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Gold Monster 1000 Or Equinox 800?


ks1652

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I had so many incredible responses to my first post that it made perfect sense togo back to the well and run this by you all.

With my DMX in it's later years another detector is will be in my future. I've been researching a number of sources including YouTube hoping to narrow down my choices.

Considering finances.... to date I have settled on 2 detectors. The Gold Monster 1000 and the Equinox 800.

Both are in the same price range....both get good reviews and I see them producing nice finds. The operation of both seem relatively learnable and so far I am finding no negative reviews.

I do question some of the YouTube posters for one reason......it seems the reputable posters have allegiance and financial deals with manufacturers.

Again it's my goal to keep the cost down for now while I learn as much as possible about the art of proficient detecting using my Gold Bug 2. Once I'm comfortable with where I am I will consider a higher end detector.

I can manufacture a few more AR's and sell those to fund my next purchase.

That's where users of these units come in to play. Will someone detail your real world reviews of these detectors? I trust this forum won't  steer me wrong.

Thanks in advance!

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I’m still a newby at this, but personally, if you are using a GB 2 and do well with handling it, I’d think the NOX would be a good partner for it over the GM for the adaptability it has to be a good multi-frequency  gold and relic/coin machine with lots of coil selections. The GM is great for gold, but can’t do everything else a Nox can do and it only has the two coils (that isnt as important though as most use the 5” puck for it over the other one anyways).

I now use a Nox and 24k myself, went that route after using a GM for awhile but found the 24k a more adaptable gold detector than the GM, especially for all the hot rock areas we have.

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Hey ks!
My experience is with the monster. It’s the only machine I have detect with. My hunting ground is schist rocks and the machine It is very stable and I can use it between the 7 and 8 “gain”. When the ground changes you need to adjust the gain or “pump” say about ten times and just keep going. I also use the “auto plus” combined with the manual for target verification.
It’s fairly light weighted and after a couple of ours I need 10 minutes to recover my arm stamina. Very good battery life, at least 12 hours!? Pretty awesome machine!! It will detect crazy small bits. It has two coils and I prefer the larger coil because for scouting because it’s not as sensible and will skip bird shotgun pellets.
What I miss is target ID ( which I believe the NOX has).

I hunt for gold nuggets and often I will dig nails from old cow shoes 🙂 - something I discover from detecting is that in the old days they would do it!-  and these are made of a metal that often is mixed and gives strong non ferrous signals. If I had target ID I would skip those. The monster does give sound variations easy to identify in swallow targets but for deeper targets the variation is not as noticeable. 
The monster works for my current gold, which is gold 🙂 but because I need depth my future detector will be a PI. 
Anyway, if I was to decide for another VLF I will go for something with good target ID. Say a NOX or a Legend?

Hope this info helped. 

Here is a photo of a “Cowshoe”  for future memory… Cheerio!
 

A9EB9069-2BA4-4874-8996-3F1D132C11E2.jpeg

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seems like a easy question, but its some what involved.
do you coin or jewelry hunt? if you get the Equinox 800, you are more than likely going to want
the small coil, i think its $180 for the coil. so add that in.
as for finding small bits of gold, on bedrock, not for deep areas. i think the monster with the small coil, that it comes with
has a slight advantage. but the Equinox has better discrimination that could be useful in junky nugget areas.
you have the Gold Bug 2, its a good beeper. its kind of like a stick shift truck vs the monster is more like an automatic.
if you can find someone that has one that you can try, it would be best.
i will say that the monster almost takes the thinking out of detecting, you aren't interpreting the the threshold
like you are with the gb2.
on top of that, it depends on what region/area you are going to use the detector. i have heard some
say the monster or vlfs will not be good, say in the mother load of California.
so find out what others are using in your area.

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Re (Equinox has better discrimination that could be useful in junky nugget areas.)

Agree with/without Discrimination (Nox800) in Thrash'ie areas. Depending on the concentration of rubbish I will use either the standard or 6 inch coil. Have found coins and gold in such locations.

