Jeff McClendon

That was a very informative letter from Garrett and shows how practical they can be. Makes perfect sense. Walt, I enjoyed writing that up for you. It helped me do a real head to head comparison between the Legend and my 24K=your GMX. As much as I really like the 24K and especially its MXT roots, I just don't use it that much. I would much rather use the Nox 800 or the Legend. My 24K is for sale on Ebay right now. If it doesn't sell I won't mind very much since I do like it. But...........from my experience it is only slightly better than the Legend or Equinox. Similar to the new Manticore, having all of that extra power going to the coil that was claimed by Whites and probably is true, is only an advantage if it is usable. If the ground is too hot.......all of that power goes to waste. I hope the GMX works out well for you.

Dave (midalake) linked a post from the Dankowski forum quoting Nasa Tom as saying Manticore has an ID scale from -99 to +99 with salt being 0....................if that is true.......hmmmmmm, lots of fun for us folks that often spend the whole day hunting in the wrap around zone!

At least in the US, Nox 1500 is more accurate. They should rename the Equinox 800, the Equinox 1000 and do a couple of more updates to cover the greedy increase of its original $899 USD price. In all seriousness, I am a gigantic Minelab Equinox lover and user. As long as mine works it will get used even if it has several battery replacements. Other than the leaking issues, wobbly cheap shaft, coil ears and arm rests breaking and no Pitch tones for the Park, Field and Beach modes, in my opinion and for the places I hunt, the Equinox 800 is just about perfect warts and all. And I really like its name since I am into astronomy. Manticore just doesn't do it for me. Maybe the detector will.

Just having some more fun with this ridiculous name for a detector......... Another candidate for the Equinox 1500 Mascot... if you have two of them......Mantis

Take out the 2D target trace and the weird name and we have a good description of the Nokta Legend……..

Yep, the Mi-6 will flash just like the coils when tuned OFF. Perfectly normal.

Since this is the Detector Prospector forum…..there is one Gold mode. The selectable single frequencies seem to be the same. The chief engineer did say more than once that Multi IQ+ uses higher frequencies than Multi IQ.

The YouTube video posted above of the Q&A session had some good details…..100 digit target ID scale for sure, the Minelab Chief engineer said absolutely that it has “Target Trace”, that Manticore is a reworking, remodeling with enhancement of the Equinox 600/800 and Manticore will only come as one model. Those are a few bits of information along with the $1599 USD price.

This SPP is one of the refurbished ones according to its serial number tag. Maybe it was tweaked…..maybe Carl would know. Personally, I don’t need the other features that are missing. This SPP will mostly be a relic/fresh water beach detector anyway and a backup/loaner.

Hi KOB, If Minelab have sorted out the waterproofing, coil ear/armrest breaking issues and shaft issues that saltwater hunters quickly encountered with the Equinox for guys like you…….that would be fantastic since Equinox owners already know how well Multi IQ tech functions internally in salt and iron mineralization. Nobody should take anything I have said about me being not particularly interested in Manticore as a slight against it other than the name is ridiculous. I just don’t need another new detector right now.

Same reason that Minelab have made us find out what the hell Manticore means…..totally obscure and a mishmash of languages (misspelled) to boot. Why they picked that name can only be based on some kind of marketing arrogance. It’s not as fun to say as sciagurato!

Hugh, it will be a long wait……My Nox 800s are still doing just fine, the Legend is way better than I expected and the Deus 2 Lite that I settled on after selling my Deus 2 remote have my VLF needs totally covered. I don’t need better ergonomics, waterproofing, an extra 1/4” inch provided by a huge coil that won’t be any better than an 11” in high iron mineralization, and an Fe/Co screen to slow me down with something else to look at. I already know with a high degree of certainty what I am about to dig with the detectors I have. When I can hobble or walk, I use a SMF VLF everyday since coins and jewelry are abundant around here, but still not interested in this new Minelab detector. Like I said earlier the Manticore (I need to hear a Minelab affiliated Aussie actually pronounce it) would have to be ‘lights out” better than what I already have to make me seriously look at it in the near future. Plus I won’t be looking at it through the viewpoint and attitude of a couple of famous US YouTube influencers. That crap is not going to influence me. You will have to find another trusted source if you actually believe I am one????? Sorry, won’t be me.

