Greg,
You said " . . . as AP are simply the best bar none and the manufacturer all others are compared to."
Was that a typo - didn't you mean ". . . bar one . . ."
Looking at the colour correction of the Takahashi triplets - TOA series and the FSQ Petzval, compared to AP scopes, I think they have set the current bar height.
The image contrast is enhanced because these refractors can focus from IR to UV - a wider range of wavelengths and more accurately.
But I am not really wanting to get into the "this is better than that" argument, just to say that there are definitely more players than solely AP !
And as stated by PW the seeing, tracking, guiding and other errors are likely to be larger and more variable than the differences in chromatic aberration and as such not easily specifically measureable/detectable in the average amateurs images.
So the reality is for us mere mortals at sea level ! there are much bigger fish to fry than just OTA optical design and manufactured quality, but it is still good to eliminate what you can to reduce the total noise in the system.
Cheers
Rally