I'm sort of in a similar situation right now.
Since the early 80's, I have been playing and collecting Avedis Zildjians. Now I have this little 'jazz' kit, and I was thinking I'd like to expand my horizons a bit with cymbals.
I am familiar with your hats and ride, and say they are on par sound character wise with the A Zildjians. The A Custom is a bit dryer and faster than the regular A's as I'm sure you know.
All that said, I am having a hard time finding K's from the mid 80's to today that fill this 'need' I have for a different sound. I am so accustomed to the sound of the A's that I find all these other cymbals, which have a generally more focused or pronounced signature to their sound, to be less than exciting to me.
In other words, the dry cymbals are too dry, the trashy ones are too trashy etc. I tried an A Zildjian & Cie Vintage yesterday (16" crash) and it really didn't do anything for me.
Perhaps you are better able to receive these types of cymbals, but coming from a similar sound palette as you have, I think you may be somewhat disappointed with a lot of the offerings out there these days.
The true old Zildjians are amazing from what I understand (I've never owned any) but like all thinks so old, there is a lot of hit and miss to the search I think, and spending a grand or more on a cymbal can have the ability to MAKE you love the sound.
I started another thread about the modern "Vintage" cymbals having in mind the A Zildjian & Cie. and K Constantinople cymbals specifically, but there have been some interesting discussions over there you might want to read through. I have not made a decision yet, but the K Cons seem to be the closest to what I think I may want- I have to listen to a lot more of them to be sure!
