Hey Hemi,
This is kinda close to my heart so; I'll pop my perspective in here for ya.. maybe it will help...
When I first got into Astro approx 11 years ago... everyone said.. buy a Dob, best bang for buck... & you know what; they are absolutely right but... in my situation at the time I wanted light and portable, easy to pack up & transport, yada, yada, yada... so, I bought an 80mm APO refractor secondhand to keep the price down..... huge difference hey??
Was I disappointed... nope, not at all, it met the brief... it was light, portable easy to handle in & out of my house... it got used... The views in my very much beginner opinion were outstanding...
Then I wanted more.. I wanted aperture... I knew I could get an 8" or 10" dob at a great price but..... they were big, they were cumbersome, I had to learn how to collimate one.. so... I bought an 8" SCT, again secondhand to keep the price down... I love my 8" SCT... the views were a step up in wow factor from the 80mm... I thought... I have everything I'll ever need here... & so stupidly I sold the 80mm, invested some money in some relatively good quality eyepieces... am I disappointed.. not on your life.. recently had it out under truly dark skies for the first time & observed some things for the first time that I could not have gotten with the 80mm...
However, I still wanted bigger but, I still look at big dobs (the generally commercially available ones) & think... I can't be bothered lugging that in and out each night or packing it into the car.. 6 months ago, I enquired on the cost of a pretty much custom made dob that gave me aperture but, packed down small.. ah, now we are talking... but, at the time.. the cost was a huge impediment to me...
Recently, things changed, some money has come to me so now, I have a custom made 12" dob on order & I cannot wait to get my hands on it... Would I like bigger... sure but, then that comes with a cost & 'portability'... yada, yada, yada..
I share this with you only because this is my journey to gaining aperture... your reasons might be different, your finances might be different & your attitude towards portability, convenience may be different but, this is my journey... so, if it helps you way up the pro's & con's then that's awesome... if lugging a 16" collapsible dob in and out isn't a consideration or, money is no object to gaining relatively lightweight, truly portable aperture.. then good luck to you... no jealousy intended...
What's the view like in a large(ish) aperture dob.. no idea... I'll let you know in a few months when I finally get to look through one.. sadly we don't have a club up here so, no opportunity to try before I buy.. but, hey... I'm pretty sure it will be pretty damn good...
Cheers