The Vintage Bliss are the good ones, coming from others on the Forum.

And the advice I've heard around here is not to purchase unless you hear it first

as there are some undesirables in the mix.

Bliss for that K Jazzy sound. True.

But, I love the Contact series. It has an old school A Rockin' sound. Very cool cymbals.

The only ones that get the press and attention are the Bliss series. If you play old school rock (60s/70s) you owe it to yourself to give the Contacts a whirl.

Thanks guys. I have an opportunity to make an offer on one of two 14". Since they are an older variety, they are not really attached to, at from what I can see at this point, any particular series. As soon as I hear back from the seller, I will let you know what I can. The add looks like a trustees sale, and if that is the case, and if it is a bankruptcy sale, I should be able to grab one, or maybe both, for a song.

The site I am looking at looks like an estate or bankruptcy sale of a studio, so I highly doubt there would be any gruesome sounding ones in the mix. They are selling off a ton of musical stuff. It looks like that kind of site, but them it kind of looks like a guy that is down as well. However, the email address is to a trust of some sort. Guy has a bunch of smith snares, not really any true vintage gear I could see, but I am looking for nice sounding crash, for a little investment. The boy is asking for his own, and I can't bring myself to drop 200 for a nice, new smaller crash.

Don't buy without hearing unless the price is very low. I was at a Dream tour where there were about 60 cymbals and many were not that great. I bought a new 22" ride for $130 and a pair of 15" hats for the same$$. Took more than an hour to pick though. They are nice, but still not in the same league with the biggies.

ive heard some good things about them as well. about a year ago i was looking for a ride and wanted to hear these cymbals myself so i went to a few dealers and tried them out. i was not impressed. after trying many out i decided that the overall quality and sound of these cymbals was reflective of the less expensive price tag. not going in my bag.

Two 14" crashes? Are they hi-hats?

I've heard good things about Dream cymbals, too, but they sound almost too good to be true. And the old saying, 'you get what you pay for' I have found is especially true with cymbals.

If you end up with it, please report back. I'd love to grab a couple of decent cymbals for $200 or so, but I did see on the web somewhere that someone said of Dream cymbals they were 'basically Wuhan with better marketing.' Not exactly the most positive endorsement.

Well, Wuhan has some good stuff, if you look into the higher end series. And they sound good. As for the hihat question, that was my first reaction as well. However, it looks as though they are indeed crashes, not hats. If I do get the opportunity, they will be much less than 2 bones, a lot closer to a hunski, including shipping.

I ain't paying a bankruptcy trustee real money for nothin'! As soon as I hear for sure, and make my offer, I will post the site for all to peruse, as there is a ton of stuff, all kinds of amps, boards, you name it, it is a studio that is being pieced out in LA.

I've heard a lot of people make both pos and neg about Dream, Wuhan, Stagg, etc. I've owned and played many of them. The Dream Bliss are pretty good. They are darker and less responsive than others, but pretty cool. The error in the marketing was comparing them to something they are not. Bad move. The Dream Contact are very cool old school cymbals. They ring out and sustain a bit and have a more solid punch. The older first run Wuhan are absolutely some of the best of these Asian Western runs. They make GREAT crash/rides. The newer ones are nowhere near as good. Stagg makes quite a few lines. I've got some outstanding 14's that just sing. I use two of them as jazz hats and one of 'em as the best splash I've ever owned. Please understand, we all have different hears. There was a great line spoken when Steve Gadd's drums were set up for him. Another drummer sat down at them and said they sounded dead and unresponsive. Steve sat down and made those things sing. So, take what I say with a grain of salt. If you find you don't like them, so be it.

One possible caveat to look out for on these "stencil" types of cymbals is the accuracy of the center hole. I went into the music shop awhile back and saw a STACK of China cymbals and NONE of the holes were on-center. And they weren't just a little bit off! While this probably wouldn't change the sound, it would change how the cymbal sits on the stand. On the other hand, they were selling CHEAP! I think it was something like $30 for a, 18" China. But, guess what? They couldn't sell them even at that price! Just be aware of this and check to see if the holes are centered before you buy one.