I own or have regular access to 8 pairs of binoculars ranging from 5 x 20 "$20 Tasco toys" to a pair of 25 x 150 Fujinon FMT SX (over $10k) and a 12"/F5 binocular telescope.
If I could only have one pair that had to be an "allrounder" it would be a pair of 10 x 42's.
I have a pair of 10 x 42 Leupolds (Japanese made internal focus waterproof porro prism design) and they see more use than all the other binoculars combined. I owned a pair of 8 x 40's and sold them to buy the 10 x 42 Leupolds and they are much more versatile than the 8x binos.
There are several good binoculars available in this size range and in the price range you are looking at (about $650). I rate the Nikon Monarchs as "pretty decent". They are way better than the "cheapies" but aren't the optical equal of my Japanese made Leupold 10 x 42 porro prism binos and the images are not as bright, but they do have a slightly larger TFOV. Unfortunately roof prism binos costing < $1,000 generally can't quite equal the optical performance of good porro prism binos, although the gap is narrowing all the time, as phase coating technology continues to improve. The way the optical world is heading these days because of the ergonomic advantages of roof prisms, its hard to find mid to high quality 10 x 42 porro prism binos, with "decent" roof prism binos becoming more affordable and better optically per $$$ spent.
Here is a post Dennis made on IIS about 10 years ago outlining the pluses and minuses of both designs.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...6&postcount=24
The Nikon Monarchs are certainly pretty good and probably what you're gonna get for ~$600 these days, so if you like em buy em, but just be aware they will fall a touch short optically of a good porro prism binocular in the same size class.
Cheers,
John B