Thanks all, this is very helpful. To answer a few follow up questions:
1. I do a mix of DSO and planetary work, but I'm a little more inclined these days to getting the best of my scope for DSOs, so that would be my principle focus.
2. My 32mm Celestron is an Omni - a servicable eyepiece, but nothing to write home about.
http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/c...5-in-32mm.html
I was thinking of replacing it, either with a 32mm Televue Plossl, or, more attractively (but more $$), a 24mm TV Panoptic (with a 3.8 mm exit pupil, though both will yield the same TVOF). My main hesitation for the Panoptic is, will it overall give more visual "bang for the buck" compared to the TV Plossl ($379 vs $175 at Bintel)?
3. I had thought long and hard about going to 2", but I'm not convinced that it's a good fit for the C8 because of baffle tube clearance (restricting my effective aperature from 8" to 6.8" due to the light cone path), and the risk of vignetting much beyond 1.5 degrees TFOV. I also don't like the weight
Dunk, I think it's time to do a few nights of experimentation with my f/6.3 corrector, in and out. Beyond making my C8 faster with wider FOV, it offers superb field flattening and edge correction. One of the reasons I don't take it out much (at all) is that it goes on before the visual back, so is a bit of a pain to swap. I guess I could have "in and out nights"
My other thoughts, beyond the Panoptic 24mm, were to either:
1) Squeeze in a T6 13mm EP, which would give me a 98x magnification at 50' TFOV, and 246x at 20' with the Powermate (on those nice occasions when the seeing allows).
or
2) Add a T6 7mm, for 183x and 27' TFOV. I doubt I'd ever Barlow it, though!
Further thoughts?