Product Review: K&M 210/8 Microphone Stand with Boom Arm

Well after being fed up with cheap microphone stands made in China, I decided to give Germany a chance to prove itself as a better value. No doubt it is a different class of build than those Chinese stands. The machining is awesome! Unfortunately I'm actually a bit disappointed with this stand. The base is beautiful and sturdy, all parts fit like a glove and move smoothly, but the boom arm does not stay in place nearly as well as my Tama MS205 does or even as well as my last working On Stage boom. The base is slightly more stable than the Tama, but the boom is just not as well executed. The wing nut grip is too small and I thought that might be why--I just wasn't getting enough pressure on the crank to make it hold. I'm not a big guy--5'8", 160#s, so this may be a problem for me and not some hulk. Turns out to be the case! Fortunately I have several broken Chinese stands with extra parts laying around. Put a new crank on with a longer handle--and all is well. Now the boom is very stable and I am pleased, but the Tama still has a better design in this department and a sturdier crank handle. Of course the whole assembly on the Tama is plastic and might be more prone to breaking if dropped. It feels sturdy though and it is thick. At the moment, like an initial quality assessment, I'd prefer the Tama overall by a slight margin. Only time will tell which is my favorite and which is more durable. They both feel very well made, but the Tama's boom arm assembly is better from the start. The K&M does have a little nicer base IMO due to its lower center of gravity, and all the machining is superior to the Tama's, but that difference is smaller than the boom arm difference IMO. Putting the Tama boom on the K&M base is ideal. Too bad they don't sell the Tama boom arm by itself. I'd take another.