Search the Community

Disclaimer: long read. I spent several hours with the Manticore in the goldfields in the high Sierras and thought to provide some insights and impressions. First of all, the purpose of the Manticore for me is the ability to hunt for gold nuggets in really trashy mine sites. As you know, the Sierra Nevada has been visited by a few gold prospectors before (🤣), and prospecting at popular mine sites without any form of discrimination, that is based on target IDs, is pretty much hopeless. Sometimes, digging up everything with PI/ZVT is possible if you take on a really submissive mindset, but it is for the most part highly unproductive and will make your day nothing else but miserable. I tested the Manticore with the sole purpose of finding gold in trashy and highly mineralized mine sites, and by using various test nuggets ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 g. What ended up working best for me was: Gold Field mode with Prospecting audio theme, treshold 17, pitch 22, volume 14, sensitivity 16, revovery speed 6. The 0.1 nugget gave IDs between 8 and 12 and the 0.4g nuget around 22. Of note, the y axis on the screen( ferreous potential) is pretty much useless for detecting small nuggets, and both nuggets consistantly showed up at the upper and lower boundaries, unless right under the coil (then also in middle). So, don't trust the ferreous paramter when you hunt for small gold. When you detect a repeatable target, swing over it several times from different angles with short swing range and slow speed. In particular with the 11 inch coil, the target ID can be all over the place if the coil picks up too much ground signal as you move over the target of interest. So, make sure your "drill down" swings are tight. This should get better with the smaller coils, but for the 11 inch coil you need to be tight. Despite auto tracking on, I have not noticed that targets were tracked out. So, it's ok to take your time and examine a target from various angles with several swings. Importantly, the IDs should remain tight when you do that, like.+/- 3. Too much of variations can indicate hot rocks, which generally showed up for me in the 27 range, but can also be as low as 2. Often, the hotrocks give a slightly elongated trace in the very upper ferreous region of the 2D screen. This was pretty consistant, but might depend on the hotrock composition of the area. Again, don't look at the ferreous indicator when you suspect a nugget, it may or may not work and will fool you often. By far the most impactful parameters are sensitivity and recovery speed. In mineralized ground, the 16/6 setting worked the best for me. Anything above sensitivity 16, or max 17, or recovery speeds below 6 made the machine totally unstable and practically useless. If your ground is alot milder, you might be able to dial up the gain (or dial down the recovery speed), but this will highly depend on your conditions. I can just say that if some sort of ID is important to you, then you MUST tame the machine down, in particular in hot ground, otherwise all benefits of target ID will go away quickly. Under these conditions, the depth is only modest with the 0.1 nugget disappearing beyond 1-1.5 inch depth. To be able to detect at the edge, you need to keep the treshold on and listen for slight wispers (often without any ID dispalyed). This is absolutely essential to get some sort of depth, and this has not changed since the earlier VLF days, despite all the modern advancements. For the "full bore enthusiasts", this might work for PIs if your brain can handle it, but will NOT work for the Manticore, or any other VLF that I have used for that matter. If sensitivity is too high, you will not hear a nugget even when it is directly under the coil. So, be warned, as the Manticore has alot of power to offer. Do frequent GB and noise cancel, this helps, albeit not as much as for the 6000. I actually like the pinpointer feature, but the hotspot is at the tip of the coil, not at the center which I believe the manual says. Overall, the Manticore is a great machine for my purpose, but you need to find the sweet spot in settings to maximize the target ID quality for digging less trash, and to have a chance for a succesful day at a mine site. The depth and sensitivity under these conditions are modest at best, with depths detectable down to 2-3 inches for the 0.4 g nugget and about 1 inch for the 0.1 nugget. However, then with mostly reliable and consistant target ID numbers. There is absolutely no comparison to the 6000, which in this soil and under these conditions beats the Manticore by a huge margin, as expected. In mild soil this difference could shrink, but for sure not where I hunt. However, the 6000 is totally unproductive in highly trashy areas and the Manticore can save the day. So, gold can be recovered at super trashy sites with the Manticore, but expectations need to be managed. GC

Hello, has anyone done a test between the two devices underwater or on land, which one is deeper?

Hello all, Will be leaving next Friday enroute to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska for a year or so and was wondering if anyone on this awesome forum has used their Manticore (with upgraded software) for gold prospecting yet? I know the Kenai may not be the best spot for gold prospecting but I'll have to at least give it a try with the Manticore. I've used pans and a sluice box in the past along with my Nox 800 in the Kenai and found a little gold and a lot of buckshot. I know I really need the small coil and I think they'll be on the market soon I think. Also, if anyone reading this is in the Soldotna area, give me shout. I'd love to meet up and go on some outings. Thanks, John

With the new updated software for the Manticore came some changes to the audio themes available. Now in addition to prospecting audio theme we also have normal, depth and enhanced to choose from. Within normal, depth and enhanced themes we have the ability to change the threshold level, threshold pitch and audio profile. In prospecting we can change the threshold level, threshold pitch and ferrous tones On or OFF. But ferrous tones On or OFF may have a bug, or I'm just not smart enough to know how to turn it on. I've contacted Minelab about that one. Here's a video that shows the new themes available in the goldfield mode.

Friends..I discussed one topic and was advised by people here and professionals and experienced people. But I will still make a choice between these 2 detectors and I want your help. Which one should I buy, which one do you recommend and which one will be useful for me? I am going to search in the mountains by the rivers on the rocks by the river banks in the forests in the fields and so on. I want.to search for gold.more shares.I want to search for gold..but at the same time I want to search for coins,relics,jewellery and jewelry. Which detector do you guys recommend or which of these 2 detectors will be useful for me for all this? Thank you in advance.

I thought it's time we kicked off a poll to see how happy people are with their purchase if they've purchased one of the new models. The forum limits the number of questions you can ask so it's a pretty simple poll to get an idea of how many people bought one of these new models and how many are finding it as good or better than their old model. Feel free to comment below with other things you're found with the new models, hopefully Minelab reads it and takes not of anything people bring up of importance.

