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What Are Your Plans With All These New Great Metal Detector Choices?


We are flooded with new great detectors, what are you going to do?  

78 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you intend to buy one of the new coin and treasure detectors on the market?

  2. 2. Which of the following new coin and treasure detectors do you intend to buy or have purchased already.

    • Minelab Manticore
    • Minelab Equinox 700
    • Minelab Equinox 900
    • XP Deus 2
    • Nokta Legend
    • Garrett Apex
    • I haven't decided
    • I'm sticking with what I've got already
    • Other
    • Garrett Axiom
  3. 3. What is the primary purpose you would use a new detector for

    • Coins and Jewellery in a park or field setting
    • Coins and Jewellery in a beach setting
    • Gold Prospecting
    • Relics
    • Detecting in the water


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Funny cartoon, and I was in that LH line consistently until the ML Equinox 800 which I've spent the last 4 1/2 years learning.  As I've said before, it took me two plus years just to get comfortable/trusting with it.  I was tempted by the XP Deus 2 but the expected learning curve was my main deterrent.  I expect the ML Manticore to speak the same language as the Eqx, with some words added to the vocabulary.

BTW, @Dick Stout, @Steve Herschbach, and anyone here.  I recall a post from a few years back (maybe 5 or 6 years?) which I thought Dick wrote about why we fool ourselves with a brand new detector in our hands.  (Doing things we haven't done in a while, like digging-it-all, slowing down our swing/coverage speed, listening more carefully to tones; then giving the new detector all the credit for the finds.)  Is my memory failing me as to where that post was located, or even who wrote it?  This is a perfect time to resurrect it -- some very thought provoking ideas, IMO.

P.S. I didn't ask this without first looking for the post myself.  I looked through all of Dick Stout's posts (only ~10) but his current membership only goes back to 2019 -- not far enough.  I'm pretty sure I read the post here because Steve H. commented positively on it.  But I'll go to Dick's website and see if I can find something there.  It was such a meaningful post with lasting relevance and as I indicated, now seems like a good time to read/reread it.  (A year ago when the XP Deus 2 and Nokta Legend were released it would have been a timely read as well.  Water under the bridge on that one.)

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13 hours ago, phrunt said:

...The new Nox models just aren't worth the upgrade I don't think, fantastic for someone new to the Nox but an existing Nox owner it would seem would rather take it to the top rather than mess around with the lesser upgrade.

There are a couple classic polling caveats here -- low statistics and atypical cross section of respondents.  We posters here in general are not the typical metal detector user/buyer.  But note the Nokta Legend is outscoring the two new Equinox models combined.  How many 'new' Equinox buyers are out there after close to 5 years on the market?  And the Legend's performance/price ratio and just absolute price has to be attractive to the more casual user.  But that also assumes they know what we know.

People have been asking about the timing of the 700&900 release.  Here's another question:  is the recently announced lawsuit timed to cast doubt on the Nokta Legend enough to swing new users in the multifrequency space towards the 700/900?

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I would like to try a PI for some of my Relic sites. The Axiom looks very good but I can't justify the expense. I will wait hoping the upcoming PI from Nokta will be something suitable. As far as VLFs I think I'm good for a while with 8.

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I think Minelab kind a screwed the whole timing of the Equinox 700 and 900 up. They should have released those a year ago. People would have upgraded to the 700 or 900 with their old Equinox out if warranty. Then released the Manticore and people would feel like they needed to upgrade to that. Why would anyone with an 800 go to a 900 rather than just go to the top and get a Manticore. Unless it's totally about price, that I could understand.

Myself I plan on getting Manticore and will use the 800 as backup, I'll keep the D2 as well. But at this point in my life and the fact that good places to detect are becoming harder to find. It just doesn't make sense to own a bunch of machines. Really one good PI and VLF is all one needs anymore. Which brings me to the realization that I need to get rid of some of these older loaner units I have sitting around, while I can still get some money out of them.

Garrett and Fisher better get off the pot and offer some decent machines. Only thing I've seen even worth looking at from either company in the last 12 years is the Garrett Axiom. The F75, T2 and AT series are seriously outdated at this point and Garrett's attempt at SMF with the Apex is almost a joke compared to what's now available from Minelab, XP and Nokta Makro.

