Just received my CS 865 HD boom/straight combo.The fight is on for market share and this redesign of their hardware to flatter the second generation Recording series (co-developed with the legendary Steve Gadd) packs a killer punch.Weighs 14lbs. Came sealed in a Yamaha, Japan box, boots are standard, one piece nylon cup and sleeve, two dense felt washers, heavy dbl brace legs, Beautiful Florentine finish highlights, sound isolation sleeves on extension tubes, extends like really, really high.* What catches my eye is the unique tilt mechanism. Never seen one like it and I love it. Check out the pics as they a thousand words plus.* Everything catches and locks with very little force at all. You won't need your channel locks for this one. Boom arm is convertible to straight post or boom; had a notched counter lock on boom extension only.* Sleek, sturdy, graceful, out right pretty, holds my 17" K dark crash no problem.One comment was it was rather pricey (which is relevant to the buyer) but to me, the stand is VERY comparable to the 150-200 units out there.I will be selling most of my Pearl collection and buying three or four more instead of DW or Mapex.August 2019: Still my favorites, still have them. No problems and no indication of wear. Kills me to say it, but the folks at Yamaha did this one really right! My Michael Johnston 21" sits very stable with a good reach across the bass drum. While tinkering with it, the tripod base slipped down to a "flat base" and is tight to snuggle up to the bass drum if you need it.March, 2022: Still my number one and annoyed with all others. The tilt is still 100% sound and still locks rock solid with no effort at all. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE! I didn’t mention the TILT is INFINITE and not of the notch-tooth variety. Also, it only takes a bit of a twist for super tight locking all over.UPDATE: 07/24 Sold all my stands along with one of my DW sets and bought DWs… stupid, stupid, stupid… how do I get them back? My new DWs are excellent, but not the same.