New Guy questions…I’m sure these ? have been asked before. I did a quick search but didn’t really look that hard so beat me up if necessary. So I’m looking at the Pro Max and the Manticore. I’m gonna be searching for anything that makes a noise on land and in water. Is one better than the other regarding capability, warranty, customer service, accessories, etc. Also, regarding system updates…are they downloaded via computer and installed via USB? Or does the unit have to be sent in for updates? Or is what you buy is it and updates are in new production units only? Thanks for your assistance! Be Safe!

My thoughts on the Minelab Manticore after 50 hours and beyond! Yep. Time for another one of my long-winded reviews. The goal is just to share some unbiased thoughts on the new Minelab Manticore, which will hopefully help anyone who may be on the fence about getting one. You’ll get no hype, hate, fluff or any other BS from me. If something sucks, I’m going to say it sucks. If it’s good, I’ll say it’s good. It’s as simple as that. I’ll be referencing other detectors throughout this review for comparison. Please keep in mind these are just my opinions. You may completely disagree, and that’s fine. Now I can't speak on beach hunting, gold prospecting or long-term durability but I can offer my opinion on several other things including how it performs for the type of detecting I do, which is looking for coins and relics in the dirt. This first section is just my initial thoughts after the first 50 hours of use. It’s impossible to learn everything about a metal detector like this one in only 50 hours, and it’s my goal to make this review as complete as possible. I’ll continue to post updates throughout this thread as I get more time on the unit. You’ll be able to read along with my progress as I continue to learn, as well as see input from other users. So, for the full review, be sure to read through the entire thread. I'll break this down into specifics and give my thoughts on each. Ergonomics: Let’s start with the control housing and buttons. The outer button layout and overall appearance of the control housing is very reminiscent of the Equinox. The arrangement of the thumb buttons is different, but well placed. Buttons are very responsive and have a good quality feel. I’d prefer to have the power button and side user soft key on the face of the control housing, since these will be used often. It would just be easier to access them with the thumb in my opinion. Moving down to the handle, it’s a combination of what feels like some type of plastic with a rubber over-molding in the area where the fingers wrap around. The angle feels like its slightly more forward than the Equinox. Very comfortable. It also has a built-in vibration mode which may be helpful when hunting in noisy areas, underwater or for anyone who is hearing impaired. The Manticore balances well. Even though it’s basically the same weight as the Equinox, it doesn’t feel as nose heavy due to a couple of improvements in geometry. First, on the handle just below the control housing, there’s a little nub that protrudes over the index finger to keep your hand positioned at the proper distance from the bottom of the housing. Next, the new “Scorpion” armrest has a built-in riser that brings your elbow up and positions your arm so that it runs parallel with the shaft. Speaking of the Scorpion armrest, it’s a big improvement over the one found on the Equinox 600 and 800. It’s easily adjustable and very flexible. I believe they’ve included a similar style of armrest on the new Equinox 700 and 900. Well done. The new carbon fiber shaft is both lightweight and rigid. It has two adjustable locking cams. The unit collapses down to a very compact size. Having the attachment ears on the shaft rather than the coil was a great idea, though I’ve been having an issue with the coil bolt working loose. This new shaft is a big step up in quality from the Equinox 600 & 800. However, I think Minelab missed the boat on a few of things: 1) The shaft should’ve been keyed in my opinion. What I mean by “keyed” is, it should have been designed in a way that it cannot rotate. Similar to the XP Deus, for example. I don’t like having to visually line up the coil with the control housing every time I use it. 2) It would’ve been nice to have some measurement markings on the shaft, so that we can quickly extend it to our desired position without even thinking about it. Yes, we could always put them on ourselves with a marker, but why not do this from the factory? Such a small simple thing, yet it would’ve been extremely useful! Especially on a detector with a three piece shaft. 3) Minelab has always mounted the shaft in the center of the coil on most of their detectors. This is how it should be, in my opinion. It just balances better and it’s easier to keep the coil level with the ground. For whatever reason, they moved the mounting point slightly to the rear on this one. Not sure why manufacturers do this, but I am not a fan. 4) With how far the shaft can collapse down, the cable can get caught on the cam locks and be a pain to deal with. It sure would’ve been cool if they could’ve figured out a way to put the cable inside the shaft, like they did with the CTX 3030. I know it would require making the shaft diameter slightly larger, but that would’ve been fine with me. After reading this, it may seem like I'm saying the design isn’t good. That’s not the case at all. This is a very comfortable, well-balanced machine. However, the idea is to point out the positives and negatives... and I do see some room for improvement. Display: The display on the Manticore is outstanding. It’s large, colored, and super easy to read. Nothing is cramped and everything is large enough that you’re not straining to view it. The main focal point is the large Target ID with Target Trace just below it. On the left, you can see the frequency being used, along with the sensitivity. Across the top are several icons showing the current program, along with the status for overload, flashlight, tracking, wireless, headphones and battery. On the righthand side is the depth meter. Like the Equinox, the Manticore’s depth meter shows the depth with arrows or chevrons. Each one represents roughly 2 inches. I would’ve preferred a numeric depth read-out, but that’s just me nitpicking. The brightness of the display can be set at several levels, or it can be set to auto. When in auto mode, the light sensor on the top right will automatically