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My Thoughts On The Minelab Vanquish 540


abenson

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23 hours ago, phrunt said:

Does the 340 really come with no coil cover? I wonder why they did that, the 540 has covers on it's coils.  You'd think they would want you to protect your coils to save from warranty claims, weird. 

I agree Simon. I believe one can void the warranty on the Deus Coil  if you use it without a cover.

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I just received a video from Minelab on my email today . It made the Vanquish look as if it was a new detector being seen for the first time.

 I guess this video is for the ones that didn’t run out to Dick’s Sports and buy one.

 You got to give credit to Minelab they do know how to make a video leaving you thinking you can’t live without it.

 I must admit while watching the video my pulse rate came up. They were riding heavy on the Multi IQ by saying that over and over in what it can do for you the guy behind it . I do know if the dealers most of us know had the Vanquish to start I’d had one already. At this time I’m not so sure if it will ever be.

 Chuck 

PS Remember a name has already been picked for another Multi IQ . That’s reason enough for me !

 Chuck 

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  • 1 year later...

Great post Abenson, for low budget (until 450$) all-purpose metal detector what would you recommend? Consider a region with mineralized ground and many beaches. Also, I need excellent separation because of the trash, foils and iron debris. I am a Vanquish 540 owner and I am not satisfied with the performance. I totally agree with your review. Waiting your recommendation Thanks in advance.

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Your asking a lot for a $450 machine. There aren't many metal detectors in that price range that I would even consider. Fisher is too behind the times, Whites is out of business and XP is priced too high. So that leaves Garrett, Minelab and Nokta Makro. Yea you might consider some other brands that do exist but lets just stick with the main stream stuff.

Garrett at $450 and under offers the Ace series which includes the Apex. So of the Ace series only the Apex is in the running IMO. Nokta Makro only has the Simplex. Minelab has basically the Vanquish series.

You mentioned you want separation, mineralization and beach handling capabilities. What I don't know is are you taking about saltwater beaches or fresh water beaches because that will change my recommendation. So I'll make a pick for both. BTW I have owned or still own all 3 machines in question.

Starting with fresh water beaches. The Simplex is hands down the best alternative and here's why. The Simplex is waterproof, handles mineralization quite well and offers the best target separation of the 3. My ground is 4-5 bars on the F75 and of the all single frequency machines out there (including the XP Deus/ORX) is handles my mineralization the best. By best I mean both runs quiet and offers exceptional depth. In the target separation tests I've done the Simplex is lightning fast compared to the Apex or Vanquish. For $450 you can have wireless headphones and 2 coils.

Now saltwater beaches. I will say up front that I haven't tried the Simplex on a saltwater beach. But by default I would rule it out simply because it's single frequency and historically multi frequency machines perform better that single frequency machines in saltwater environments.

So of the Apex and the Vanquish it's honestly a toss up but I would lean more towards the other in 2 different scenarios. If you're strictly after depth I would lean toward the Apex simply because it has bigger coils available and from everything I've seen the MS feature on the Apex is right on par with the Vanquish depth wise coil size to coil size. However, I haven't had the chance to work the Apex on a black sand beach. The Vanquish I've had on Southern California black sand beaches and it performs quite well. So the Vanquish might have to be the choice when you add black sand.

In scenario 2 on saltwater beaches,  which is trash handling I think I would have to go with the Vanquish. Neither one is outstanding at target separation. When all targets are placed on a flat plain like a nail board test the Apex slightly out performs the Vanquish with 5x8 coils installed if I recall right. But when places in a 3D situation the Vanquish MF outperforms the Apex. I would assume this carries over to larger coils, I could be wrong. Since the beach is more likely to be a 3D scenario. then the Vanquish becomes the obvious choice.

Now the last thing to consider when looking at the Apex and Vanquish 540 for saltwater beach hunting is the price. For $438 you can get he Apex with the larger 8.5x11 coil. The Minelab Vanquish comes in at $369 with the 9x12 coil. 

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1 hour ago, George1971 said:

 

 

Also, why do you thing that Fisher-Teknetics are behind the times?

 

 

 

Fisher has not made any real advancements for decades now. They don't offer rechargeable batteries or wireless headphones. Sure you can add both these with aftermarket options. For the price there are better options available.

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3 hours ago, George1971 said:

In higher price (until 700$) what metal detectors would you recommend with the characteristics I mentioned?

 

If you are in this price range, I think the Equinox 600 would be the one to pick.

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