Dave I've had a pair of 20 x 80's from AOE for roughly 18 months now and all I can say is I still reckon their brilliant!
Buy them .. that's all you really need to know.
Read my initial recommendation of them,and the service from Raff at AOE, here:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...binoculars+AOE
Some sights that continued to blow people away when viewed through these bino's at our recent Dark Sky Camp were the Andromeda Galaxy, the LMC and SMC, Tuc 47, The Carina and Orion Nebulae, and any part of the rich star clouds along the main stream of the Milky Way.
One point though, have no expectations of holding them by hand alone for ANY length of time. Yes a monopod works fairly well, I've used one, but if you look in the left foreground of this pic you'l see what I've actually built to use them.
(Bino's not currently mounted on "the Chair" in this image)
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...se.php?a=48301