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GM1000 Vs Equinox Vs White’s 24k


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I’m looking for input about these three machines on what you like vs dislike on each of these detectors. 

Me, personally since I do not own or even seen any of these detectors will even give my own likes vs dislikes.

GM1000 - I like how it is a very hot machine capable of finding small stuff and how I hear it is a turn on and go detector with only a ferrous/nonferrous indicator. I don’t know how it reacts to hot rocks or if there is away you can avoid them. The best part about these three is I hear it’s the simplest to use(thinking about my dad who is interested but doesn’t have the patience to learn machines if he ever wants to use one of mine)

 

Equinox - again I like how it is hot on small gold and even more with the new 6” coil. I hear it’s water proof? I don’t know how complicated it can be to learn this machine or if it can read the ground for search a good spot to run a sluice.

 

Whites 24k - pretty much if it is hot on small gold I like the idea. What I really like about this machine is it’s ability to track black sand for a possible prospect. I like the option to cancel out the iron on both the low reading numbers and the high reading numbers. I’m thinking this might be a little complicated for a newbie with all the functions but I really like the controls the machine has. 

 

Bottom line is I am trying to decide which new detector I am gonna buy next year and want to hear your likes and dislikes about each of these machines.

Minelab Gold Monster 1000 Information page

White's Goldmaster 24K Information page

Minelab Equinox 800 Information page

minelab-gold-monster-vs-whites-goldmaster-24k-vs-minelab-equinox-800.jpg
Minelab Gold Monster 1000 vs White's Goldmaster 24K vs Minelab Equinox

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Hi

I can only echo what Simon said about the Gold Monster 1000 and the Equinox 800. I have not yet seen or used the new White's 24K

For just gold nugget detecting, especially smaller gold the Gold Monster 1000 is a fantastic detector. I started out my detecting life as a nugget hunter with a Tesoro Lobo ST. So actually having a display and the other features of the GM1000 are a great improvement. You will find gold with the GM1000. You will also find lots of other stuff large and small in the gold fields as the GM1000 makes you learn what various targets really sound like. Tin, lead, copper, aluminum and even big iron are going to go into the non-ferrous scale. The ferrous/nonferrous display readings and the discrimination on/off features help but are by no means accurate above 40% of the time. The detector operator needs to develop their skills to improve that percentage rate. As Simon said, one drawback is the lack of waterproofing of the control box housing which is quite substantial in size and awkward to cover. I can swing this detector all day and it has worked well for me in the Colorado mountains and the Arizona and California deserts. It is simple to use and can be "mastered" fairly quickly.

The Equinox 800 can quite simply do it all if you are looking to detect targets at less than one foot deep. Any type of metal detecting you want to do can be done by this detector as far as I know except for detecting maybe semi-molten lava!!!! The 800 will also find gold nuggets in Park 2, Field 1 and 2 and of course the two Gold modes down to as small as .02 grams at least from my experience at two inches depth. Any larger gold will increase the probability and depth of detection. The small coil is in my opinion a must for nugget hunting.

The features, flexibility and adjustability of the Equinox 800 can be overwhelming. Those who have recommended starting out in stock Park 1 and 5 tones or less for the first 40 or so hours are offering outstanding advice whether you are an accomplished detector user or just have a little experience with an entry level detector. If you are new to detecting this might not be the detector for you. (Sorry, I just noticed that you are not a newbie by your profile!)  My only complaint with the Equinox 800 is that its hand grip is just too big (since the batteries are inside) with no padding and the detector is not balanced well. All the other complaints I had were corrected by the recent downloadable software update. It is fully waterproof, rugged and will challenge my detecting skills for many years to come.

I did use both the Whites MX Sport and the MX7 for awhile which have the same ergonomics as the 24K. They were excellent detectors although a bit like the Equinox, they felt very nose heavy to me and gave me quite a bit of hand and arm fatigue in the beginning.

Forgot to finish this, so if I was taking my son (relative newbie) to the gold fields say in Arizona I would hand him my Gold Monster 1000 and tell him to dig everything that makes a tone in disc mode and anything that goes into non-ferrous in deep mode even if just once. He is 21 and would have no problem digging 50 to 100 targets in 8 hours and maybe find a couple of nuggets. You could do the same thing with your GBP in all metal basically by reducing the iron tone volume and by setting up discrimination mode to reject iron and maybe the highest target range for hot rocks. It is not a hard detector to use if it will ground balance in your area without too much difficulty even though hot rocks can be a pain with the GBP. Then you could get the Equinox or 24K for yourself!

Jeff

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Great answers!