adjust the brightness based on the available light around you. If you find yourself detecting after dark, it has a build in flashlight. While we’re on the subject of the display, I have a general request for all detector manufacturers. These plastic film screen protectors are a pain in the ass to install. I somehow managed to screw up every single one of them. How much trouble would it be to include a tempered glass screen protector with these high-end machines? While you’re at it, go ahead and install the damn thing from the factory. Menu: The Manticore’s user menu is by far the most well thought out, easiest to navigate of any detector I’ve ever used. It literally took me about 5 minutes to scroll through everything, understand where every setting is and what it does. You press the settings button, and the menu comes in on the lefthand side. From there you just use the arrows on the keypad to scroll through the various settings. Simple. I don’t know how else describe it other than to say that all the settings and controls are just laid out in a way that’s super easy to understand and use. Other detector manufactures could learn a thing or two from Minelab in this department. Thinking back to the days of the overly complex menu on machines like the White’s V3i, this is such a HUGE improvement. Very well done! Battery/Charging: The Manticore has a built-in rechargeable battery. The run time varies depending on the program and features used. I’ve always said that as long as I can hunt all day without needing to recharge, that’s all that really matters to me. I’ve been out on a few all-day hunts with the Manticore, and while it has always made it through the day, I have to admit that the battery level shown on the screen at the end of the day made me a little nervous. If you hunt more than 7 hours or so, or run power hungry programs like High Conductor, it may be a good idea to carry a power bank just in case. Like the Equinox, the Manticore charges with a cable that magnetically attaches to the back of the control housing. I really like this design and would love to see XP use something like this rather than the cumbersome coil clips and screw on charging attachments that they currently use. Target ID: The Target ID on the Manticore goes from 0-99 and is very spread out. To give you an idea of what I mean by “spread out”, the range for an IHP to a silver quarter is around 55 to 90. For comparison, on the Deus 2, that same range of coins is covered from around 80-97. Having a spread ID has some benefits, but it also has some negatives. Being so spread out, you’ll notice more ID variation due to mineralization, and you’ll notice it’s a little less stable when compared to machines like the Deus 2, CTX or Etrac. So, it’s a tradeoff. On the Manticore, you’ll get a better spread to help separate detected targets, but you’ll need to do more mental averaging of the ID #’s to get a good idea of what’s under the coil. The Deus 2 tends to lock on better due to the ID of coins being bunched closer together. Target Trace: This feature was first seen on the CTX 3030 about a decade ago. Some people wrote it off as a gimmick, but I found it to be a useful tool. As metal detectorists, we’re constantly trying to use calculated info to figure out what’s hidden under the dirt. We use things like sound, discrimination, and target ID to make our best guess on whether or not to dig. Target Trace is just one more tool to add to the arsenal. At a glance, it can show you when you have multiple targets close together, it can tell you if those targets are of different conductivity and can help you avoid digging certain junk targets. No, you can’t see shapes, but you can see different signatures which may give you a hint as to what’s beneath the coil. To me, the new Target Trace on the Manticore is cleaner and easier to understand than the one found on the CTX 3030. Don’t expect some magic new feature that’s going to show you an outline of the target. That’s not how it works. The 2D map simply shows you where the target plots based on its ferrous and conductive properties. Think of it as a feature that will come in handy occasionally, rather than something you’ll rely on with every signal. It’s just another useful bit of information to help with your dig/don’t dig decision. Discrimination Patterns & Ferrous Limits: The disc patterns on the Manticore are similar to what some of you may remember on the Etrac and CTX. Targets are either accepted or rejected based on where their FE-CO properties plot on the screen. Small iron targets come in across the top, larger iron at the bottom, and non-ferrous on or near the center line. Ferrous targets can be either accepted or rejected using the Ferrous Limits feature, which is basically like a visual iron bias setting. Discrimination is set by blocking out vertical segments across the VDI scale. Ferrous limits and the Discrimination Pattern are set-up separately in the menu. Works well enough, but I do have one major gripe. You can save four custom Ferrous Limits, but for whatever reason they limited us to only one Discrimination Pattern for each search mode. So, they basically gave us the ability to create awesome custom programs but with no way to save them globally. That’s a real head scratcher for me. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed in a software update. Tones: The tones on the Manticore can be configured in a variety of different ways via Audio Themes and Target Tones. Audio Theme Audio Themes consist of Normal, Enhanced, Depth and Prospecting. Each one with different characteristics. -From the manual Normal: The Normal Audio Theme is a good choice for everyday detecting. It gives full sounding audio responses that vary in both pitch and volume. Enhanced: The Enhanced Audio Theme is similar to Normal, but is optimized for detecting in high EMI scenarios. Depth: The Depth Audio Them is useful for improved target separation at inland locations that contain high amounts of ferrous trash. (This is very similar to “Pitch” tones on the Deus 2) Prospcting: The Prospecting Theme is useful when maximum sensitivity to weak targets is beneficial, such as for gold prospecting or hunting for fine jewelry at the beach. This theme is best used at low trash sites. Normal, Enhanced and Depth have profile settings which can control the amount of modulation (Simple, Medium, and Rich), as well as Threshold Level and Pitch. Target Tones Here you can configure the tones in a few different ways: The