Hi Howard;
I've seen 4 of the 5 LX200's. Havn't seen the 16". The 7" Mak is a very long focal length telescope good for use at very high magnification. To put a focal reducer on defeats the purpose. You may use a focal reducer for a specific reason, photo or visual, but ordinarly you'd use it as is. I looked a Jupiter in one for about an hour at 300X. Very impressive. Another good thing about the Mak is you never need to collimate it. It's $500 more that the 8" and $100 more that the 10" LX200. I think I'd go with the 10" at that price . Way more light gathering power and it does make a difference. The guy I know with the 7" Mak uses it mostly for Photography. He wanted a long focal length instrument. Unless you have a reason for wanting that, go with the 10" or even the 12" if you can afford it. The 12" is only 10 lbs. heaver than the 10" and just blows it away. Hope that helped.
Clear Skies.
That's it;
BOB SAL