My only reply I can think of is I dont know how a schmid could beat a mak in the same class or sightly bigger. I put my 6" Mak up against 8" inch celestron schmid and a vixen cat. Not just one or 2 but several people commented on how the image looked better in the Mak. On a pure technical note - its like comparing lemons to oranges - both are citrus but very different. You just have to suck it and see. The bigger the obstruction form secondary, the less contrast your going to have, that is why you can get such awesome astro photo's from a 4" refractor over a cat twice its size.

Get to a club meet, theres heaps of them around and i'm sure you will see this for yourself. I think this is the only way you will get your honest answer - as everyone has a different idea on what is a good image.