traditional 1 tone, 2 tones or 5 tones. Meaning the user can break up the ID scale into bins and assign a single pitch to each bin. Another option is what Minelab calls “All Tones”. This is another way of saying Full Tones. In this mode, each ID # has its own pitch assigned. You can also break up the ID scale into regions, assigning the start and end points for the pitch in each region. Useful for making certain target ranges stand out. The volume and pitch are user adjustable for both ferrous and non-ferrous targets. Overall, the tones on the Manticore are highly configurable and pleasant to the ears. However, they aren’t nearly as nuanced or descriptive as the tones on the Deus 2 IMHO. Pinpointing: As you turn on pinpoint mode and sweep across the target, the detector progressively reduces sensitivity with each sweep until only a very narrow target response is achieved. When in pinpoint mode, you’ll see a bar going across the bottom of the screen. As the center of the coil approaches the target, the bar fills in towards the center. The Manticore’s pinpoint mode works well and is an improvement over the Deus 2 in my opinion. Mainly because there’s no need to press additional buttons to turn it off. If you prefer, the wiggle back method also works well. Search Modes: The Manticore comes with 3 search modes: All-Terrain, Beach and Gold Field. Each with its own selectable programs which use different combinations of frequencies and other settings geared toward different types of targets or hunting conditions. General – All-around general-purpose detecting for most targets and conditions. Fast – Optimized for separation of targets. Low Conductors – For small or low conductive targets. High Conductors – Optimized for high conductive targets like silver coins. Trash Reject – Optimized for maximum rejection of iron trash and foil. Some people have reported excessive iron falsing with the Manticore. I experienced a little of this myself when using All Terrain High Conductors, but found that in areas with lots of iron, switching over to All Terrain General seems to help. You may notice slightly decreased depth and less stable ID on high conductors when using General. Depth: In my test bed, the Manticore was easily able to hit all the deep targets that were on the edge of detection with some of my previous detectors like the CTX 3030 and Equinox 800. In good soil, 9” – 10” coins aren’t even a challenge. On my second trip out with the Manticore, I went to a site that has sandy soil and is known for super deep targets. Clad runs all the way down to around 8 inches, and anything silver is well beyond that. I’ve hunted this spot multiple times in the past with my CTX 3030 and my Deus 2 with the 9” coil. Found a lot of silver, but eventually the signals dried up. So, I thought it would be fun to take the Manticore there and see if it could hit any targets that were just out of reach of the other machines. It handles EMI very well and I was able to run the sensitivity as high as 29 at this location. I ended up getting several more deep silver coins, along with an aluminum tax token that was easily 13” deep. To be fair, my Deus 2 was using a 9” coil and the Manticore has an 11” coil. My buddy Kenny came along that day to compare signals on his D2 with 11” coil, and he was able to hit all the same targets that the Manticore hit. You can watch a video of that hunt down below. Speed: I haven’t done a lot of separation tests, so I can’t say how it compares to some of the other recently released detectors. On the few tests I did, it seemed plenty fast to me. Headphones: This detector comes with the ML-105 headphones which are definitely a step up from the ones that came with my previous Minelabs. Nice and comfortable with good sound quality and no noticeable latency. They’re not waterproof, so I wouldn’t use them in the rain. Build Quality: The fit, feel and finish of the Manticore is much improved over the Equinox for sure. No more wobbly shaft. No more worries about broken coil ears. Excellent new arm cuff, and the buttons on the control housing feel great. No complaints so far. We’ll see how it holds up after a year of hard use. Manticore vs Deus 2: I’m only putting this here because I know someone will ask. If I could only keep one, which would it be? Well, both machines are deep, fast, and loaded with features. The Manticore definitely has the better-looking display and more intuitive menu in my opinion. All that stuff is great, but when it comes right down to it, the things that matter most to me are: Tones ID accuracy and stability In that order. Audio is #1 on my list because it’s the first thing that stops me in my tracks, and it tells me a lot about the target. More than ID. More than Target Trace or XY. When it comes to audio, the Deus 2 is unmatched in my opinion. When I say it has descriptive audio, what I mean is you can hear the soft edges of a round target. You can hear the roughness of a misshapen target. You can hear the forced sound of iron, even when it falses. No other metal detector I’ve used gives as much audible info as a Deus running Pitch or Full Tones. Another thing that’s very high on my list of importance is weight. Especially now that I’m getting older. A lighter machine means I can spend more time hunting before I get tired. More time hunting means more finds. The Manticore isn’t heavy by any means, but it’s still not even in the same ballpark as the Deus. The weight difference isn’t as noticeable when hunting flat ground, but if you’re like me and spend a lot of time hunting in the woods where you’re swinging over un-even ground and constantly maneuvering around trees or brush, the weight of your detector matters. For those reasons, if I could only keep one, it would be the Deus 2. To be fair, I have hundreds of hours on the D2 and only around 50 on the Manticore. My opinion may change as I get more time on the Minelab, so check back in a couple of months to see where I stand. Some finds from the first three hunts: Final Thoughts: So, there you have it. That’s my thoughts on the Minelab Manticore after 50 hours of use. It’s a great detector, with a few things that could be improved. Every metal detector has its faults, and the Manticore is no exception. Overall, it’s exactly what I expected it to be. No regrets with this purchase. I have no ties with Minelab and whether or not you buy this detector doesn't affect me what-so-ever. Everything mentioned above is just my opinion. YMMV. My Manticore YouTube Vids:

