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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JerryLogan" data-source="post: 3344584" data-attributes="member: 129128">Well, ... no! An extreme example - a manufacturer may pay a lower price for their optical glass by accepting a larger number of defects in the delivered product (bubbles, intrusions and such). By choosing carefully they may select the few examples with zero defect and distribute binoculars produced with this superior sample as their demonstration models.  It is not very useful to know that the company is capable of producing good results three times out of a thousand because in practical terms, 997 buyers are never going to see the optics with the specially selected glass.So it's a simple question.  What is the nature of the test model - likely a representative sample or a specially picked unique specimen produced and distributed to creat an incomplete picture of likely quality.Sure, there will be reports from buyers - but the whole point is that few are going to be able to check before they part with hard earned currency. A bitter warning on Bird Forum is cold comfort. So before stampeding to the next bargain alpha, why not check a little further? Aren't you just a little curious about how this all happened? So far, Mr Cook has chosen his words and tests carefully so there's no harm in us being careful as well.Best,Jerry</blockquote>