I just looked at these on Optics Planet. For $399.95 you can take your pick between 3 different Monarch 3's, a Prostaff 5, or a Prostaff 7.
I guess you just pick the size, reticle, and turrets you want. Some have rebates.
I saw prostaff 7 in 30 mm tube today. Loved the thicker crosshairs with super fine in the middle. 4x12. I have a prostaff 5 with mil- dot reticle and my crosshairs are too thick for precision shooting as the crosshairs are thicker than the dime sized target I'm trying to acquire. My husband picked up a bushnell elite 4200 2x10 with great crosshairs and the rain guard lenses. Light clarification not 10 minutes of difference between Nikon and Bushnell. We have a few Leupold VXIII's which are good scopes but for double the money the quality isn't much difference. Elite 4200 as good if not better. I guess our favorite is the older Zeiss conquest that 5 years ago was $499.00. The newer divari doesn't come close. Got to get eyes checked as it seems no matter what I do with the ocular adjuster lately it seems crosshairs are clear and target somewhat blurry. Not fun getting older but beats the alternative.
The Monarch is their upper end but you may not be able to tell the difference except under low light conditions. During broad daylight all current scopes look real good but if you compare them late in the evening at the same power settings you should see a difference, I can between a Leupold VX II and a VXIII
the VXIII was much brighter even tho it has a smaller front lens. A compact Burris looked just as good as the VARI-X II, Burris also had smaller front lense. The real difference is the lenses and the better coatings used n the high end scopes. This from my experience with 3 different rifles one evening when I was running out of daylight.
I think your correct Rebs. Anything over 9 or 10 power gets worse. My 2.5 x 10 doesn't do this. It's first 14 power I've owned without adjustable objective. My 8-22 nightforce i owned when they first hit the U.S. was probably the nicest scope I'd ever owned. $700.00 at the time. Way out of my limits now.