Some may find something useful in this video, what I got out of it is seeing just how badly VLF's work in those hot Aussie soils, as soon as he turned on all metal mode on the Nox it was going crazy so he had to keep disc on, when he ground balances it never does balance. Such a contrast to here in the gold areas where I don't even need to ground balance as I don't get any feedback from the soil in defaults. I can see why Aussies think VLF's are pretty pointless, they actually work pretty well in my ground though so I do quite like VLF's for gold prospecting in milder soils, in Australia especially where this guy is testing these detectors I wouldn't even bother using one at all.

Was lucky enough to find an 18 k chain and pendant on my second time out with the Manticore. Chain has a silver pendant and a gold pendant , looks like there was a second gold pendant that has come off. 33 gram with the silver pendant. I have been told that the gold pendant most probably holds a portion of someone's ashes. Found in the wet sand around 25 cm deep. It was the silver pendant that I heard. My guess is that most beach detectors would have heard the silver pendant, but it was nice to get some gold with the Manticore. So far I am really enjoying the Manticore on the beach and in the water. Haven’t had it in fast moving water yet, but it is working great in tidal pools.

I've been a bit slack with doing adventure posts for a while now, no real reason for it, just lazy I guess! 🙂 Today was a beautiful day, perfectly still and not too hot, not too cold, the ideal day to head up one of the mountains and fire up the Manticore. I quite like the Manticore, while I don't find it's target ID's as good as the Nox in a way its helping my detecting, I focus a lot on target ID's coin hunting cherry picking coins so I dig as little as possible so I don't cause damage to the fields, but when at the ski fields they're wild rocky soil places so digging a hole isn't as damaging and easy to fill it back in like it was never dug so using the Manticore with it's less accurate ID's doesn't overly matter as I tend to dig any non-ferrous. The ski fields aren't overly loaded with junk, for the most part the junk is accidental rather than people throwing rubbish down, for example I found no pull tabs at all even though people often drink out of cans while skiing/snowboarding. The drive up the mountain takes about half an hour once you get to the bottom of it, it's quite a steep drive and many cars overheat trying, it's said to be one of the most dangerous roads in the country, I think it's fine in summer, but winter lots of cars go off the edge from slipping in the ice and snow or crash in some way or another, especially tourists. They should all take the shuttle busses and it'd save a lot of grief. Made it up to the base of the ski area, I wanted to detect where I've never been before, so I went up to the top of a beginner/intermediate lift which took me over an hour to walk up there, but figured the most likely people to fall are beginners going up lifts for the first time so it had the most chance of decent finds. The base magic carpet areas where beginners not capable of using lifts go are always a little over-detected being the easy area to get to right at the base and an obvious place people are constantly falling over. They must still have juice running to the snow guns, these pole sort tended to cause much worse EMI than the other larger guns, not sure why but the Manticore really didn't like working near these ones. The ground is mostly rough broken up schist. this hole to the right of my control pod was a bit of a weird find, a golden knife. Not sure if it's gold, it's not magnetic, quite heavy and comes up as a solid 10 ID on the Manticore. I found this silver ring shortly after the knife. It was in this hole to the right of the control box. It's marked silver, the knife has no markings. This is the area I was mostly detecting, in the distance they set up snow jumps along the trail where the snow guns are for beginners to practice jumping, another good place they constantly fall over. The foreground here was most of my finds for the day. No sign of any surface stuff, far too late in the autumn (fall) for that, if I wanted surface finds I'd have to go just after spring while the snows still melting away, by now people have been wandering around all summer exploring so all of my finds were digs. Go earlier and some quite good stuff can be found without a metal detector, mostly phones and wallets. The ground here is quite variable around the mountain and required reasonably frequent ground balancing when I moved from one spot to the next, there were of course hot rocks too. I thought I'd head back down, my wife and daughter came along and they went to the lake, yep, lake, there is quite a big lake up here. it's straight ahead in this photo in the top right corner. This is it, nice clear water, perfect for a drink refill. I think the lakes around 2000 meters above sea level, something like 6500 feet. It's the first time I've seen it not frozen solid, I mostly am up the mountain in winter and spring when it's frozen. And my total finds Mostly bits off clothing and branding stuff off skis, snowboards and boots. See how none of the junk I found looks like something someone would throw down? I'm quite happy people treat the place with respect and don't throw rubbish around. I have no idea what this thing is, I'm not sure if the 1923 is the age of it or a model number, I couldn't find it on a quick Google search. $10 in current currency NZ spendies on the right, the gold $1 and $2 coins, and the left is oddly all old 20c coins, with one 5c and one 10cent. All pre-1980s coins. The goldies were mostly all from the 1990's except the shiny one which was a more recent 2020 coin. 5 cent don't exist anymore, 10 cents are now different and junk cupro coins and the 20 cent coins now are small rubbish cupro things too, the cupros are made in Canada, these older ones give a nice solid signal. The $1 and $2 are about the easiest coin to find, nice solid signal, never corrode, they just get a bit dull with age but clean up pretty good. The more unusual stuff, looks like an Aussie was littering the coin, a 2002 year of the Outback special edition coin. The left one is some Chinese 100 coin and the right one I'm not sure, some UK 50 pence coin that I've never found before, unusual shape. The Aussie looks like it's been run over by the snow groomers a few times over the years 🙂 So, a fun day out, probably my last detect at the ski areas, it was only 2 weeks ago the area was covered in snow, but the snow was too soon and melted already, the next lot probably won't melt. Happy enough with the Manticore, in fact it's excellent other than it's target ID's, when it comes to Cherry picking coins in the fields I'll stick to using the Nox and especially the CTX, I need the more stable reliable ID's so I dig as few holes as possible.

Well Minelab pulled one on me and probably the rest of the world yesterday and released 2 new detectors. With the Manticore starting to move and now we have an updated and more featured Equinox 900, I have questions. Which of the 2 will be best for Nugget Detecting = Prospecting? Many of us know the EQ-800 is by far the best VLF gold detector out there. So to get the few quirks taken care of and then add some features, you/I would think the new EQ-900 is the way to go, or is it? The Manticore claims to have 50% more power and better ID system as well. But only having 1 true Prospecting Mode, makes me wonder? Yes, only time will tell as we get them in the fields, but in reality I'm a little confused. Do we go with the proven or totally new? How about you?

