Minelab Equinox 900, Is It Worth The Upgrade Over The Equinox 800? Long Read

[phrunt]

My theory was if it was better with EMI it'd be in the marketing as a bullet point like the Manticore has it.   It's very unlike a manufacturer not to point out a positive over a previous model or the competitors machines to help pump up the sales.

Good to hear reports start to flow through on the 900 though, not enticing enough for me at this stage especially as I'm shooting for a Manticore but certainly an upgrade on the Nox line up even if it is more towards the build of it and a few extra features more so than the performance.   We are all pretty aware detectors seem to be at the edge performance wise already, little gains are in fact big gains.

The extra Target ID's seem a double edged sword, some like having them others think it's now more unstable on ID's which I guess it would be without them compressed into lesser numbers.  I'm not sure I'm going to like that, but time will tell I guess. I'll get used to it.

I can't help but wonder if having the sensitivity push that little bit higher may make it slightly better on tiny gold, the problem seems to be running it stable at higher gains.  One thing your report didn't say is if the coils are any less bump sensitive when using Gold modes at high gains? I know the coils are the same but I'm wondering if the machine causes it or the coils.

I could always run my Nox on 25 when gold hunting so perhaps I could run the 900 a bit higher.  If I end up not liking the Manticore a 900 is in my future I suppose, my Nox is now going all out doing the hard yards knowing it's being replaced, so off into the beach water it goes in a few days, if it dies it was meant to be as I guess we've all worked out using a Nox 800 in the water is a use at your own risk detector, especially when out of warranty.  I'm sure the 900 and Manticore have this fixed up. 

Thanks for the report.

[abenson]

17 minutes ago, phrunt said:

I can't help but wonder if having the sensitivity push that little bit higher may make it slightly better on tiny gold, the problem seems to be running it stable at higher gains.  One thing your report didn't say is if the coils are any less bump sensitive when using Gold modes at high gains? I know the coils are the same but I'm wondering if the machine causes it or the coils.

I could always run my Nox on 25 when gold hunting so perhaps I could run the 900 a bit higher.

In Arizona where the dirt is moderately mineralized i couldn't run the sensitivity above 22 without the machine being unstable. At levels above that, EMI wasn't the issue it was all the chatter from the ground that kept me from pushing it higher. On the 3 day gold hunt I did, I didn't have any issues with coil knock using the 6" coil.

[xpmoguy]

Thanks for the writeup.  I have 2 Nox 800s, one I sold a few months back to help finance the elusive Manticore. I was going to use the sales proceeds to get the Manticore extra coils but got tired of waiting so I pulled the trigger on a 900 yesterday. My dealer gave me a good price, $999 with the extra 6" coil package.  I have all the extra Nox coils, so I figured what the heck...no more accessories to get. My finds with the Equinox 800 over the past 2 1/2 years have been nothing short of incredible so having the improved Nox hopefully be a win win. So, now I'll get comfy with the 900 while waiting for the Manticore and when the 5x8 and 12x15 coils finally come out I'll sell my original fully upgraded Nox 800 and its now extra 6" coil for the Manti coils. I'll let folks know what I come up with on the 800-900 upgrade.🤙

[sodbuster]

Excellent review, thank you Abenson.  👍

At this point I'll stay with the 800, of which I have two.  With minimal changes in separation and depth, most all the other stuff is fluff to me.  Still my favorite to swing is the F75, and I've learned how to hold the 800 to minimize the unbalance problem.   I have finally disciplined myself (at least occasionally) to slow down the sweep, and be patient in seeking masked targets with the 800 and I'll continue at least for awhile with what I already have and the 4 coils already purchased for it: 6"; 11": 15" &  the Coiltek 5 x 10".

[dsb]

Appreciate the detailed review!  Like sodbuster I'm staying with my 800 till it fails.  By then i wonder if the 600/800 will still be an option.  I'd be looking at the 700/900 because of the shaft and grip angle + the coil options.  Manticore?  In my dreams at this point.  Wish they would have updated the 900 key pad/navigation but no deal breaker. 

[Chesroy]

5 minutes ago, dsb said:

Appreciate the detailed review!  Like sodbuster I'm staying with my 800 till it fails.  By then i wonder if the 600/800 will still be an option.  I'd be looking at the 700/900 because of the shaft and grip angle + the coil options.  Manticore?  In my dreams at this point.  Wish they would have updated the 900 key pad/navigation but no deal breaker. 

Agree would have been a good move by them to include a back button for easy menu navigation

[GB_Amateur]

14 hours ago, abenson said:

I don't know that Minelab has said anything about the 900 being able to handle EMI better. But quite a few have assumed that it would.

I see a potential source for the confusion.  Minelab now has five Equinox models on the market:  600, 700, 800, 900, 1600.  (Most of you know this last one by the name 'Manticore'.)  And I realize I'm likely just repeating what Simon said, just in a different way.  ('Simon said'?  'Simon says'?  Why does that ring a bell...?  😄)

I watch most of the treasure shows on USA cable TV, at least the common ones.  (A new one is starting in the next couple weeks, BTW, about the Victorio Peak Treasure in New Mexico, real or ficticious whichever it is....)  I like to see what detectors are being used.  Some are easy to figure out but between these five Equinox models it's going to be difficult.

The fact that they released the two highest performing models in this chain at the same time just increases the confusion by factors.  Mark Lawrie's revelations in September at least hinted that the Manticore would handle EMI better than the Equinox 800, whether or not he actually stated it outright.  Maybe it's even in their sales literature; at this point everything tends to get mixed together in my head.

