Need Help Choosing A High End Detector

[Bill (S. CA)]

Since you are new to the hobby I would recommend either the 700 or 900.  They are super easy to use in the presets and work well in all environments.

The Deus II is a powerhouse but could be a bit complicated for newcomer.

The Legend is an excellent performer but due to all of the updates the menu and shortcuts are a little challenging.

I have hunted saltwater beaches with all three and they all perform well in the saltwater environment.

I haven't used a Manticore yet so I can't comment on that.

Welcome to a really fun hobby!

Bill

[Sirius]

The legend is my first detector and it's pretty solid so far for the wet. The only menu that is not in it's own category is the iron filter/bottlecap rejection/ ground stability menus. It's under the recovery speed menu, just have that pulled up and press the bottom middle button (pinpointer button) then navigate with the right arrow key. Other than that it's straight forward once you play around with the settings some.

[Jeff McClendon]

6 hours ago, Detectornado said:

This may also be an option now.

Thanks! This will definitely help me make a choice!

Good suggestion! 3-5% is much lower than I expected, especially when you consider the prices are so far apart between these detectors.

If I would choose the Deus 2 I would like to have a larger screen with more information. Thanks for the suggestion!

Great info about the display. I can't get any better information than from someone who owns all three detectors. Thanks! I've added the Equinox 700/900 to my list.

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Thanks for all the info! This really helps me. Now I have another option and that is the new Equinox. If the above detectors only have a small difference in performance it shouldn't be any different with the Equinox 700/900.

The prices here are as follow:

Legend (WHP) : 600 euro
Equinox 700:  900 euro (1.5x)
Equinox 900: 1200 euro (2.0x)

I read somewhere that the Legend can best be compared to the Equinox 900 instead of the 700. The Equinox is also 0.2 lbs lighter and the collapsed length is 1 inch shorter (correct me if I'm wrong).

Unfortunately I don't see many direct comparisons between these models online on the beach (YouTube etc.). I'm going to do some more research. In the meantime, any tips are welcome!

Hopefully you have watched the YouTube Channel The Dutch Metal Hunters-Metaaldetector

[mn90403]

You mentioned that you had 4 months of experience and you are now returning to the pursuit of beach treasure and junk.  That is a good sign and I also took a long break from first detecting the beaches until I returned 20 years later.

I came back and I bought a much too complicated machine.  It left me more frustrated than rewarded.  The machines now are simpler, so I'd go with cheaper and simpler for this first return to the beach detector.

If you are in an area that has good targets, and you are finding them then you will get a second detector in a year or so.  You may even find enough to pay for it.  Just get one and don't over analyze.

Steve said a Vanquish will find more used properly than a more expensive detector used infrequently.  That is probably the best advice you can get.

Jim Straight a legendary gold nugget detectorist in this area was fond of saying that the only thing that a detector will find in a closet is dust!

Use whatever you get and learn your beaches.  That might be better learning than the detector itself.

[Detectornado]

On 2/9/2023 at 8:36 PM, Bill (S. CA) said:

Since you are new to the hobby I would recommend either the 700 or 900.  They are super easy to use in the presets and work well in all environments.

The Deus II is a powerhouse but could be a bit complicated for newcomer.

The Legend is an excellent performer but due to all of the updates the menu and shortcuts are a little challenging.

I have hunted saltwater beaches with all three and they all perform well in the saltwater environment.

I haven't used a Manticore yet so I can't comment on that.

Welcome to a really fun hobby!

Bill

Thanks for sharing your experience with these detectors!

 

On 2/9/2023 at 11:31 PM, Sirius said:

The legend is my first detector and it's pretty solid so far for the wet. The only menu that is not in it's own category is the iron filter/bottlecap rejection/ ground stability menus. It's under the recovery speed menu, just have that pulled up and press the bottom middle button (pinpointer button) then navigate with the right arrow key. Other than that it's straight forward once you play around with the settings some.

Thanks for the tips!

 

On 2/9/2023 at 11:50 PM, Jeff McClendon said:

Hopefully you have watched the YouTube Channel The Dutch Metal Hunters-Metaaldetector

I hadn't seen them. Great videos on the beaches with the Legend. Thanks!

 

On 2/10/2023 at 5:25 AM, mn90403 said:

I came back and I bought a much too complicated machine.  It left me more frustrated than rewarded.  The machines now are simpler, so I'd go with cheaper and simpler for this first return to the beach detector.

If you are in an area that has good targets, and you are finding them then you will get a second detector in a year or so.  You may even find enough to pay for it.  Just get one and don't over analyze.

Thanks for your advice!

[Detectornado]

It's been two months since I've started this thread. In the past months I've read a lot of good info on this great forum! I'm very close to buy one of these detectors.

Since then some things have changed. Nokta has released firmware 1.11 for the Legend. Manticore and Equinox 700/900 users have a lot more hours / experience with these machines. "Unfortunately" XP have not released their new software for the Deus 2 yet.

If someone was only hunting for (small) jewelry/gold on the salt water beach are the above machines still very close?

[Steve Herschbach]

Salt water imposes an artificial limit on small gold detection. As a result there is a wall all VLF detectors will hit at the same point.

• Steve's Guide to Detecting Tiny Gold Jewelry In Saltwater

[midalake]

3 hours ago, Detectornado said:

If someone was only hunting for (small) jewelry/gold on the salt water beach are the above machines still very close?

I do not have a legend. But I think both the Equinox and Manticore are great on small gold. The Deus2 not so much, if your hunting wet sand/water.
If I was starting new with what I know. It would be the Manticore. It is much easier to run than the D2 and it is better on gold chains [and it is not even close] 

Way less iron wrap-around in general and the Manticore runs quieter with equal to better depth than the D2.   

[Detectornado]

22 hours ago, midalake said:

It is much easier to run than the D2 and it is better on gold chains [and it is not even close]

That's a big difference. Same with the Equinox 700/900?

[midalake]

1 minute ago, Detectornado said:

That's a big difference. Same with the Equinox 700/900?

Yes, the 700/900 is easier to run than the D2. The gold chain detection is about even between the two machines.