I seriously don’t like scorpions (stung way too many times). Meerkat……..really cute. Manticore……is such a sciagurato choice for a nice looking detector. Still no interest in this ridiculously named detector………

I have not seen that as far as the XGB ground balancing of the GMX exceeding the ground handling capabilities of the Legend (or Equinox) and their simultaneous multi frequency tech. All of the information I gave you above about air and in the ground testing was done in each detectors raw, as close to possible semi threshold based All Metal gold prospecting modes on sub gram gold nuggets. If I can only run the GM24K/GMX at no more than 70% at a site due to overloading but I can run the Legend (or Equinox 800) at 90%+ at the same site........the difference in sensitivity to small gold shown in the 70% sensitivity setting on both detectors above is minimal if not in favor of the Legend or Equinox. Your ground conditions at your prospecting sites maybe totally favorable to the GMX so it can run hotter. Mine aren't.

I was just doing a similar comparison.......Garrett Goldmaster 24K vs the Equinox and Legend.......which do I keep. I decided to sell the GM24K. Why? I personally really like most things about the 24K/GMX as far as gold prospecting detectors. The three things I like the least are their weight.....24K=almost 4 lbs with a full tray of batteries and GMX=way over 4 lbs with batteries........and at least my 24k is much harder to ground balance in high iron mineralization than the Legend and Equinox. All three require frequent ground balance checks but it is harder for me to really tell if the 24K/GMX is really optimally ground balanced unless I leave it in tracking which I would prefer not to do. The last thing is the 24K/GMX will overload at setting 6 or 7 of 10 in some places I hunt (ground handling issues again) where the Equinox and Legend using Multi settings will just keep right on detecting at much higher sensitivity settings at the same locations. I have had the opportunity to do air and in the ground testing between all three detectors...24K, Nox 800 and Legend. Currently the Legend's 10X5" coil is still not available so exactly the same coil size testing can't be done yet for me. Comparing the GM24K with 10X6" versus the Equinox with 10X5" the GM24K has a very slight edge with similar sensitivity settings at 70%. I can't run my GM24K any higher due to overload where I have used it and tested it. We are talking in 1/4" differences or less on all of the targets I tested. If you can run a GM24K hotter, the difference might be up to 1/2". The Legend head to head with the Equinox using 6" coils are virtually identical in sensitivity and ground handling. So, unlike the GMX, the Legend can be run in Multi or at 40 kHz (and others) which is very comparable to the GMX 48kHz. I trust the Legend to be very waterproof. I also like its internal rechargeable battery, wireless audio and the vibration feature for water work and for the hearing impaired. The GMX is definitely waterproof from most accounts. It doesn't have those other features. Finally, due to the Legend's SMF tech, it has much more accurate target IDs, it has a Ferro Check, Mineralization Meter and it has the ability to run different programs for more versatility. The 24K/GMX has two search modes which are excellent, a very good follow the black sand feature, iron probability feature and very nice audio in my opinion. Its displayed target IDs are much less accurate than the Legend's however. If I didn't own a Legend or Equinox........my keeping the 24K would not even be a question. It's a great gold prospecting detector as single frequency gold prospecting detectors go. Throw in the ground handling and versatility of the Legend's SMF tech and great sensitivity to small low conductors........that decision went to the Legend.

I have my hands full with the Equinox, Legend and Deus 2 Lite. Manticore is going to have to substantially blow those three away in order for me to consider it. I have no idea if it can do that or not. Improving the Equinox exterior and waterproofing doesn't matter to me since I already did that with shaft and coil upgrades and I have a Legend for underwater. Adding the CTX 3030 Target Trace type part of the display may be cool and handy for some people. Not particularly interesting for me since I am more of an audio type hunter. Basically, I am not particularly excited by this new Minelab detector. Maybe that will change........ Thanks for the get well wishes Steve. I hope your hip surgery recovery is also going well. At least its summertime here and hot so not being able to even wear any of my shoes is no big deal. I can't even get my right foot inside of my Crocs!!!

Obviously, my starting this topic had to do mostly with me being able to justify keeping the Legend and Deus 2 at the same time since in some ways they are very similar especially with the Legend now having Pitch Tones included for its Park, Field and Beach modes which gives the user a very good ferrous/non-ferrous 2 tone VCO audio option that works great and easily competes with a similar audio option on Deus 2. The Deus 2 ergonomics and packability however, made me search for an alternative which I found by basically selling one part of Deus 2 which is half the cost of the detector. My used Deus 2 remote and its underwater and charging accessories sold on Ebay in less than 3 hours. I had it priced well but it still sold for almost the same price as a basic Legend....... So, now I am very happy with owning these two great detectors which can only get better in the future.

