I recently purchased the new Cronus 20-60-86, while also purchasing / owning the Ares 20-60x85 one and a half year ago. The Ares was purchased to spot elk, bear, wolves and more wildlife at Yellowstone and of course star gazing into the sky. My Ares had focusing issues at the 50-60 power range, views didn't come in any clearer, which bothered me. After speaking with Athlon Customer Service about the new Cronus line, who assured me of the higher quality glass the Cronus line offers. They were right. One of the biggest improvements is the new Cronus focuses in at the 60 power range with spectacular views! My recent purchase of the Cronus was the right choice. I'm glad I invested into the Cronus line spotting scope from Athlon. It worked very well! I used them at the beach to spot whales, which thrilled my wife as she also viewed the whales in action. It was amazing. The views were excellent and memories cherished! We were so thrilled as we watched also viewed dolphins breach out of the water along with dolphins, . We viewed the hump-backs about one - one and half miles off shore which was hard to view with my 15 power binoculars. I purchased the Cronus line because Athlon upgraded it. Otherwise I would have purchased it two years ago, but couldn't because, sellers were out of stock of the old line. It works great from whales to stargazing. I am very pleased with Athlon for producing a higher quality spotting scope. Thank you US Athlon sales / support team, you were right, better glass! 🙂
Yes I would recommend the Cronus. My brother has a Kowa TN86(? exact model #), and the Ares was just as clear in the 20-50 power range. Now my Cronus works FANTASTIC AND CLEAR. The unit is solid and rivals his Kowa. Even he said the optics were just as good. It would have saved himself $$$. Thank you Athlon. Great product!

I own both the Ares and Cronus 20-60x85 (86) angled spotting scopes. The Ares was purchased because the Cronus wasn't available before my trip to Yellowstone in 2022. The Ares was used to spot elk battle, bugle and gather cows two miles away on the 9-mile trail / mountain plateau. It was epic! Well worth it. When the Cronus came out recently. I purchased it. At 60 power, the Cronus can focus on the finer objects that much better. Recently my wife was surprised to view humpback whales off North Carolina's coast from both the Ares and Cronus. She never question my purchases again. 🙂 My brother owns a Kowa TN-88 model.... when we compared our spotting scopes side by side he wondered why he spent the extra $$$? He saw very little performance differences, other then the length of the two. Kowa was about 3" shorter. I'm very very pleased with my purchases, especially the Cronus. 🙂