Thanks David, these really are impressive and I think will earn their stay.
Optically, these Kowa are exceptional; I'm not particularly bothered by CA but it is something I easily notice and, when seen, it does appear to detract from the overall sharpness of an image. I will say that the Kowa handles CA as well as any of the best binos and this along with the overall good quality of the glass and coatings creates an image that's apparent sharpness in the center of field is readily comparable to the best I've seen, which would be the Swarovski SLC-HD. Sharpness at the edges, a relatively unimportant characteristic for me due to an uncorrectable astigmatism, seems quite good and the central sweet spot seems very wide, 70-80pct to my eyes. Oddly enough, I've not really detected rolling-ball/globe effects, something which quickly turned me away from the Swarovision models and that I've also detected in the EDG and Leupold McKinley HD (i.e. the other field-flattened binos I've used) though to a much lesser extent. Color fidelity is perfect or very nearly so; I've read some users report a "cool" bias but I honestly cannot reproduce that under any field or "in vitro" conditions. Brigthness is again exceptional. Control of stray light is one of the other things about which I am very concerned, and I would say these are alpha level in this regard; I could not induce glare or false exit pupils under any normal (i.e. not staring directly into the sun) conditions.
As anyone who has seen my other comments regarding binos could probably guess, build quality and mechanics are two of the main factors in my opinion. In these regards, the Kowa again excels. In many ways, these remind me of a mix between a Vortex Viper HD and a Leupold Golden Ring HD. The Focus Knob is fantastic, perfectly dampened to not have any slack or slop, but responsive and smooth, very much like the Viper. The ergonmics and armor are more akin to the Golden Ring HD, with the more forward bridge and reasonable heft - in regards to weight, these are a pair of binos you will notice around your neck but not in your hands, due to the wonderful balance. The armor is reminiscent of the original Swaro WB EL in that it is firm but forgiving and very tactile. Another nice though maybe not exactly necessary feature for some is the hydrophobic and durability increasing outer lens' coatings which are a boon for those of us who bird in all conditions.
All in all, these binos are more or less exceptional in all regards. I would claim these to be alpha level both optically and mechanically, but I don't want to ruffle any feathers (GET IT, BIRDERS?) as there are two downsides that may prevent these from reaching this status with other users: weight and FoV. Simply put, a 7degrees field of view is less than what is offered by the 8.5x EL - though you must also consider the increased objective size which tend to result in a reduced FoV. Weight, as mentioned above, is high but at the same time perfectly balanced and for those of us with constantly shaking hands, this can actually be beneficial as it dampens this concern. All that said, these would receive my highest recommendation, particularly at their demo price where I believe they distinctly outperform similarly priced binos such as the Conquest HD.
Thanks for reading, I'll be sure to continue updating as I get more side-by-side comparisons in the field.
Happy birding,
Justin