Thanks for posting Alain. I too have a Sensitive, 5 tone, Square Wave audio user profile setup for my Deus 2 Lite My Deus 2 used remote control and the underwater accessories and charging cable for it sold on Ebay in less 3 hours!!!! Now I am happy and can justify keeping both the Legend and Deus 2 Lite since they are very good detectors and very fun to use. As Chuck noted, this Deus 2 Lite setup is in the Legend/Equinox 600 price range and with the neoprene stem mount and audio adapter it makes for a highly versatile land and shallow water simultaneous multi frequency detector that really works well even in high iron mineralization. Just don't gold prospect with it yet.......the Legend or Equinox 800 are far better for that task. Alain, there is so little written about the WS6 at least in English. I have a few questions. How many user profiles are available and can I have multiple user profiles per program or only one....like can I have two or more profiles based on program 1 General for instance? Also, it appears that one of the features missing on at least my WS6 besides the XY screen is the ability to turn the notch feature OFF. Mine has the option for 00-00 but not to turn it OFF which I would prefer. Maybe I am missing a settings step somewhere. Otherwise, there are somethings that I really like better on the WS6 than the big remote besides just the weight. For me, it is much easier to navigate, set notches, tone breaks and tone pitch, the enter pinpoint mode button and the exit pinpoint mode are the same button, etc. After using the remote for two months, I will definitely miss the really nice rubber buttons and easy to see screen. However, I just didn't need its waterproofing at all. XP was very accommodating for users who won't be diving or fully submerging their Deus 2. The greatly expanded features included with the standalone WS6 and the screen improvements are really fantastic and make a Deus 2 Lite much more than just a second rate alternative with very limited features like one found comparing the original Deus remote to the WS4 module.

Both are excellent detectors for sure. For me and where I hunt, Deus 2 is mostly a huge improvement over Deus 1 and the ORX. For people that are familiar with the original Deus and ORX, moving to Deus 2 should be easy For me also, the Legend is totally a big improvement over any other Nokta detector that I have ever used. Its user interface is pretty different from previous Nokta Makro models however, except for the Simplex. thanks for the kind words bigtim1973!!!!

Somebody from Minelab marketing must have wrapped that coil cable…..

I am still trying to learn the three high end SMF VLFs that I already own plus the Axiom when it’s released. Manticore will have to wait

I am not getting any younger for sure. I also blew out my peroneal tendon (second biggest next to the achilles tendon) in my right ankle two days ago. I had chronic, nagging issues with the same tendon in my left foot all during Covid......At least the one in my right foot decided to skip the chronic/nagging stage and just popped. Sounded like a single gunshot (with ear protection on) and felt like I got hit with a sledge hammer on the outside of my right ankle...... just walking along a nice mountain trail, didn't make a misstep, turn my ankle, lose my footing, it just popped out of nowhere! So, I decided to compromise a bit since I seem to keep getting some mobility injuries. It might be a good idea to keep at least one really lightweight detector in case my shoulders start acting up like my ankles seem to go haywire. Since XP improved the WS6 module features a lot and even added a way to make the ID numbers as big as the screen (like on the remote) and I don't really need the big remote for underwater work.....I am just going to keep a Deus 2 Lite setup and sell the Deus 2 remote, case, charging cables and underwater packet. That should make someone happy out there that might want an underwater remote and a surface remote in the future. I'm not in a hurry since I am not even supposed to drive right now...........forget that BTW. If you need an extra Deus 2 remote and remote accessories, one will be listed at a very good price soon or just let me know

Thanks for the reply Andy and for the excellent video!!!!!

Using Deus 2 ground notch in Goldfield, does one have to weigh the risk of missing legitimate targets within the notched range of target IDs? At least where I often detect, the two notch areas are the absolute lowest target ID on Deus -6.4 and Equinox -9 for eliminating excessive ground noise and around the ferrous/non-ferrous tone break for some hot rocks. Those are two places where lots of nuggets ID due to size, depth and iron mineralization.

Same exact results for me.