Minelab Manticore vs Equinox 800 vs Equinox 900 for Gold Nugget Prospecting. I’ve been keeping my lips tight on this subject long enough. It’s to the point now I have to ask you the general public for input. After all, we have members on DP from other countries and maybe you can chime in as well? But for everyone reading, what do you think is the better detector for chasing Au nuggets and also do you feel is the best overall vale? Yes this is a 2 part question and it’s just your opinions so nobody is wrong. PROVEN - We all know (well at least my Field Staff Experts and I…as well as most of my customers who’s taken our Field Training at Rye Patch NV, the last 3 yrs) how well the Equinox 800 performs and the 10X of features why it’s a better performing VLF gold detector than the Monster and most other class detectors. Don’t get me wrong, the Monster is a great detector for many and those who like to hand a simple Turn on and Go detector to a friend or family who wants to give it a try on occasion. But there’s many shortcoming on the Monster I wish it had. Brain flash…Oh my…the next detector “The Monster 2000”. Heck maybe that’s why I’m feeling shorted with the Manticore? Again EQ-800 is proven and golden. Proven: Lets back up a few years just before Equinox being released to General Public. Jan. 2018 Dealers were invited to an Equinox Introduction. Minelab had a big meeting in AZ to educate dealers (at least the ones who took the time to show up), how the Equinox series (EQ-600/800) was going to be the flag ship sub $1000 detector. Minelab was on their A game and even brought the big guns from Australia in to share this exciting new technology. Thanks to all of Minelab who helped put that event together. I know most everyone I spoke with was extremely excited for the future. A few of folks were even lucky enough to stay an extra day and go out into the desert and feel, swing, test the NOX to see for ourselves, very impressed. My Staff was all over it and learned a lot. Afterwards the big brass from Minelab USA came to Boise and visited me just to make sure I was totally on board and ready to sell the $hit out of them, which I did. Sadly, we didn’t get such dog/pony show for the Manticore, well not us in the US anyway as of yet? Did any other countries get a red carpet treatment on it and how well it will do for Gold Prospecting? We still have time though, but you’d expect a detector that was shown way back in August of 2022 and now it’s March of 2023, well it’s never to late and I’ll give them a pass as they are releasing a detectors left and right, (EQ-700, EQ-900, Manticore, X-Terra Pro) so their time is limited. Here is why I am a little skeptical. Now folks, I’m no genius and no I’m no more special than anyone else, but I’ve reached out more than once to (I won’t say their names) and have yet to hear back. Realize, I’m just 1 guy and they probably get asked by many. Plus all those other new detectors coming out…back to me being a little skeptic. A simple quick view of the Manticore and what I see missing? EQ-800 and EQ-900 both have 2 Gold Prospecting Modes and the Manticore Only has 1. EQ800/900 both have option of the small 6” sniper coil. Heck the EQ-900 comes with 2 coils including the 6” sniper coil in the box for only $1100 in the US. Manticore does not even give us the option for that small coil. We get a bigger 8” coil option instead for some unknown price yet to be seen? Heck, anyone who knows anything about VLF class gold detectors realizes the importance of the smallest coil possible and there are 10+ proven gold detectors out there proving the small 5 and 6” coils are KILLER on small gold. But not even an option for the Manticore? When I view all the upgrades of the EQ-900 and see the additional $180 sniper 6” coil comes with it in the box, I see value. In fact since the EQ-900 has the same 2 Gold Modes as the EQ-800, I lean again to the “Proven” as well. Not so with the Manticore, or at least yet. Maybe I’m just very cautious of the last 6 months (half a year) of hearing all the great about the Manticore? Maybe in 6 months (or next year) all this will be proven? Or maybe the Manticore is mainly geared toward the masses? I did see and wondered???? The Manti is missing the 4 kHz Setting the EQ-800 and EQ-900 have. Not sure why it’s not on the Manticore? We know the masses are General Purpose Coin/Relic hunters and then Beach/Water swingers. Prospectors, we’re less than 10%, maybe even less than 5% of the general public who detects. Here’s a quick overview I observed without going into each individual feature. Yes all 3 units come with wireless headphones, cables, chargers and screen protectors. Equinox 800 is $900, comes with an 11” DD coil (price dropped a few months ago) and it’s a proven gold detector. After becoming the #1 seller for me and many others under $1000, many folks encounters a few flaws (arm cuffs, shaft wobble, ear cracks, leaks, wireless headphones). The good thing is Minelab provides a 3 year transferable warranty and they take care of their customers. I honestly feel if you take any product and it becomes so popular, most everyone’s uses it, then there will be more people complaining as well, it’s simple math. Minelab has done a pretty good job trying to keep most of us happy with our EQ-600/800s, including me. Equinox 900 is $1100, comes with an 11” DD coil and a 6” DD Sniper coil. Has the upgraded collapsible carbon fiber shaft (like the Manti), has a new improved arm cuff (so does the Manti), better quality Waterproofing to 16” (so does the Manti), better improved wireless headphones (so does the Manti), Vibrating Arm Grip (just like Manti), Night Hunting light (yes the Manti does), twice the Digital ID #’s (yes to the Manti), Iron Bias 0 to 9, like the Manti, Recovery Speed 1 to 8, just like Manti, more segments of DISC = 119, Manti only has 0 to 99. Lighter than the Manti…all this for $500 less. Manticore is $1600 and comes with a single 11” DD coil. Again, no option for the small 6” Sniper coil. One less Gold Mode than EQ-800/900? But we do get the colored LCD screen with 2D readout. Yes there are a couple other small things and one big thing, MORE POWER. Yes, I’m most certain the Manti will get a little extra depth vs the EQ-800/900 and for those who are Coin/Relic/Beach hunters, the Manticore just might be that perfect $1600 detector. For us Prospector Hunters, maybe we might look at the new improved Equinox-900 as our go to VLF class? I don’t know on the Manticore yet, but I do know how well the EQ-800 has done for my guys and many customers for the last 4 yrs. Again, I’m not saying the Manticore is no good, quite the opposite actually as I did find all the gold jewelry in Cancun with it on my vacation in Dec. (update to the bigger diamond ring, appraisal came back at $5400). I've also witnessed there is at least 1 inch more in depth for coin hunting with the Manticore. I seen this myself on a side by side comparison with a staff member who has the EQ-900 (which he loves). I just wonder if the Manticore is geared more towards the masses and us Prospectors need to stay Equinox for the near future? I’m all ears to hear anyone's thoughts and comments and especially from those who have used the Manticore for gold nugget hunting. Maybe us Prospectors should be sticking with the proven Equinox 800 or upgrading to the improved Equinox 900?

