rs2007elias

I am now a proud owner of a Nokta Legend 😄

Ok, so a little change. The AT Max had 3x coils (regular, sniper and large one), as well as 3x headphones (including Amphibian Grey Ghost. Still a better buy to go for the Legend base kit with no extras?

7 hours ago, phrunt said:

The Legend is like a few detectors in one, it gives you 5, 10, 15, 20 and 40khz, so that's a range of detectors right there, it also gives you multi frequency.  Different frequencies provide benefits on different targets and also better depths on certain targets, 40khz is the sweet spot for small gold for example.   Then it also runs in a multi frequency mode to give you a better balance of performance from the frequency range.  The at Max is stuck at 13.6kHz.

Don't let the new price of the AT Series fool you, they're quite expensive for what you get in today's market.  Nokta is made in Turkey with lower production costs I would assume and they aim to provide customers with a lot of bang for their buck, it's shaken up the market extensively over the past few years with their dramatically low pricing compared to competitors.

And that hasn't taken a hit on the quality - it still is a solid unit other than just tons of features? 🙂

Found Legend within my budget from multiple sources, so it is fully doable!

While a decent price, it still is a far lower % discount than the AT Max is (the Legend ends up at 50$ more, despite MSRP being 400$+ lower than that of the AT here). Still worth going for Legend instead? It will give a worse resale price here if I decide to go for another machine later on, but if it is substantially better, then I will certainly pick it over the AT Max 🙂

2 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I am not bashing the AT Max here on this forum. It is a great detector for the right persons, right targets and the right conditions. It's limitations are its single frequency operation, extremely high gain that is hard to control for some people and it is old tech which Garrett will replace soon.

The Nokta Legend, Nokta Simplex (new 15kHz version), Minelab Equinox 600 (new under warranty only, not used), Equinox 700 or the new Minelab X-terra Pro are really good options along with the Vanquish models.

Alright, gotcha 🙂

I will look into the Legend. 

That ground balancing aspect, I have heard that mentioned several times. I assume it is better when it is done each startup like on the Garrett, and not some universal "middle ground" like the Vanquish?

6 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Yup, Legend hands down.  Far better performance than the AT Max regardless of coils, the Pro-Find 20 is terrible, any pinpointer do the job of it, and I'm sure you've got a bag somewhere at home to use if you need a bag 🙂

The Legend is basically a cheap Equinox 800 with better build quality and the Equinox is the best selling detector there is, why? Because it's that good and suits your needs perfectly.  The Legend has proven itself already to be at least equal to the Equinox.

Sounds better in all regards! I will look into it. 

I see that "bigboyshobbies" has it for 499$ and "tax free". Trustworthy site? Could order one when I'm in California if that is the case. 

2 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

If you are new to detecting, of the two you mentioned, I would pick the Vanquish 540. The 540 is a very easy to use, easy to listen to, easy to be successful with detector for a beginner.

If you are new to detecting, of the two you mentioned, I would not pick the Garrett AT Max. The AT Max is a handful for even the most experienced detector users.

As Phrunt said, the Legend is a Vanquish 540 with a lot more excellent features, its fully waterproof, comes with a 3 year warranty and is proven to work really well for a wide range of users with a wide range of experience.

I've got an experienced detector with me who will help me learn, and I'm a pretty quick learner. I plan on buying one and sticking to it for a lot of years, so if choosing between easy to learn and better down the line, I would 100% go better down the line. But if it is a handful and still ends up worse, then for sure I would avoid it (no fun to struggle unless it is rewarded). 

I will see if I can get a Legend within my price range 🙂 If that is possible, I will go for it! Going to California this summer, so hopefully I can find one there a bit cheaper than here. 

If not, I'm still at a bit of a loss between the AT and 540. I get the beginner friendly aspect, but I'm not way too concerned about not being able to read up on settings and figure those things out. Would the AT be better once I have a couple years of use behind me, or a constant fix for no gain?

1 minute ago, phrunt said:

With the price range you're looking in there is no detector that makes more sense than the Legend.  You've got the most chance of success with a reliable modern technology SMF detector suitable for your water detecting.   a Vanquish on steroids.

Well, here would be the prices:
450$ Garrett AT Max with 1 extra coil and 2 pairs of headphones
500$ Vanquish 540 with Pro Find 20 and bag
500$ Legend with no accessories nor headphones, single coil

So matching prices, those are my options. 

2 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I could not disagree more.

I didn't mean feature wise, I ment which is the better option

3 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

If you live on an island with saltwater and plan on using either of these detectors in the water........I would not pick either one especially if you really think you can fix water damaged detectors...good luck with that. Saltwater and salt in general takes a huge toll on detectors.

I would go with a Nokta Legend or Equinox 700.  Deus 2 if you can afford it.

The salt level is quite low in my water, near freshwater. The fish living in it also can live in freshwater, that is how low the salt content is 🙂 Wasn't planning on submerging it, but having it waterproof like the AT Max could be a plus incase it gets splashed or worst case - dropped. 

Equinox and Deus 2 seem way to expensive for me. Nokta Legend is doable, but pushing the highside so would be no accessories. 

3 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

A used, out of warranty AT Max.

A new, 3 year warranty Vanquish 540.

A beginner level detector with Bluetooth wireless audio that consumes AA batteries left and right-Vanquish 540

An expert level detector with proprietary wireless audio that also consumes AA batteries-AT Max

A simultaneous multi frequency detector that can handle saltwater beaches and moderate iron mineralization very well with little loss of tone or target ID accuracy until targets are at the depth of detection-Vanquish 540.

A 13.6 kHz single frequency detector that does just OK at best at saltwater beaches and in moderate iron mineralization that will not have very accurate tone and target ID accuracy on targets that are very deep/at the edge of detection.

Depending on the coil being used and ground conditions, the AT Max may be able to hit targets a little deeper than the Vanquish 540. Hitting them is one thing. The Vanquish 540 if it can hit the target may identify it better.

Vanquish 540 control box is not waterproof. Coils are waterproof.

AT Max is fully waterproof.

Vanquish has internal, preset ground balance, a nice iron bias high/low feature, iron audio volume adjustment, very good 2 digit notching, universal controls, nice red backlight and a nice collapsible shaft system that can fit many different sized users.

AT Max has ground grab ground balancing, an excellent all metal mode, loud iron audio with no iron audio volume adjustment, good 5 digit notching, backlight, is specifically labeled for english speaking users and for US coins, and it has Garrett's sturdy shaft system. It's a big boy detector.

Wow, fantastic writeup! Thanks a bunches!
Warranty is not a huuuuge deal for me, I'm very technical and good at repairing stuff. Feel like I got a good chance of repairing anything that would break on it 🙂 The 50$ I save on the AT Max should cover any repairs, so lets call that break even with the warranty.

Overall, it feels like they are similar, but the AT Max is perhaps a bit more robust of a system? I live on an island with brackish water, so likely a lot of my searching will be near water/in shallow water. 

With above considered, which would you go for? From my p.o.v it looks like a tossup, but not really sure which of the features you mentioned are a priority and which aren't. 

Looking at grabbing one of the two (see title).
Price difference is negligible (within 50 bucks of eachother).

Leaning towards the AT Max (from 2018, but good shape) as it seems to usually fetch a higher price, so can likely resell it close to what I buy it for. Which would not be the case with the Vanquish.

Thoughts? 🙂