You know how they say that Hollywood is out of ideas?
Well, seems that two most popular (sales wise, anyway) cymbal companies are also out of ideas.
Sabian discontinued the XS20 line, and replaced them with XSR. They look and sound good, but they basically just re-named an existing line and added a few more models, and raised the prices some too.
I always thought that XS 20's were pretty good for a "mid-priced" cymbal line, but with the higher prices, they have lost their appeal, in my opinion. For example an 18" XSR China goes for $175. An 18" AA Series China goes for $229, which is only about 22% more than the XSR. Is the AA 22% better sounding? The value is in the ear of the beholder of course, but for what you get, I'd rather spend the extra 22% and get a "Pro level" cymbal. If the difference was 30% or more, than the decision would be much easier to go with XSR (in my opinion anyway). Anyway, they just re-named their mid price line and added a few more models (and raise the prices a bit).
Zildjian has discontinued their ZHT line and replaced it with "S Series". They re-named their mid-price line, added a few new models and raised the prices a bit (sound familiar)? C'mon Zildjian, "S Series" is a really dumb and generic name for you guys. Couldn't you do better than that? It sounds like something Stagg, Saluda, or a lesser known company would do (although those two companies do have some excellent cymbals). In fact, didn't Wuhan have an "S" series years ago?
Also, they are issuing "Vintage A's" in the spring, which looking at the pictures and reading the descriptions are, to me, nothing more than a re-hashing of the Vintage A. Zildjian and CIE Co. cymbals from a few years back.
I'm always appreciative of new products on the market, and I'm glad that we all have so many choices as drummers, especially at different price points (even if so many choices can be a bit overwhelming). This year, I was just a little disappointed, because Zildjian and Sabian are not innovating like they used to. It seems like they are just trying to "keep up with each other" and re-hash old ideas.