Hi everyone, my first post here! After reading hundreds of posts and watching YouTube videos online for the last 6 months I've decided to choose one of the following detectors: Legend, Deus 2 or the Manticore. I have very little experience in metaldetecting. The only experience I have is 4 months searching on the saltwater beach with a Makro Racer 2 in 2017. Unfortunately I had to stop and now 6 years later ready to start again. My biggest problem is that I can't visit a metal detecting dealer to see and feel the different models. The only place I'm going to metal detect is the saltwater beach looking for coins and jewelry. I don't plan to go in the water (waist, diving). I live about 8 minutes from the beach (by bike) so portability is important to me (backpack and go). These are the configurations I like with their corresponding prices: - Nokta Legend (WHP): 600 euro (nokta offer valid until march 31, 2023 or while supplies last) - XP Deus 2 (WSA2 + RC): 1450 euro - Minelab Manticore: 2000 euro As you can see the Deus 2 is 2.5x times more expensive than the Legend and the Manticore almost 3.5x times. Unfortunately no discounts are possible. If there are no differences between the three models for my situation (searching on the saltwater beach) then I'll look at the other criteria (weight, warranty etc.). If one of the detectors is better but cost 2x to 3x more then that's no problem. So price is not really a problem. Some specs I found online (mainly focused on weight and dimensions): Nokta Legend Weight: 1.4 kg / 3.0 lbs Collapsed Length: 63 cm / 25 inch (with coil?) Warranty: 3 year Headphones: Bluetooth aptX Low Latency XP Deus 2 Weight: - S-Telescopic + Remote + 9" coil = 865 g / 1.9 lbs - S-Telescopic + Remote + 11" coil = 990 g / 2.2 lbs - S-Telescopic lite + Remote + 9" coil = 800 g / 1.8 lbs - S-Telescopic lite + Remote + 11" coil = 925 g / 2.0 lbs Collapsed Length: 58 cm / 22.8 inch and 65 cm / 25.6 inch (equipped with a 9" coil) Warranty: 5 year Headphones: WSA2, WSA2 XL Minelab Manticore Weight: 1.3 kg / 2.9 lb Collapsed Length: 63 cm / 25 inch (with coil?) Warranty: 3 year Headphones: Minelab ML-105 Some positives and negatives: Nokta Legend: + price (much cheaper than the Deus 2 and Manticore) + Bluetooth aptX Low Latency headphones compatibility - weight (heaviest of the three) XP Deus 2: + weight (much lighter than the other three models) + 5 year warranty + choice for a small headphone (WSA2) + backpack 240 perfect fit for deus 2 (portability) - menu learning curve? Manticore: + color screen + navigating menu - only one headphone option Of course there are more pros and cons between these detectors and these can only be answered by people who own these detectors. I really want a high end detector (no vanquish, simplex etc..). Tips and suggestions are welcome!

With a GPX leading the way marking bullets so that we could test...which VLF would you say did the best? T2 with stock coil. Deus2 with 9 inch coil and 11x13. MCore with 11 inch coil. All Metal modes on all 3 machines. Deepest bullet was 14 inches. Most were 8 to 10 inches. Take your best guesses and I'll do a write up later.

Why controls on the side of the pod? The serve no purpose I can see from a manufacturing perspective, and only serve to complicate the design. Extra holes in the case, rubber chicklets that wear out. The main issue though is that from a user standpoint they really suck. How many people put the User Definable button on the Equinox to real use? It's a fabulous control, and we all should be flipping back and forth between settings to verify targets. At a minimum it's a great way to decide which mode works best, but it's the ability to quickly compare targets in two modes that is a real boon if used properly. Very few people use it at all however, and the reason is simple. The location is so inconvenient as to make us ignore it. Those who do use it have to jump through hoops to do so. The real crime here is there is no need for this. There is plenty of room on the front to put all controls front and center where they should be. It is too bad that Minelab did not take this opportunity to get it right with the Equinox 700, 900, and Manticore, perpetuating a poor design choice with Equinox into the future. Which would you rather have?........

I’m up visiting my old shop in Alaska. We are doing a massive expansion of the mining department into its own building. The idea is to create a mining and metal detecting superstore. Anyway, they have the 900 and Manticore in stock. Some might find it funny but getting one just to get the new handgrip instead of the round post my Equinox 800 offers almost seemed reason enough to take one home. Kind of doubt I will though as I’m a bit over it all at the moment, but I’m here a couple more days so have time to think about it. The new shop is shaping up nice, tons of new toys including mini excavators. I’ll take some photos of the new store today and post later.

I have heard some positive comments regarding target separation with the Manticore, especially in thick iron. Deus has traditionally had a great rep in this regard as well. Would like folks who have used both machines to weigh in on this aspect of performance. Please provide relative context for any observations or assertions including modes, settings (especially recovery speed/reactivity and audio settings), soil conditions, target types/composition, and ferrous/non-fertous trash density. Thanks. Since M-core is limited to the 11" coil let's keep the discussion constrained to 11" or 9" coil comparisons. Leaving Nox and Legend out of the discussion for now to keep things simple and because they both have smaller elliptical coil options available that just complicates apples to apples comparisons. Have at it... I don't have a Manticore so I will mostly stay on the sidelines unless general logic or technical facts discrepancies are noted or I have questions.

