Athlon ares 10x42 or Mavin C1 10x42?

[bmf0713]

Thinking about getting a new pair of binoculars. I currently have some vortex diamondback 8x42 and thought about getting a decent pair of 10x42. Cant find much info on the Athlon but a lot of people seem to like the ares spotting scope. Heard quite a few good things about Mavin.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

The Athlon Midas and Ares binoculars are quite good

 

[sridenhour]

I can't say much on the Athlon, but I really like my Maven C.1's

 

[Dcaccia]

I’m in the same boat, been looking pretty hard at the mavens. Ive never looked through a pair, or any of the high end optics for that matter. Ignorance is bliss right?

 

[bmf0713]

Yeah. I think my vortex diamondbacks are awesome compared to my other ones. So I can only improve probably. Not in the market right now for $1000+ optics. Maybe in a few years.

 

[easilyamused]

I tried out a pair of the Athlon Ares last year in a head to head comparison between some japanese bushnell elite 10x42s, chinese vortex viper hd 10x42s, Nikon monarch 5 10x42s, and some other cheap ones i dont recall.

As far as center resolution and low light went they were far better than the others. The sweet spot in the center of the image wasnt very large and the edge to edge clarity left something to be desired (it wasnt far behind the bushnells or vipers, but neither of those were great either). Id say they are a better purchase than the viper hd 10x42s when it comes to optical performance. The step up to the $1000 range is worth it in my opinion if you use them a lot.