In practice, the mid-level hardware from all the manufacturers is fairly consistently well designed and constructed these days. Gone are the days of having to choose between super-crappy cheap hardware that gives out after a couple of years and break-the-bank hardware that lasts decades.
I have to agree with Al. The Yamaha 700 series is great. Excellent design and craftsmanship. The build quality is top notch. I have a couple of the last stands made in the Japanese facility and a couple of the first stands made in the Chinese facility and the new facility is held to the same QA standards as the old one.
I especially love the 3-hole receiver that lets you expand from a single cymbal stand to having a combination of boom arms and tom holders. Multi-clamps are nice, but getting them positioned just right and making sure that they stay that way in the hardware bag is a pain. The 3-hole receiver + memory locks make it dead simple to expand without adding extra footprint.
I have the Yamaha hardware set up on my practice kit, while my main gigging kit has a hybrid of a Yahama 740 hi-hat, a Sonor "Jojo" pedal, and Gibraltar flat-based stands. The Gibraltar stands are super light weight but are still very sturdy.