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6 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Funny cartoon, and I was in that LH line consistently until the ML Equinox 800 which I've spent the last 4 1/2 years learning.  As I've said before, it took me two plus years just to get comfortable/trusting with it.  I was tempted by the XP Deus 2 but the expected learning curve was my main deterrent.  I expect the ML Manticore to speak the same language as the Eqx, with some words added to the vocabulary.

BTW, @Dick Stout, @Steve Herschbach, and anyone here.  I recall a post from a few years back (maybe 5 or 6 years?) which I thought Dick wrote about why we fool ourselves with a brand new detector in our hands.  (Doing things we haven't done in a while, like digging-it-all, slowing down our swing/coverage speed, listening more carefully to tones; then giving the new detector all the credit for the finds.)  Is my memory failing me as to where that post was located, or even who wrote it?  This is a perfect time to resurrect it -- some very thought provoking ideas, IMO.

P.S. I didn't ask this without first looking for the post myself.  I looked through all of Dick Stout's posts (only ~10) but his current membership only goes back to 2019 -- not far enough.  I'm pretty sure I read the post here because Steve H. commented positively on it.  But I'll go to Dick's website and see if I can find something there.  It was such a meaningful post with lasting relevance and as I indicated, now seems like a good time to read/reread it.  (A year ago when the XP Deus 2 and Nokta Legend were released it would have been a timely read as well.  Water under the bridge on that one.)

Thin this is the post you're thinking of....https://stoutstandards.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/is-it-the-detector-or-is-it-you/

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33 minutes ago, Dick Stout said:

Well, if that's not what I'm remembering it sure checks the boxes!  Thanks for finding that for me.  I went to your site and read a couple but (as you know) you have so many stashed there from many years of blogging that it's almost a needle in a haystack.  However, now I've renewed my interest in your writings so that's a bonus.

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2 hours ago, Dick Stout said:

Well, well done.  And to think that it is only 5 years old!

Where in the SW are you now?

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Yes Dick Stouts cartoon is incisive, but part of the problem as I see it it that the manufactures are coming up with better metal detectors, this is forcing people into the left hand side line. My budget is limited so therefore are my options, after many years using a Garrett Groundhog  [yes you read it right ] I decided to lash out and buy a X-terra 705, say no more. After moving to Tasmania from Western Australia my nugget hunting with a detector has been limited, Tasmania is not detector friendly. Last summer I stared sniping so was looking for a water proof detector so I bought an Equinox 800, I liked the X-terra but the nox blows it out of the water. To further illustrate my point, sorry I'll try not to labor it, I heard from my cousin in Western Australia recently, he had a dry blowing operation at Reedy and worked his lease professionally for many years, his wife myself and others  hammered the area with detectors for 30 years. He has detected the lease using a new generation Minelab P.I. machine each time they came out, He has since retired but recently with his wife went back to his old lease armed with GPX 6000's, !2 oz. in two weeks !

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2 hours ago, blackjack said:

Yes Dick Stouts cartoon is incisive, but part of the problem as I see it it that the manufactures are coming up with better metal detectors, this is forcing people into the left hand side line. My budget is limited so therefore are my options, after many years using a Garrett Groundhog  [yes you read it right ] I decided to lash out and buy a X-terra 705, say no more. After moving to Tasmania from Western Australia my nugget hunting with a detector has been limited, Tasmania is not detector friendly. Last summer I stared sniping so was looking for a water proof detector so I bought an Equinox 800, I liked the X-terra but the nox blows it out of the water. To further illustrate my point, sorry I'll try not to labor it, I heard from my cousin in Western Australia recently, he had a dry blowing operation at Reedy and worked his lease professionally for many years, his wife myself and others  hammered the area with detectors for 30 years. He has detected the lease using a new generation Minelab P.I. machine each time they came out, He has since retired but recently with his wife went back to his old lease armed with GPX 6000's, !2 oz. in two weeks !

I think Tas is not detector friendly from footage and pictures iv seen. Not been there though. Hard hat time 😅

On the main topic I got zero interest in the new stuff coming out. Bit nowdays like fishing. Most lures are designed to catch fishermen not fish! 😉

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Hey Smigo, just off topic for a minute, yes you are right Tasmania is a poor place to detect, see my post on Tasmania's Largest Nuggets, topic by geof_junk, thanks for that g_j. it's a great place to snipe, but it's true that as much fun as sniping is I do miss detecting. But as Steven Wright once quipped 'you can't have everything, where would you put it' ? Back on topic, sorry phrunt, what if the new lures caught more fish ?  

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