Equinox Or Excalibur 2?

[danielbecerra]

cuál es mejor para el agua salada?

"which one is better for salt water?"

[Chase Goldman]

These detectors are so different that it is hard to compare them without additional info.

How deep in the water do you want to detect (diving or just hunting off the shore break)?  [Winner: Excal for deeper submergence]  What targets are you after (coins or jewlry)?  [Small gold edge goes to Equinox]  Do you hunt by tones or visual ID or both?  [Excal is tones only] Do you need/want high recovery speed?  [Winner: Equinox]  Do you like to have the ability to swap coils? [Winner: Equinox/Excal coils are hard wired to the detector]

The Excal tends to need a number of user mods/customizations (straight shaft, pinpoint button mod, knob guard, chest mount) to suit most detectorists which necessitates additional cost on an already high cost detector.  On the other hand, the Equinox is readybto go out of the box save for the purchase of a set of waterproof phones.  I would probably opt for a water and sand friendly third party carbon fiber shaft too for the Nox.

The Excal being a tone machine only with quirky controls tends to have a higher learning curve.

The Excal can be submerged deeper than the Equinox and is arguably built to be more suited to the repeated abuse that salt water use heaps on detectors.

I don't dive but do like to get my detector in salt water and like a more versatile detector that is suited to a variety of detecting situations, so when Equinox came along, I sold my Excal which basically could only be used at the beach.

If you are not an avid salt water detectorist and not a diver, I would prob invest in an Equinox 600 since it is a more economical until you are assured salt water hunting is your passion.  It will get the job done if you are only working in 3 meters of water or less and can be used for general land detecting.

HTH

[Jeff McClendon]

The Equinox will also give you lots of options for settings and adjustments that help determine what you hear and what you see on the screen (if you can see it submerged!!) which can help give you hints about your target's identity. Excal is tone only for all possible target identification information.

So, like Chase said, your hunting style and preferences matter. Do you like tone ID more or visual ID or if you are like me, do you like all the information you can get!

 

Jeff

[2Valen]

When I was looking to purchase a new detector, and after all the research I did, I decided on the Equinox 800 because it was more versatile for all around use. I am slowly learning this new detector, but with that said it is like my guns. You would have to pry it from my cold dead hands first.

The people here can help you a lot with the 800 and are very knowledgeable about all things detector.

[Xergix]

Excalibur closed too much on iron, Equinox not, has an high reactivity.

[dewcon4414]

Lets not leave out the obvious ....... price and that 3 year warranty over the 1 year one the Xcal has.   Which WILL make a difference.  The Nox problems right now seem to be ..... shaft, cuff, coil ears.... and water behind the screen.   ALL of which are being fixed under warranty.  The Xcal....coil wires, knobs, O rings, battery life.....most of which happen after that 1 year warranty.  Thats your dime...... and not cheap.  Then many prefer to mod them.... shaft, battery upgrade to lith, PPer, and better headphones..... taking the Xcal price tag to nearly $2000.

Im an Xcal fan for simplicity.... basicly once set up you only have to use the threshold and sensitivity knobs.   IF you mod it for a PPer ..... its changes some of what was said...... ie ... there isnt that slow NULL recovery you get from disc.... it functions more like a PI.   I believe you will find its quieter than the Nox in salt waist deep to neck deep water too.    BOTH expect to swap out the shafts.   The Xcal has a 10" coil and the Nox a 12.   MAYBE a bit more depth..... but wouldnt count on that if you are hunting in PP mode.   Why....... because you have to use beach 2... which operates at reduced power.... most times you also have to run far less sensitivity than in the wet sand.   Also...... on the Xcal..... not only is the coil hard wired..... but the phones are as well... they are good for diving... but other wise dont respond well to weaker targets.   The Nox does seem to do a bit better on smaller gold in the water and without a doubt out of the water than the Xcal. BUT.....depth.... it all gets equal in the water..... Xcal, CZ, CTX or Nox.   IF the nox gets more depth its likely from the coil size.  The Nox is a multi use machine as well...... i certainly wouldnt take the Xcal park hunting.  You have wireless options with the Nox.... TID..... various tones.   What i dont like about the Nox thou is iron tends to wrap around in the low digit range.... right where the low gold is...... the Xcal.... well it hates iron.   So if i plan on hunting giving beach..... i do it first with the Nox.... then the Xcal in PP mode. 

All said and done....... the Xcal is always the gauge when comparing water machines........ thou now its lost its edge for wet and dry sand hunting.