I think the Minox BL line is a very good series. I've used the 8x33 and really liked them, except the focuser turned the wrong way for me (clockwise is closer on the BL). I ended up with a kowa genesis in the end, but the Minox BL was my 2nd choice.
If you are in the BL price range, there's basically the BL and the Zeiss Conquest. Around the $700 price, there's Meopta, Kowa, and GPO.
Personally, I pick a good on-line retailer (opticsplanet, B&H, etc) and order a few (e.g. zeiss, minox, kowa, GPO) and test them out then return the ones I don't want. I find that for binoculars that are, more-or-less optically similar, there can be large variations in the ergonomics for your particular eyes and face. You can't go just by the stats. If you time it right, you'll get the refund before the credit card bill is due. Just handle them all very carefully and don't get stuff mixed up between the boxes. My opinion is that on-line retailers make money by not having brick and mortar stores everywhere, so they're going to expect returns.