CTX Built To Be Expensive?

[Tom Slick]

OK, so I attended a seeded hunt sponsored by Minelab just before the release of the CTX. Minelab held a marketing program where they introduced the CTX and touted all its attributes . When it was handed to me I thought "what a beast, what a pig. I don't need GPS, I'll buy my own GPS if I want one". Now I know its an excellent detector when it comes to finding certain stuff, in certain environments, so I'm not bashing its performance. Its the way its built that I think is ridicules. Every other detector has about the same size lower rod. They cost about $14 - $20. CTX close to $200. The Arm cuff must run about $50. Coils $295 & up. I've got to think Minelab worked really hard trying to figure out how to make it expensive. I'm sure glad they have finally seen the light with the Equinox.
Anyone else think they over built the CTX just to make a bunch of extra bucks?

[fredmason]

Maybe they were testing the waters for the much more expensive Gpz...

yes, it was expensive but no body made me buy one....

fred

[Tom Slick]

Me neither. 🙂

[coinhunterseth]

I'd consider the Whites V3i to be a competitor to the CTX. Honestly, for my hunting I'd take another V3i over a CTX based on what I know about it.

[coinhunterseth]

Based on my limited CTX knowledge, the V3i should be similar for turf coin hunting, and better for relic hunting. I think an Equinox will outdo both in sites with lots of iron trash. The V3i is the only non Minelab that has both simultaneous multi frequency, and target ID information beyond vdi numbers. The 3 frequency pinpoint was pretty awesome.... Now I want mine back lol.

[Chase Goldman]

The best thing about CTX/eTrac is the dual Fe-CO based target ID combined with the more sophisticated ferrous-conductivity 2D discrimination patterns that can be programmed into these machines.  There are some other interesting tone features built in as well such as pitch hold.  But the CTX is slow, heavy, and has a flawed design with respect to it's waterproof rating, namely, the latched, gasketed battery compartment can inadvertently unlatch risking water intrusion AND you have to remove the battery to recharge itm risking gasketcwear and damage every time you do that.

Furthermore, the underlying FBS multifrequency implementation has been surpassed by Multi IQ.

CTX is a great (oerhaps the best) deep silver machine under ideal conditions.  Mediocre on mid conductors.  Throw a lot of high density junk targets its way or put it  within highly mineraluzed dirt and it caould get outplayed by a Vanquish.

I am waiting for ML to pursue a higher end update which combines the desirable ID, tone, and sophisticated descrimination features of the CTX with the advances in multifrequency detection and speedy/sophisticated signal processing of Multi IQ, in a lightweight but more robust waterproof package at more than half the price of CTX.

[Steve Herschbach]

Minelab is a publicly held company. They have one mission - return shareholder value. The shareholder is the true customer and we are simply a means to providing what the shareholders want. At its most basic they have to find the best ways of getting us to give them the most money possible at the least cost possible. There are various ways of doing that, but in this industry people obsess over performance. Minelabs chosen route has been to maintain a technology lead that by and large is backed up by actual use by large numbers of people. People talk about service and customer relations and such but the truth is you can treat people like dirt and charge through the nose if you focus on being the performance leader. Like the new Minelab tag line says "Performance Is Everything".

This has allowed Minelab to charge some premium prices for their top end models. Price charged has little to do with production cost on non-commodity products. It is about perceived value and charge what the market will bear. To do otherwise would actually be working against the best interests of the shareholders. 

An interesting side effect of getting people to pay top dollar for a detector is you can then get them to pay top dollar for every accessory related to it.

Simple case in point:

Minelab CTX 3030 stock 11" DD coil $349

Minelab Equinox stock 11" DD coil $229

So yes, the CTX was intended to be a premium product sold for premium prices. It's not Minelab, it's marketing 101 and everyone does it. The thing is at the end of the day nobody really needs a metal detector. It's purely a discretionary purchase and hundreds of options exist and most will get the job done about as well for most people. It's not like anyone is over a barrel on stuff like this.

I do think we were being worked over by the entire metal detector industry for some time however, with prices being held relatively high by a general lack of aggressive competition. Nobody wanted to rock the boat price-wise. That really changed with Equinox in particular followed immediately by the Simplex+ and I think the equation has now changed such that it will be hard to get the premium prices that worked in the past. The Minelab GPZ 7000 at $10,000 will probably set the high water mark for consumer detector pricing. I've owned both the CTX and GPZ but I don't ever see myself laying out that kind of money for detectors in the future. But do keep in mind people are still buying brand new CTX and GPZ detectors right now and paying $2500 and $7900 respectively so it's not like high prices have gone away entirely. There will always be those that want a detector their buddies can't afford. 

[fredmason]

I appreciate the wisdom that your expertise in business has given you. Combine that with your knowledge of metal detectors and detecting and your willingness to share....that almost makes you a detecting god...lower case, of course!

fred

[schoolofhardNox]

The CTX for me has been a great beach machine as long as it stays out of the water 😄 Overpriced? I think yes  - compared to the E trac. The E trac for me was a better deep silver machine. The CTX a better beach machine, especially with the big coil and long tones enabled. I still have mine and want to sell it. I even had mine rebuilt so it does not leak, but still fear selling it to someone just to have it leak on them. So overpriced? If it was reliable, then maybe still a little bit overpriced, but acceptable. Leaking like they do? - Not only overpriced but the car  "lemon law" should apply 😆 Steve say it best....Shareholder are what any publicly traded company has to look after. If Minelab was a private venture, then I think they could have eliminated all their competition  in 5 years time. The CTX would have been $899.00 and no one else would have given us a comparable detector without upsetting their shareholders.

[LowTide]

With the CTX being long in the tooth it is easy to forget the different technologies that it integrated and the development time that it took to accomplish said project.  With the complexity of the project you have higher costs which need to be recovered, and forward casting you need to cover warranty issues.  Since this project had several new combined technologies plus being waterproof, the forward looking warranty risk was high.  Just being waterproof pushes risk much higher as not only Minelab but every other manufacturer has discovered.

Like any other product you have people who swear by it and others who swear at it.😁

Now if it had never been developed one can consider what the high water mark would be for the "high end" detector class?