There has been some considerable discussion about AO's elsewhere on IIS ...so I'll be brief.
I have both an AO8 and AOX. They simply work. I have never seen them make images worse.
...but there are a couple of caveats.
You need a brightish guide star...which is much easier with the new SBIG FW-G systems...but can be tough, to nigh-impossible with NB filters on SBIG STX and legacy self guide cameras due a lack of bright guide stars (this is why the "Pros" create their own guide stars with sodium lasers...)
You also need "slow" seeing....i.e. the sort of seeing that doesn't turn airy disks into fuzzballs.
The best you can expect is around a 30% improvement in FWHM's and about the same with intensity gain.
As to whether they are worth the money?....it's rather like getting an extra inch of aperture for free (well OK, not free, but on a good night, for the cost of the AO )
As I said...I have two
