inexpensive refractors VS an 8' SCT.

I am pondering selling my Celestar-8 that's been a fine telescope. Now I am debating getting a larger SCT or perhaps a refractor.
I want to keep price below $1500.00. I know this narrows possibilities quite a bit. I am thinking used would be fine.
I live in a subarban area with moderate light pollution. The haven't heard very good things about the Celestron 6" refractors.
I am not too keen on the GOTO systems.. I enjoy the hunt.
I would appreciate any thoughts on the matter.
Thanks.

Hi Mark, I have had like yourself a Celestron scope,C9.25 on a goto mount,what I have found is that too big of an ota means you dont seem to you use as much(to much time for getting out the scope and setting it up). I was going to build a observatory in the back yard but a new kitchen is coming instead. I found the scope to be excellent in DSO's and for planetary it was sharp but the time we had good enough skies here to use that size scope were few and it did take way over an hour before the tube cooled down before the scope could be used for good observing. I didn't want to sell it but ended up doing so. I had a 3" and 4" ED refractors, I ended up selling the 4" and keeping the 3" for my grab and go, also the 3" cools down real fast so its perfect for fast easy observing. I am now looking at a MCT around six inches, this size if the optics are good will give outstanding views, I know this from owning in the past a Intes 6" MK66 which I had before the C9.25. It was much more portable than the big cat, colled down in about an hours time and gave refractor like views that out performed all of the 4" apo's I have observed threw, compared with most 5" apo's and only the big 6" apo's would do better but not by much. I have found that the russian MCT's are better built and there optics will surpass the china imports coming into the US. They do take some time to cold soak like SCT's but in the 6" range you can get optics in the 1/8 wave spec with the deluxe optical package(Intes Micro 603). You will find in planetary,lunar,even on most brighter DSO's these scopes hold there own. You can use a CG5 mount with the newer SS legs that would be a solid mount for that size scope and be portable and easy to set up. Hey the larger scope are nice but they take more time to st up and they really need to have better sky conditions to really strut there stuff. I hope this may help you and on the 6" achros well I hate false color, and the wide variances in the quality control make them a turkey shoot, good luck, James.