Trapezium and SCT's

Last night I attended a star party here in Central Texas. The seeing was
unusually good for this area, and, among other things, I observed the
Trapezium through three SCT's -- an old orange-tube C8, a brand new one-arm
C8, and a recent-vintage Meade 10". Through the orange tube, the Trapezium
stars were beautiful, sharp points and the E and F stars easy to see.
Through the other two scopes, the Trapezium stars appeared a bit "dull" and
lackluster, and the E and F stars were barely perceptible.

Was the orange tube just an unusually good SCT, or maybe it was just better
collimated? The eyepieces and diagonals were comparable on the two C8's,
and the Meade had high-dollar TeleVue eyepieces and diagonal.

I tell you, after observing through the orange tube, I am convinced that
SCT's can give excellent views.