Thanks for your detailed report, Andy, and although I'm more interested in the 1600 (on which I'm even more interested in your opinion) I still learn something when I read any of your honest, knowledgeable reviews.

[abenson]

2 hours ago, xpmoguy said:

Thanks for the writeup.  I have 2 Nox 800s, one I sold a few months back to help finance the elusive Manticore. I was going to use the sales proceeds to get the Manticore extra coils but got tired of waiting so I pulled the trigger on a 900 yesterday. My dealer gave me a good price, $999 with the extra 6" coil package.  I have all the extra Nox coils, so I figured what the heck...no more accessories to get. My finds with the Equinox 800 over the past 2 1/2 years have been nothing short of incredible so having the improved Nox hopefully be a win win. So, now I'll get comfy with the 900 while waiting for the Manticore and when the 5x8 and 12x15 coils finally come out I'll sell my original fully upgraded Nox 800 and its now extra 6" coil for the Manti coils. I'll let folks know what I come up with on the 800-900 upgrade.🤙

I got tired of waiting on the Manticore myself. I will eventually get one, but I'm really liking the 900

[abenson]

28 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

I see a potential source for the confusion.  Minelab now has five Equinox models on the market:  600, 700, 800, 900, 1600.  (Most of you know this last one by the name 'Manticore'.)  And I realize I'm likely just repeating what Simon said, just in a different way.  ('Simon said'?  'Simon says'?  Why does that ring a bell...?  😄

The fact that they released the two highest performing models in this chain at the same time just increases the confusion by factors.  Mark Lawrie's revelations in September at least hinted that the Manticore would handle EMI better than the Equinox 800, whether or not he actually stated it outright.  Maybe it's even in their sales literature; at this point everything tends to get mixed together in my head.

Thanks for your detailed report, Andy, and although I'm more interested in the 1600 (on which I'm even more interested in your opinion) I still learn something when I read any of your honest, knowledgeable reviews.

Some of the videos I've seen it appears the 900 handles EMI better than the Manticore and vise a versa. So I think that is where some of the confusion is coming from.

I may have a Manticore in the next few weeks. But right now we have 9" of snow on the ground so I don't know that I will get out using it even if it shows up.

[Jeff McClendon]

Thanks Andy for the very fair and detailed report.

I still own an 800 that has the Tele-Knox shaft system and I have a really nice Nox 900 from Gerry's Detectors.....thanks Gerry

For those that are satisfied with their Nox 800s.....I get it especially if you are not a water hunter and you have invested in shaft upgrades like I did.

All of the 600/800 coils are interchangeable with the 700/900 by the way. I was able to put the new 700/900 11" coil on my 800 too so they are also reverse interchangeable. My original Nox 800 11" coil ears are finally cracking so that is a good thing.

As for the "fluff".......I haven't noticed any yet. The obvious exterior physical and feature improvements are real even if one might not use some of them very often like the 3 levels of red backlight, the flashlight and the handle vibration. They do work.

As for actual performance improvements.......they are subtle but they are there. EMI is very close between the 800 and 900. Actual detecting.....here is an example:

It's around 18 degrees F here and frozen solid so the only testing I can do is indoor in the least EMI affected part of my house which is my basement.

I have a 14" Garrett green gold pan filled with clean but moderate to highly iron mineralized dirt from my backyard. No detectable targets in this dirt even running a GPX 6000 and the Nox 800 in Gold 2 over it. So its clean enough.

I have 18 targets glued to thick plastic strips that are the size and thickness of medical wooden tongue depressors. There are forged and modern nails, steel, tin, 0.25 gram gold, lead, aluminum pull tabs/can slaw, brass shell casings, and US clad coins among the targets. When I turn them over I have no clue what they are.

I put each one in order under that 4" of mineralized dirt three times.  Nox 900 and Nox 800 were setup identically in Park 1 multi 5 tones using the 6" coil. I also used the Nox 900 in Park 1 multi using DP tones. All three tests were done with all target IDs accepted.

The Nox 800 and I in 5 tones scored 9 correct, 2 partially correct and 7 failures to at least get the conductivity right.

The Nox 900 and I in 5 tones scored 10 correct, 3 partially correct and 5 failures to at least get the conductivity right.

The Nox 900 and I in DP tones scored 12 correct, 1 partially correct and 5 failures to at least get the conductivity right.

The dirt is nasty, hard to ground balance and gives spurious iron responses around most lower conductive targets.

I have thousands of hours on the Equinox 800 in 5 tones and these are my target strips that I made and I tested the 800 last. I thought for sure the 800 would win easily.

The reason it didn't win and the same goes for the Nox 900 in 5 tones is solely chalked up to DP tones. The 800 and 900 in Park 1 multi, 5 tones simply could not detect two of the targets. The Nox 900 in DP tones detected them and gave the correct audio and target IDs. Those two targets were a half inch roughly square piece of rusted tin and the 0.25 gram gold nugget.

I am well aware that using Park 1 multi to detect small tin pieces and small nuggets is not optimal due to its frequency weighting. That is not the point. The point is even using Park 1 multi, the 900 using DP tones easily hit those two ferrous/non ferrous borderline targets.

For you Manticore folks, I believe something similar to DP tones lives in the Deep audio and Continuous Tones settings along with Prospecting audio. That is all a bit murky for me so I could be wrong.

So, the performance differences are subtle, but they are clearly there even with me having about 15 hours of using the Nox 900 and less than an hour using DP tones.....