Talk cymbals innit...

strumjoughlamps

Firstly hi hat

I have Pearl cx-200 and never been happy with them but I work on a budget and that's that.

I now have a bit of spare and wish to upgrade, £100 ISH which I know isn't huge so I look 2nd hand mainly on Drumshack and Graeme Russell.

Whistler

The Pearl CX-200 is a brass cymbal. Brass cymbals work well in reverberant spaces so I by what you wote I guess you have a less reverberant space and therefore will want bronze cymbals. B8 cymbals will be in your price bracket but in the wrong environment can sound worse than brass. B20 cymbals are likely to be too expensive. B12 or B15 might sound better to your ear and to your wallet.

Whistler

Here is a forum discussion on the Pearl CX-200 cymbals. You can see that what one person recommends another dislikes. Cymbals are very much a personal taste. I have also found that different drumsticks also create a different sound, so take your favourite sticks to your local drum shop and try to find the type of metal used to make the cymbals (or just high hats for now) that please your ears the most. Allow for the different acoustics in the shop to the places you play and hey presto, you should be closer than you are now, hopefully. All the best in your search.

strumjoughlamps

Here's a weird one (or probably not to people in the know), My local charity shop which is a dedicated music one (vinyl, CDs, instruments etc...) had a better than mine hi hat stand for £4 so I got it, set it up and it sounds lots better... This can't be right can it? Is it that the pedal and gear is better helping technique? Is it that this tweaks a bit more so I have it so they don't meet exactly central this reducing trapped air?

It's not perfect but definitely improved.

Whistler

As you say, that is a weird one. You certainly would not want the two hats to meet flush as you would get a weird sound as they shut; it seems you have that under control. Maybe one stand and clutch has rubber and the other uses felts. Other than that, guessing correctly without seeing or hearing is going to be a challenge. I am glad that your £4 was well spent.