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The biggest drawcard for the mass produced mid sized dobs is their price. To land an Obsession 15 classic with an Argo over here will cost almost bang on $10,000AU, as would a Starmaster, as would an SDM of similar size. Whilst I know that you get your moneys worth with an Obsession, and am sure that the same goes for Starmaster and SDM - it is a LOT of money. So once again we poor people head back down the path of mass produced dobs. I think at the end of the day you get what you pay for. You can't pay for a combie van and expect Mercedes.
As I'm on a budget and am not prepared to spend $10,000 when I have a young family, I think that compromise is ok. I think it more gets down to choosing the scope that most closely matches your requirements. If you have limited space, or need to get out and about with your scope - then perhaps the XX14i is a more likely candidate. It's lighter, and more attention has been given to portability than on the LB16. If you can plonk the scope in an obsie and don't need to heft it around much, perhaps the LB16 is a better choice. For me, I still can't get past the thin chipboard mount on the LB16, its footprint, the alt bearing and a few other things.
Certainly building a truss dob would be about the best thing you could do to get around all of these problems. You would end up with close to exactly what you want, and you'd know that scope inside out.
I've seen a lot of people modifying their LB16s in this way and that to improve the design. So I guess that's the final option - compromise on an LB16 and then modify it to your hearts content (a new rocker box sounds like a great idea, as do decent alt bearings).
Decisions...decisions....
Dean
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