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I have seen Jupiter through a 16" newt with a 6" off axis aperture mask... The view was pretty amazing, however the contrast difference was minimal compared to the newt without the mask, and the image was HEAPS brighter at full 16" aperture.
You're right, an SCT with a 40% CO will show less contrast than a mak with 20% CO or a newt with around 20% To be honest, I don't see the need for an ACF OTA with planetary imaging/viewing in mind... ACF only really makes a difference if you're using really wide EP's or imaging with relatively large imaging sensors for deep sky photography. For planetary you're only using the area of the mirror that is dead on axis, and therefor ACF won't make a difference. So if you could get the Celestron equivalent size SCT cheaper than the Meade ACF, the results will be similar..
I've owned a Celestron 11" SCT, and planetary views were amazing, as were lunar views... I never did much planetary or lunar imaging with it, however if you look around the net at the best planetary images being taken with SCT scopes, its almost all Celestrons... Paul Haese with his C14, Damien Peach with a C14 and his earlier work with a C9.25, Christopher Go with is C11...
I love the Celestron SCT's... Would have another C11 or a C9.25 today if I could afford it...
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