“Well balanced and sit wonderfully with each other in terms of pitch”: Zultan Alaris Cymbals review

What is it?

Following on from the release of the ’25 Series’ last year, which (as the name suggests) commemorated 25 years of cymbal production for Zultan, the all-new Alaris Series continues to expand an already vast array of traditionally manufactured cymbals for the German cymbal-smith.

Zultan now boasts a significant range of 16 different cymbal lines, catering for any style from rock to jazz and even orchestral. As one of Thomann’s in-house brands, each of the cymbal lines, which include Aeon, Dune, Heritage, Rock Beat, Z and several others (the majority of which have been reviewed here on MusicRadar), is exclusively available on the Thomann website.

Touted as Zultan’s high-end offering, the Alaris Series cymbals are Turkish-made and hand-cast from a B20 bronze alloy (20% tin and 80% copper). This is generally seen as the gold standard when it comes to professional-level cymbals, which puts them in good company alongside popular choices like the A and K ranges from Zildjian or Sabian’s AAX and HHX lines, plus the vast majority of other top-end cymbals from the likes of Paiste, Meinl and many others.

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The complete Alaris range comprises 14”, 15” and 16” hi-hats, 20”, 21” and 22” rides (each also available in a light ride model), plus 16”, 17”, 18”, 19” and 20” crashes. A full price list can be found below, which is accurate at the time of writing. They are fractionally more expensive when compared to other Zultan cymbals, but still considerably more affordable when compared to the bigger brands.

In today’s market, we’d expect to pay around £400 for a ride cymbal from the aforementioned brands, whilst the rides in this set land between £228 and £254. On average, then, the Zultan’s are coming in at about 60% of the cost, which begs the question: how do they compare to the big dogs?

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Performance

The Alaris cymbals feature a traditional finish with deep hand-lathing and hammering. The build quality is excellent and there are no noticeable blemishes or imperfections, which we’ve experienced with some Zultan cymbals in the past.

For review, we have been sent the 14” hi-hats, 16” crash, 18” crash and 20” ride. These make up the only pre-configured set currently available within the Alaris Series, which comes in at £615 including a Zultan-branded carry bag. This represents a saving of just under £200 when compared to the individual prices of each cymbal in the set – enough left over to allow for an additional crash, perhaps?

Overall, these cymbals have a fairly dark tonal quality and, despite a healthy decay, veer somewhat towards a dry and slightly earthy nature. That said, they possess a broad frequency response with higher-pitched overtones apparent in the stick response. This can be heard most clearly in the bells of the crashes, which are surprisingly cutting. Harder strikes open up these higher frequencies, which give the crashes an explosive nature, opening up quickly and resonating with complex overtones – giving them the ability to cut through a mix without being overbearing.

The ride bell is equally clear but lower-pitched and comes with an incredible amount of wash from the whole cymbal. Playing on the bow of the ride at lower volumes gives a delicate and sweet sound with a crisp stick definition, but any amount of power spreads across the cymbal, resulting in a loss of clarity and sound more akin to playing the edge.

This makes it well-suited as a crash-ride but not necessarily ideal as a main ride, depending on playing style. On a related note, the ride sounds just as good, if not even better, as a crash cymbal – exploding into life with a dark sound yet not overstaying its welcome and fading back into the mix relatively quickly.

The 14” hi-hats are actually quite cutting with a dry stick definition. They work well held tightly closed, but any loss of pressure underfoot causes a noticeable high-pitched sheen as the cymbals react together, which isn’t particularly pleasant. The hi-hats’ open sound is also surprisingly high-pitched and lacks the body possessed by the ride and crashes, which is somewhat underwhelming.

Due to the handmade nature of these cymbals, there is every chance that this isn’t the case with all of the Alaris hi-hats but is with these particular cymbals. We’d love to get our hands on the 15” and 16” models to see how they compare.

Verdict

With the exception then of the hi-hats, the Alaris set is well-balanced and they sit wonderfully with each other in terms of pitch.

Hands-on demos

Zultan

Introducing the Alaris series I Zultan Cymbals - YouTube

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Alternatives

Zildjian K Series: at zildjian.com

Read more about Zildjian K Series

Zultan 25 Series: at zultancymbals.com

Read the full Zultan 25 Series review

Specifications