Well maybe there is a *bit* of bias there, though not much. When I first received my 8" (and the skies were clear enough) I was very surprised how little difference I percieved between the two scopes.
Having said that however, I will put it into the context of atmospheric conditions. If the seeing isn't good then no amount of light gathering power is going to help. In fact as I understand it during bad to average seeing times a smaller aperture telescope is often less "affected", up to a given magnification to limit of resolution. But in good seeing conditions aperture will win hands down.
So for me I guess I'm yet to make an effective comparison due to continued #hitty seeing conditions. All of which confirms that for me in my situation I bought the right size scope for the majority of experienced conditions, so as to get the most use and still have fabulous view of our stellar neighbour. Plus it a hell of a lot Lighter than lugging around an 11" scope
BTW good thread Tony
Lots of people take interest in these types of threads. I believe it helps push fence sitters over the edge into "Damn it!
I will get a telescope
"
Paul