Hi Lew,
I'd like to be there for the shootout. I'd definitely put my Swift 831 up against his Nippon (might not be fair, the 831 is 77mm), 'cause it does beat out any other refractor I own in that smaller range. I'm going to have to check it against my 90mm Sears Royal Astro, that could be a close fight. After viewing through my Swift one afternoon and having my own shootout with 3 other fairly good refractors, I'm pretty convinced that the Swift is in a category by itself. Perhaps I'll find out tonight, its supposed to be clear and unseasonably warm nights the next few days, so my C14 might just have some smaller company out in the dark, dark skies of eastern Colorado...