This detector will complement a future Gold detector, eg 2300,4500,5000, 6000 or 7000 ( I have a 7) Along with your GB2.

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Fully agree with Peter. The Nox is a far more capable machine with a lot more variable uses. The GM1000 is a unit you will either love (especially if you're a beginner) or hate. Seeing how you have experience with a GB2, I expect you'll utterly hate the Monster like I did. Owned it for a month and traded it for a 24K. Best decision I ever made lol

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Seems like you asked this question in another thread yesterday, but apparently didn't get any answers?  I don't have much experience here -- have hunted for and found small gold with the Eqx 800, but living where I do, I get little chance for that.

The fact that you already own the Fisher Gold Bug 2 has a signifcant impact on your title question.  IMO you should sit tight and get some more opinions.  I have mine but the people who have used all three (GB2, GM1k, Eqx) are the most capable at answering, not someone like I who knows only one.

BTW, Gerry McMullen (Gerry in Idaho -- here's his dealership website) answered this a few months ago right here on this forum.  When I'm in the market for a new detector, Gerry is where I start.

 

 

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A short answer as I'm typing on my phone. 

If you're planning on keeping your GB2 then the Nox 800 is your best choice.  Far more versatile than the GM.  You will need the 6 inch coil for gold although the 11 is amazing for its small gold capability.  

Target ID and notching can be very useful prospecting, and so can some or the more advanced settings like recovery speed.  The GM is great and simple to use but also very easy to grow out of as its completely auto, no settings at all except discrimination which I'd never use and it has a rudimentary gold chance meter anyway.  In disc mode on the GM you loose depth, the disc mode on the Nox you don't. 

Both the GM and Nox I find deeper than the GB2, unless on very tiny flakes, the Nox with 11 inch coil has found me one of my deepest nuggets to date, a 1.2 gram nugget at well over 20cm, not sure how much deeper it was but I was surprised.   

The GM and Nox will find gold when the coil has gold and a hot rock under it, the Gb2 will not. 

Stick to your GB2 as it has benefits the GM and Nox don't like the solid little coil with no knock sensitivity and get a Nox for its many benefits over both the GM and GB2. 

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I don't own the Nox since my focus is on gold prospecting only, so I don't need the additional features the Nox has to offer. However, several prospectors I spoke to, including very seasoned quasi-professionals,  who own both the Nox and the GM told me that the GM with the 5 inch coil has a slight edge over the Nox/6 for the really small gold. But there are different opinions on this forum. I happen to like the GM as part of a larger fleet of PI/ZVT detectors and it fits my VLF-gold needs perfectly. It certainly is a much better performer than the GB2 in hot ground and the iron meter works well for shallow targets (use iron meter in deep-and with discretion!, don't use disc/shallow). The GB2 is unbeatable for shallow tiny gold in very mild ground, but gold rich/ mild grounds are not very common. If you like versatility and are also into relic hunting then the Nox seems to be the much better choice and with more bang for the buck. But if you want to get those tiny flakes off of bedrock without missing anything, the GM will do a really good job with that. After all, the 6000 is called a PI-GM for a reason 🙂

GC

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4 hours ago, GotAU? said:

I’m still a newby at this, but personally, if you are using a GB 2 and do well with handling it, I’d think the NOX would be a good partner for it over the GM for the adaptability it has to be a good multi-frequency  gold and relic/coin machine with lots of coil selections. The GM is great for gold, but can’t do everything else a Nox can do and it only has the two coils (that isnt as important though as most use the 5” puck for it over the other one anyways).

I now use a Nox and 24k myself, went that route after using a GM for awhile but found the 24k a more adaptable gold detector than the GM, especially for all the hot rock areas we have.

Thank you GotAU. This is exactly the experienced user information I am looking for. I appreciate you for taking time to educate me and any other readers thinking about picking up one of these detectors

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