be almost bland. But this may be the jaded result of experiencing so many run-of-the-mill cymbals which were disappointing in one way or another.

The 18" has more of a trashy, thin and metallic initial crash, which is underpinned by a warmer and darker spread. The 16" sounded even purer than the 18" – if anything more unified, crashing with a sublime clarity. You simply don't just whack these crashes recklessly, you flip a glancing wrist and savour the beautiful silky tone.

These are cymbals to be cherished. It would be heinous to take anything but a small to medium stick to them. As such they are more likely to find favour with colourful jazz and groove drummers than out-and-out rockers.

However, whereas the crashes are not for heavy thrashing gigs, the hats are made of sterner stuff. They're thicker and will hold up to fierce playing if necessary. And yet they match the crashes beautifully - as they do with the aforementioned rides. We tried the 13" pair on a rock gig and was rather surprised just how sharp they were when opened and shouldered. They're real sizzlers, bright and spirited.

The 15" pair are the most buttery, deep and mellow. We couldn't believe how pithy and yet thick the closed sound with the tip of the stick was. Part-opened, they emit a huge wallowing slush - a steam engine of power. But in the end, almost predictably, we settled on the 14s as the perfect compromise pair.

They have a superbly authoritative pedalled chip, dark and fat, yet still edgy and sonorous. All the hats can handle a wide dynamic range – tickle them and the sound is clean, lay in and they never wash out or turn ugly.