Don't worry, I wasn't having a go, I just wanted people to know I was paying attention and had seen your other post and wasn't just parroting the same suggestion to everyone.
I was in the same position as you a few years ago; I'd made the 'mistake' of trying a colleague's Swarovski binoculars after I was struggling to see a bird he'd spotted in a tree. It was then that I realised what a difference top-quality bins make, and it was the depth of field (not width of view) that I was struggling with on my old pair; they were sharp enough at the point of focus, but the point of focus only covered a few inches behind and in front of that.
Trying the Swaros was like comparing chalk and cheese, it felt like half the oak tree was in focus by comparison, so no wonder he could find and see the bird and I couldn't! So I decided that I needed a pair of Swarovski 8.5 x 42s. However, these were about £1400 new at the time (the new EL version hadn't been launched then), so I decided I'd try to find a good, used pair instead, whilst looking and bemoaning the price to another work colleague they commented 'Surely there must be an affordable compromise between those and your old pair?'. So I searched the birding forums to see what else was on the market.
Aside from the usual recommendations for some of the makes mentioned above (but probably earlier models now) a few people were talking about the new (at the time) Hawke Frontier EDs. I did a bit more research on them and read some test reviews, some of which compared them to 'Alpha' grade bins like Swarovski, Leica and Zeiss (as a benchmark), and when you read that they thought that the EDs weren't too far off in terms of image quality and they cost about £1000 less then it makes you think. As there didn't seem to be much to touch the Hawkes at the time in that price range I decided to take a chance and buy a pair and have been very pleased with them, my only slight regret was that I went for the 10x43 instead of the 8x (nothing wrong with them, it's just these days the 8x would suit me better).
I've compared them
briefly with two pairs of Swarovski bins (a compact type pair and the full size 8.5x42 previous model to the ELs) and as can be expected, the Swarovskis seemed to be just that little bit brighter in low light and their build quality felt beautiful, but there wasn't a
huge difference in image quality that would have left me wishing I'd paid the extra. To sum up, if I used binoculars every day for work or as the main kit for my sole hobby, or money were no object, then I'd choose Swarovski or a similar 'Alpha' grade make. But for what I need the Hawke EDs have been fine, and worth every penny of the £230 I paid for them at the time. These days they make a couple of different types of Frontier ED,but it's the open frame type ones I've got, like this:
http://www.uttings.co.uk/p109702-ha...Vx5kbCh2L_A9MEAQYAiABEgKnevD_BwE#.WovtPOQiGUk
As a few people have said, if at all possible do try a few different pairs to see what suits you best, and time has moved on a bit since I bought mine and imagine other makes will have brought their own versions out to compete, but as a starting point perhaps try the Hawke EDs and at least that should give you a bit of a comparison benchmark within that price range. If you do find something better in that price range then let me know, as it's always handy to keep a second pair in the car, and I could do with some 8x43s!
Hope this is useful.