The entire Caz line is pretty remarkable, and the 17" crash is my favorite from it. What's so special about these cymbals is that they're so exceptionally *playable*. They sound good enough too, but the sound does lack a little of the sophistication of the finest and most expensive cymbals. It's not really fair to say they're as good as cymbals costing three or four times as much.
But it's hard to find cymbals that are this *playable* at any price!
By this I mean that they respond nicely to anything you do to them. Play them softly or hard, crash the edge or ping the surface or the bell, or swell them with soft mallets. Whatever you do with Caz cymbals, you get an easily controllable and musical result.
Caz cymbals are IMO the top choice for a drummer on a budget, simply because they allow him to PLAY freely and develop his skills. Many cymbals make you struggle to hit them in just that one way where they sound decent, and that limits your development and holds you back. Caz gives you more freedom to express yourself, and the 17" is the right size for your main crash. At this price, just fucking buy one already!
Playbility is the #1 reason to buy these cymbals. Then they sound "good enough" too, but sooner or later a drummer will wish to step up to fancier cymbals, just to get a little fancier sound out of them.
At that point he will realize only the best of the best are a step up from Caz.