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Minelab X-Terra Classic Information Summary


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Minelab X-Terra 705 metal detector

It was just this spring that I noted the price for the Minelab X-Terra 705 had dropped to $600. I thought that was good, but somewhere along the way the price dropped again to $499. As of today I find these internet prices...

X-Terra 305 $259

X-Terra 505 $349

X-Terra 705 $499

This makes sense with the new Equinox 600 coming in at $649 and Equinox 800 at $899. The X-Terra 705 can be had standard with a 7.5 kHz 9" round concentric coil for $499 or you can also get it standard with a 18.75 kHz 5.5" x 10" elliptical DD coil for $499. The higher frequency elliptical coil variant is known as the X-Terra 705 Gold. Note that the X-Terra can change frequencies by changing coils so owners of either version can have the other by buying the appropriate coil.

I don’t think there is another detector out there that matches the X-Terra 705 for features at $499 and it has an excellent threshold based all metal VLF Prospecting Mode. In particular the X-Terra 705 has every ground balance option possible - Ground Grab, Manual Ground Balance, and Ground Tracking with Tracking Offset. It also has a special Beach Mode that allows it to properly ground balance to wet salt sand conditions.

The $500 segment is really heating up!

Understanding Your X-Terra by Randy Horton is a free 95 page color booklet on how to get the most out of your Minelab X-Terra but with information that owners of any metal detector will find valuable.

Minelab X-Terra 705 Owner's Manual / Instruction Guide

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This new lower price is so aggressive that there really is no competition if you are looking for a VLF gold prospecting machine loaded with extra features for a bargain price. It is so aggressive it shook up my latest Nugget Detector Guide and replaced the basic 19 kHz Gold Bug at $499 as a Steve's Pick. The Gold Bug is a great little detector, but it comes nowhere close to having the features of the X-Terra 705 at the exact same price. The most obvious difference is a Gold Bug comes with a 5" round DD coil for $499 whereas the 705 offers a choice of 9" round concentric or 5.5" x 10" DD coil. You also only get Ground Grab with the Gold Bug, whereas the X-Terra 705 offers Ground Grab, Manual Ground Balance, and even Automatic Ground Tracking with Tracking Offset. That just scratches the surface of what the X-Terra 705 offers at $499 and so it is now my pick for general purpose VLF good for gold prospecting.

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Matched with the right coil, the 705 is no joke when it comes to coin hunting too..  There is a great selection of aftermarket coils for the X-Terra series also.  

Bryan

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WOW!

That is an awesome machine at an awesome price.

Great thing about the X-terra is they normalized the ID around the 7,5 kHz coin hunter. When you switch frequency the finds get smaller or larger but it feels like it ID’s the same materials in the same range.

And for each frequency you get the choice between concentric and DD coils in about each coil size. Great stuff.

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12 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

(Minelab X-Terra 705) replaced the basic 19 kHz Gold Bug at $499 as a Steve's Pick. The Gold Bug is a great little detector, but it comes nowhere close to having the features of the X-Terra 705 at the exact same price. The most obvious difference is a Gold Bug comes with a 5" round DD coil for $499 whereas the 705 offers a choice of 9" round concentric or 5.5" x 10" DD coil. You also only get Ground Grab with the Gold Bug, whereas the X-Terra 705 offers Ground Grab, Manual Ground Balance, and even Automatic Ground Tracking with Tracking Offset. That just scratches the surface of what the X-Terra 705 offers at $499 and so it is now my pick for general purpose VLF good for gold prospecting.

The Fisher F19 (and Teknetics G2+) sale has them priced at $449 presently, although I think that is one of those "limited time only" price drops.  The F19 comes with 5in X 10in DD coil similar to the X-Terra Gold Pack.  (I think the G2+ standard coil is the 7in X 11in DD.)  The F19 and G2+ have the same featueres as the Gold Bug Pro and G2, plus a few more.

Having said that, they still don't have as many features as the X-Terra 705; in particular they don't have Ground Tracking.  And presumably the new price on the X-Terra is permanent as opposed to a temporary sale price on the two First Texas detectors (above).

I have both (X-Terra 705 and Gold Bug Pro) and like both.  So either way I'm happy with and supportive of your preference. :smile:

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The main problem with First Texas is branding and model confusion. As far as I know I am the main person bearing the “yeah, but the F19 has more features, better coil, costs less” drum. It is difficult explaining why a relic detector is really a gold detector. Fisher needs to drop the current basic Gold Bug, and release a Gold Bug Pro with 10” elliptical for $399 and put F19 at $499. With the X-Terra 705 at $499 I just don’t see the F19 as being worth a premium.

The F19 / G2+ price decrease is supposedly temporary. If it becomes permanent I will revamp things again. That may happen as the Equinox introduction forces a price decrease across the board.

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One thing the Gold Bug Pro (and the G2+, now also $499) still has over the 705, is the ability to run in all metal mode and simultaneously still give disc readings and ground phase.  So more information at a glance while in all-metal mode.  That alone would make me pick the G2+ over the 705.  

Even with the 705 at $499, I have no regrets putting an Equinox 800 on pre-order.  ... but now wonder if it will have the ability to run in all-metal while simultaneously displaying target ID and ground phase like the GBP/G2.

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1 hour ago, Wayfarer said:

One thing the Gold Bug Pro (and the G2+, now also $499) still has over the 705, is the ability to run in all metal mode and simultaneously still give disc readings and ground phase. 

That is the only reason I went with the Gold Bug Pro myself over the X-Terra 705. I really like target id information while in all metal. The 705 on the other hand has a decent iron mask function while in all metal. Very good but I lean towards the visual target id myself. Can't say that the phase info was ever any use to me however. I would prefer Fisher use that big number for the target id and put the phase number on the little "speedometer" instead.

Bottom line for just looking for gold nuggets the First Texas 19 kHz models and the X-Terra 705 are a toss up. It is all the other features that a new detectorist should consider when trying to decide which way to go. My Steve's Picks are intended to give novices direction and as a rule all other things being equal I tend to recommend the most features for the least money. But with machines like the 705 and F19 / G2+ all going for under $500 now it is real hard to go wrong. It used to be the real bang for the buck was around $700 but everything just shifted down by a couple hundred bucks.

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1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Can't say that the phase info was ever any use to me....

Since the first derivative (all-metal) mode is more sensitive than the discriminator mode, and since the target ID is a discriminator mode function, for the weakest signals in all-metal there is no target ID.  Then you can use the ground phase reading to give an indication/hint of the conductivity.  It's more complicated than a simple ground phase A = target-ID B relationship, but it can provide useful info when calibrated (in your brain, that is).

For the dig-it-all (nonferous) types (like me) this isn't necessarily a dig vs. no dig clear cutoff indicator, but it certainly is a piece of data than can help.

The earlier developed Fisher F75 (as has been stated many times here) actually has a large TID redout in first derivative/all-meta mode -- showing Fisher obviously knows how to do that.  I wonder if the engineers' excitement with the development of the 'speedometer' readout on the (new) Gold Bug led them to (over-?) emphasize its value by making it the target ID readout in all-metal as opposed to a digital readout for that purpose.  Or is it simply that the ground phase and its associated drift (due to changing ground conditions) can be a more important quantity when hunting native gold (the primary and intially only reason the new Gold Bug was developed) than target ID? 

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