Well, see the only thing is, if you ever see ATA's official Gear(not the crappy pads, or weapons...although we have nice Bamboo bo staffs...HEHEH), it's more than likely Macho Gear, with the Macho logo erased and the ATA Logo slapped on the front...it says macho on the little print in the back of the head gear...but yeah, alot of people you see prefer adidas...so, I just think it a matter of preference...
In American Taekwondo Association, I'd say the only thing that is good is the sparring gear, and the bamboo staffs, along with maybe the bahng mang ee, and a few other weapons(I don't like the foam rubber nunchucks now, because that leave bruises, even when you use them lightly...and that sorta of defeats the purpose of foam rubber when the plastic on the inside is hard...lol). The rest, My school uses everything from Macho and Century(I'm not sure, but I think Century owns Macho now...hmmm...something to look into...that was rumored...), and a few ProForce Pads...
In my experience, I find Macho and Proforce to be the most popular, and the reason is because they have almost perfect fit, almost perfect protection and they all minimize space, always being redeveloped, and they look AWESOME...I mean Proforce is Proforce, so I don't have to get into that...they just always are awesome and cool looking...but Macho, they have recently come out with the extreme line, along with the warrior and the classic...and the metallic paint gear sets, eye candy. And though both Proforce and Macho are just a bit more than most sets, they are practically indestructable...NICE NICE NICE...and like I said, constantly redeveloping...Proforce is so far advanced and Macho is getting there.
I know you said you want something everybody else doesn't really use, but there is a reason why Macho is widely used, because alot of the other gear doesn't keep up. Just a suggestion: search around and get the color and style of macho gear you want...Macho has nice sets and nice styles of gear...anything from light weight gear to heavier gear...don't know how much padding you want...