Just trying to keep it real Fred.
I’m all for the advancement in optical designs regardless of its construction characteristics. I fully acknowledge the contribution Meade as made in producing an aplanatic SCT. This design has been well known for sometime. It has its own merits and is a significant improvement to the conventional SCT design.
If we were to make a theoretical performance vs. cost comparison, the aplanatic SCT such as the LX200R and RCX do have an advantage over the professional RC’s, though this is waning.
RCOS and OGS in conjunction with star instruments are presently releasing high-end RC optical scopes (known as RC astrographs) at a lower cost. The cost reduction is achieved by using different glass types and construction materials. Unlike the professional series RC’s where you get to choose your optical coating, focal ratio and ion-milled optics, the lower cost scopes are a little lean.
More info on these lower cost RC’s can be found at -
http://www.rcopticalsystems.com/rcastrograph.html
Alternatively if you are keen to make your own OTA you can simply buy the RC mirror sets from star instruments -
http://www.star-instruments.com/astrograph.html