Put your town hall in a corner unprotected. U will usually get sniped and if u get smashed at least u only get hit once and have a shield in exchange.
As to the original question I think 1700 to 1900 is the sweet spot for storage raids for a th8. I found that DE was too well protected in Crystal for efficient low cost raids unless u get lucky and find a drill raid. And I think pushing to Crystal 2 is too tedious.

