That's all and good John , I had and loved a nice Takahashi Mewlon210 ( but hated the diffraction spikes on the brighter objects ) and yes quality optics rule , I had taken mine to 806x ( 3mm TV Radian) on Saturn and jupter with perfect views on those rare perfect nights .
I took my C9.25 to 470x ( seeing was average ) the other night ( 5mm TV Radian) and the views were picture perfect and a better night would have allowed me to go higher , I might have a good one here but its views are almost as good as the Tak , ( and NO spikes
).
The Tak had better contrast , but again that's suggestive if you have not looked thru both .
No-body expects a garden viarity SCT to equal the beautiful SDM , and not all of us can afford one anyway , I would love one but cant justify the cost so I will stay with my 2 refractors and C9.25 .
Hand nudging a 10 inch GSO DOB at 500x is NOT EASY ! for the newby and might cause it to scare them away , so those expectations are a little high , keep it below 200x and its still an art but definatly do-able .
Another + with a SCT is that its a fully usuable set up from the word go , OTA , mount and tripod with drives and maybe GOTO as well if lucky but most today have that
anyway .
Richard don't write off a SCT as these are the longest running production scope ever ( VW beetle of scopes ) , so they must be doing something right ? , if you get a good one you wont look back I can assure you and todays optics and coatings are top notch ! .
My 5c .
Brian.