Don't know if that's addressed to my post but yes, Nikon is a brand name to recognize. I've had two of their Superior E series although that was back in the late 90's. At that time they were optically excellent binoculars but didn't have some features that were important to me as a hunter taking them out in wet weather or where they could be bumped around a lot.

But to summarize my post, what would be very helpful is to list some specific brand names and models to look for when trying to get near top dog quality without spending top dog prices.

Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!