Istar refractors are the new 'Dobs' of refractor land
The 140 apo is ok but it's the achro lenses that are the best value anywhere. I'm a refractorholic I'll have to say. XW v ES is really no competition. I use the ES for the wide views in my 6" refractor which are really nice, but on the rare good nights the XW's are miles ahead. Have come to that conclusion after selling a 10mm XW, missing the views and then buying another one, along with a few others
On the other hand ES are the best value for money with maybe the AT Paradigms too...will let you know when I get the 15 and 12 pairs for the bino's.
Upgrades...bino's fall into that one too. The other night watched Io transit Jupiter and could easily see the moon with 15mm GSO Superview eyepieces in the bino's. Put in the 6.7mm ES and mono viewing found it hard to see the moon.
Happy viewing
Matt