Mapex Armory Studioease Set II DW

TL;DR: very good shell pack with a great sound.

I use this kit for rehearsal, practice in a small studio.

The overall quality of the kit is very good:
* easy tuning of the toms, creating a full, even sound pretty easily
* snare is amazing: cracking and powerful sound
* toms clamps are steady, and it's easy to get the toms in the right place. I picked 2 heavy Tama HC83BW stands and they do the job perfectly for a reasonable price.
* bundled with coated drumheads by Remo and they sound great. Still it's too early to tell about durability.

I've been playing a couple of different kits in the past (Yamaha, Sonor, Pearl), about the same mid-range quality and the sound of the Mapex Armory is better compared to those: easier tuning and "stable" tom notes makes the kit sing in harmony with other instruments.

There are many kits with similar elements and features. But here, you get Armory snare, and my God, does it sound good!

What I like on this kit:
- snare (decision breaker for me)
- "virgin" bass drum
- mounting system
- soniclear bearing edges (seem to do the job)

cons:
- tom positioning is somwhat hard in the begining, the clamp is really long. It only takes some time, and you're good to go!

Conclusion:
Snare is top notch IMO. Everything on it seems like top quality. The story about bearing edges on this one is that you should be able to tune the drum to lower pitch and get nice sounding drum. It seems to be the case from what I've experienced so far. I tuned my toms reeaaally low, and it does sound good. No overtones, nice resonance, nice low end on floors... totally impressed!