Minelab Gold Monster 1000 - Main likes are simplicity and the way the boosted audio bangs out on tiny gold. Main dislikes are squared handle, tendency to fall over, coil bump sensitivity at high sensitivity levels, and poor coil selection (two). Great grab and go unit.

White’s Goldmaster 24K - Main like for me is feel on arm and hand grip, detector very stable on ground. Nice ergonomics for me (ergonomics is very subjective). Good coil selection (three coils plus another in the works) out the starting gate. The extra adjustability compared to the Gold Monster is nice but also adds complexity (not a problem for me, just an observation for others). Dislikes? For a new model the lack of built in wireless headphones is disappointing, 2 year warranty (most others are 3 - 5 years).

Minelab Equinox - not in the same class as the units above. The GM1000 and GM24K are both pretty much dedicated nugget detectors. They have minimal use outside that realm. The Equinox on the other hand is the truest example of a detector that can do almost anything well that has been made so far. My main like - extreme versatility. This versatility adds complexity and again that is fine with me, but I note the fact for others. I like the wireless headphone operation built in. I like waterproof to ten feet.

Dislikes? The handle on the Equinox is a little large for my hand, but again, fit is a personal issue. Only two coils so far, third one on the way.

Which would serve best just depends on what you want from a detector.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Maybe I should forget about a dedicated gold detector and just rely on my Nox 600?  It does not have the gold modes of the 800, but can apparently do a reasonable job on small gold in the Park 2 and Field 2 modes.  I have the 6" coil.  Haven't taken it to the gold fields, yet.  Historically, multi-frequency machines have not been good for gold, but the Nox, with 40khz in its mix, may be changing that.

Reasons I like the idea of a dedicated gold machine include the (slightly) higher frequency; that tracking, information presentation and other things are geared toward gold hunting, and that it would have closed coils.  I am presently looking at the Minelab Goldmonster 1000, Whites Goldmaster 24K, and Makro Gold Kruzer.  I might like the extra tracking options of the latter two (manual tracking and grab, not just auto).  The Gold Kruzer is the highest frequency (61khz) and has the most modern feature set--waterproof, wireless and updates over the Internet. But Makro (Turkey) has far less experience in making gold detectors than Minelab and Whites, even though it seems to have developed a good reputation.

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9 hours ago, phrunt said:

I've ran my 800 in park mode and it sees nuggets in my testing just as well as in the Gold modes, If I were you I'd stick with the 600, start finding gold then one day worry about upgrading if necessary but I don't think changing detectors will change your gold tally too much.  The modes aren't some magic weapon, they're just preconfigured settings more suited to the location they were made for... just because it's called Park mode doesn't mean it has to be run in a park.  I was under the assumption the 600 in Multi IQ is using the 40khz frequency anyway making it just as good as the 800.  Remember a lot of gold has and continues to be found with detectors in the 13khz to 19khz range.  My understanding is all a detector with 61khz will give you is better detection of VERY tiny metals, including gold although as you've probably seen the Nox his amazingly small gold even with the 11" coil, 61khz will likely also give you less depth and more ground noise issues.

Good advice, and good to hear that your experience finding gold with the Nox has been positive.  And you are right that a bunch of popular gold machines come in at lower frequencies. But, can I control my urge to get a new toy?  We'll see ?  Yes, my understanding is that both the 600 and 800 transmit the same mix of frequencies, and that the modes just tweak the way the received signal is analyzed.

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9 hours ago, Buzzard said:

If I remember right the Gold Bug 2 is 71khz and that is the highest of any detectors that I know of.

I was originally aiming at getting a Gold Bug 2.  Many still seem to consider it the "gold standard" for finding extremely small gold--and I actually like knobs.  But, the sleek new machines with advanced features are seductive.

I wonder if Minelab is planning to bring out a Multi-Q gold detector, like the Nox but with a higher mix of frequencies, maybe 15-20-30-50-70?  Seems like it would be hot on all sizes of nuggets.

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4 hours ago, Buzzard said:

watch some of Bill Southern's videos on you tube...nuggetshooter, he shows lots of hunting with the monster hand the Nox 800

Might help you decide. I know he had a GB2 but when he got the Monster he got rid of the GB2.

Thanks, Buzzard, I'll try to find those videos.

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I would appreciate the extra adjustability of the GM24K, I think.  The ability to switch to manual tracking and do a ground grab when needed sounds like a useful feature.  But, everyone seems to say the GM1000 does a great job with its auto tracking, and I can't figure out whether the GM24K is as capable in that respect.  Since the fans of the GM1000 apparently believe its tracking does better than the GMT's tracking system, it probably depends on how well the new XGB circuitry performs and whether it really does bring something different to the GM.

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