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Equinox 800 & Anfibio Multi


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I've had both the 800 and the Anfibio Multi. I also had the Impact, and Multi Kruzer. I really the Makro/Nokta detectors but  have sold all of them but still have the 800. I think the Equinox 800 is the best "all Around" detector available today. 

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Anfibio Multi is a selectable single frequency detector that has a good range of frequencies for most detecting. It is well made and I have heard very few complaints about reliability for the Anfibio Multi. It has good coil selection and great features. If I had a list for VLF detectors I want to own it would be in my top five list. Do I need one.........No. I do much better with simultaneous multi frequency detectors like the Equinox.

The Equinox has most of the same features as the Anfibio Multi and several more that make it a better choice for my higher mineralized ground and addiction to small gold nugget prospecting. The Anfibio Multi I tried for a week could not handle much of the mineralized ground I detect on, period. The Equinox set in multi frequency can detect well in almost all of the mineralized areas I hunt.

The Anfibio Multi has two standard features that I wish the Equinox had which are a mineralization meter and a threshold based all metal mode. The Equinox does not have those. The Equinox 800 does have the Gold modes which are very close to being threshold based all metal modes. 

Also, there have been far too many Equinox complaints about water leakage, 11" coil ear breakage and arm cuffs breaking. Many are associated with submerged water detecting where these thin plastic parts are really torqued and stressed. Some are not.

The Equinox (there are some on this forum who don't own one and dispute this) has outstandingly accurate numerical and audio target ID on non-ferrous targets and is very good on iron targets too. This accuracy extends throughout the Equinox detecting range when using multi frequency and is not hampered very much by mineralization.

Where I detect, all single and selectable single frequency detectors including the Anfibio will detect low and mid conductor non-ferrous targets and call them high conductors if they are deeper than 3" or more. The Equinox still detects them correctly out to the edge of detection depending on the coil size.

So, in very mild ground or in fresh water submerged detecting conditions, I would reach for the Anfibio with the Equinox being close behind. Its target ID accuracy would be good enough in mild ground and I trust it to perform well when submerged and to not leak. Salt water performance is average for a single frequency detector. Personally I would not submerge any "do it all" VLF detector in salt water for long periods of time unless the water was fairly calm. I would get a salt water specific detector that was made to be constantly submerged and use the Anfibio, Equinox or some other general purpose VLF that just happens to be sort of waterproof as a backup.

In moderate to high mineralization, in situations where I want outstanding target ID accuracy on deeper targets, for small micro targets/gold prospecting or in wet salt sand or shallow calm surf (without the control box submerged for long periods) I would pick the Equinox with the Anfibio not even being considered.

One situation where I might pick the Anfibio Multi over the Equinox is in a thick bed of shallow iron targets where non-ferrous targets could be found. Both detectors are extremely good at target separation and target recovery speed. The Anfibio might be a bit faster in that situation.

Sorry for the long post. These really are two great detectors that have similar features and prices. They are very different however. They would make a good team since their strengths and weaknesses compliment each other.

 

 

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Tough one. Coil selection is better for the Amphibio, performance between the same seem similar with the Nox edging it out on tough ground and advantave of higher frequencies.

I never swung a Nox in the water as I have the Kruzer and found the Kruzer coil really tough to ground balance when submerged and tough to swing compared to my At Pro which I have a lot of hours in fresh water with it.

Though you have a lot of coil options, my favorite coil on all my machines so far is the Superfly on the Kruzer BUT it is delicate. So with that being said I snagged a beefy Mars Tiger for my AT Pro which is heavy and should work really good submerged.

I would lean towards the Nox on this one. I still prefer the s handles overall. So Nox vs Kruzer be a tougher choice for me.

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3 hours ago, Dances With Doves said:

If the  Nox had a threshhold based all metal how would that make it better then what it has  now? 

It would give you a better feel for targets in the ground.  Equinox does heavy signal processing combined with the tones that have relatively little audio modulation even when no discrimination is applied.  In this context, a true all metal (vs. Simply no duscrimination) enables you to see the ground better and gives you a better feel for the site target density.  The 800 gold mode has a VCO like pitch audio that emulates AM to a certain extent and you can interrogate a target with pinpoint so these can be passable workarounds for what a true threshold-based AM mode brings to the table. Still, is nice to be able to dial in unprocessed AM for maximum depth and feel and also target interrogation.   Also, I'm  not sure you can truly have unprocessed AM with a simultaneous multi-frequency mode that requires some processing to decode the frequency differentiated target signal information, but ML could have incorporated it with the single frequency modes, at least.  That being said, it is a nice to have feature/mode that would really make the Nox a more complete and universal detector, but the improvement compared to everything else the Nox can do, would only be incremental IMO.  Do I wish it had it?  Yes.  Is it an essential feature for Nox? Not necessarily. 

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Threshold based AM you can hear the ground phase and hear the size of targets better than just a filtered beep. I thought the Nox had that, no?

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I also wish I could just go to the Gold Modes, select single frequency 40 kHz threshold based all metal mode and gold prospect with it. BUT, I doubt the Equinox 800 in that setup would handle tough mineralization as well as simultaneous multi frequency default Gold Modes as incorporated on the 800. I too wonder if it is possible to have simultaneous multi frequency operation Multi IQ on the Equinox and have a relatively pure threshold based all metal mode. Just finding the optimal ground balance points for more than one frequency which is done automatically on the Equinox would require too much processing in the background not to mention having separate circuits for the target audio and the threshold audio, 50 segments of discrimination and recovery speed settings. I think I like it better the way it is.

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