This started out as *not* a battle between the two. The site I like to test detectors recently sold and I was finally able to get in touch with the new owners and re-acquire permission for it. I have about another yr before it gets turned into a housing development. What it is, is a practice range from the Civil War. There are minie balls everywhere on it...the problem is, they are in 4-5 bar dirt and on most every VLF machine they will read as iron. We figured this out years ago and it has just always been my place to test new detectors in a 150+ yr old test garden. I started out here with the Manticore. All Terrain General with Normal audio profile, 5 tones. Sens was at 25. Long press noise canceled and ground balanced...off I went. Observation number 1...it behaves a lot like the Equinox in hot dirt in that it is real chatty and falses a lot. I hunted with it quite a while and found 2 really shallow bullets and a whole lot of non digging time between them. I just wasn't locating signals 😕 My plan was to try and get back on the bullet site...and if that had failed, I was going to go down the road to a farm I have permission for, and hunt some iron patches with the D2 and 9 inch coil. After hunting about an hour with the Manticore, it dawned on me that I hadn't had the D2 at this place either and I might as well give it a try since I was there. I went back to the truck and got the D2 out. I went to the factory Relic program and bumped the disc up to 4. Ground balanced it and started swinging. Right out of the chute I noted it was very quiet. I probably didn't go 20 feet and had a really good 70s signal. Banger signal. Out came a bullet. Filled that hole...4 feet from it another 70s. Another bullet. Both of those were relatively shallow...4 inches or so. Then a few yards away, another great signal but a little weaker audio. Still 4 way repeating. At this point I walked to the truck and got the Manticore. I wanted to see what it would do on this signal. To my surprise it was crap. On the graph, it drew a smear up in the upper ferrous range and would occasionally blip about every other pass across it. So we had one machine saying non ferrous all the way...and one that was mostly sure it was iron. I dug and a mid depth bullet was in the bottom of the hole. By mid depth I mean from the tip of my Garrett pinpointer to the on/off button. I'm not sure the exact measurement of that but 6 inches would be a fair guesstimate. And this is how it went for the majority of the rest of the bullets I found. I tried different modes on the Manticore...the only way to locate and find the bullets with it, would be to hunt a totally open screen and dig EVERY THING. So in that regard...the Manticore *IMO*, falls into the lump of the vast majority of other VLF machines for hot dirt. Remember I said that it was "well rounded"...well that still holds true. It can do a lot of things pretty well...but hot dirt is not one of its strong suits. What is surprising to me is how well the D2 ran in it. I started in Relic mode but quickly found out that General mode hit them just as easy with a bit more pleasing audio. I did NOT dig any deep ones...about pinpointer deep was the deepest but I had several in that range. All were great signals and this being with the 9 inch coil is even more impressive. Right now...if you told me I could keep only one machine. I would keep the D2....despite hating that stupid antenna for hunting in water. The Manticore is well rounded...but the D2 has a bit more strengths in the types of hunting I do.

There was a thread on Equinox vs Manticore for Gold Nuggets but when I just took a look I have seen about every comparison made but this one. One or the other, for just general all around metal detecting, parks, beach, fields, relics, coins, jewelry - what's the pick? Any thought yet on which is just the better rounded do everything for most people detector? And just to keep it clean, let's just assume stock coils only. This model with stock coil or that model with stock coil, which one is it going to be? And no other options please, just Equinox 900 or Manticore?

You just nicely summed up Daniel why most serious gold nugget prospectors have a PI. I agree on the F75 all metal also by the way - best VLF all metal mode I have ever used. If a person wants an alternative to PI at a low price and super ergonomic, they need look no farther than using a F75 in all metal mode. It won't handle hot rocks like a PI though so beware that. Few people have ever disputed that the Deus is the better dense trash hunter compared to Equinox, and looks like the Manticore vs Deus 2 story is playing out the same. Which kind of sucks for me as I'm not a fan of the XP system in general when it comes to menus and wireless coils. I prefer the Minelab wired coils and menu setup. Don't try to convince me otherwise - everyone has preferences and those are mine. But when it comes to performance and audio the XP and I get along just fine, and end of the day that's the way I swing.

Got my new Manticore Wednesday and headed immediately south to hunt a new Civil War permission. Cranked it up and headed out. Went about 20 yards and returned to the truck. It was a new permission. I decided I didn’t want to begin a new permission with an unfamiliar detector. I headed out instead with my D2 with the 11x13” coil. And never put it down. Across 2 days, I dug 100 bullets, several artillery fragments and sabot pieces (I know there’s a complete shell there), and various other relics. I said to myself, “I have 2 D2 remote controls and 2 coils that I know and love. Do I really want this Manticore right now?” So after not digging a target with it, I am leaning toward passing it on to someone else.

.....The dice are rolled...

I opted to put this on this page vs the Manticore specific forum because I plan on talking about other machines in this post. I FINALLY was able to get back to the site of the drained lake...the one where I posted about hunting with the Nox 900 and Deus 2. Well they've fixed the problem at the dam and the water has came up quite a bit from the last time I was there. In fact, it's up so high it actually covered about 1/3rd of the area I hunted with the previous two machines. I wanted to see how the Manticore handled this particular place. As noted in the other thread, this beach is man made and is pretty much this bedrock with sand and lake Muck on top of it. I took a picture of the exposed bed rock for you guys so you could see what I am referring to. So what did the Manticore find there after having previously hunted it with the 900 and D2? How about.....nadda. That's right. Nothing. I will tell you that it behaves similarly to the Nox 900 in that it is very chirpy and falses a lot in the iron that is on this beach, and even with tracking ON, it seems slow at keeping up with the changing ground. I tried a couple different modes here...using the All Terrain General and All Terrain Low Conductor modes. I didn't dig any non ferrous trash, nor coins, nor jewelry. I'm not kidding when I say...nadda. I did try digging some of the very obvious iron false signals just for the heck of it and they were indeed iron. I had the D2 with me and the 9 inch coil on it. I fired it up and rehunted the same area and I will tell you hands down...the D2 is smoother and quieter on this site. It's actually a joy to use there. I did dig two non ferrous targets with it and both were small BB fishing sinkers. ‐---------------- Now here is where things turn. I had been telling my mom about hunting the drained lake and she said something that blind sighted me. She asked "where you hunting the new beach or the old one". Huh? Say what? Well come to find out...the beach I have been hunting is what she refers to as the "new beach". It was built some time in the 1970s. The beach she swam at as a kid...during the 50s and 60s is the old beach. I never knew it existed. She showed me on Google Earth where it was. I said "mom, I've been metal detecting for 30 years and you just now come up with the info of TWO beaches?!!" Haha. and that's where I went to after hunting the "new beach" today. It actually took a bit to locate and I wasn't sure at first. It is loaded with fishing sinkers and such. But then...I started getting deep high tones and started digging coins from the 60s and 70s and then old style ring pull tabs. I was pretty sure at that point I had found it...and signals are everywhere so I'm sure it hasn't been detected much either. I actually just barely scratched the surface there...dug a whole pouch of older clad and 3 rings. Two silver and 1 copper. I am confident more is going to come out of here...just have to work through the trash to get it. I am more than willing to do that. So I stop by my mom's on the way home from the hunt to show her the rings and let her have her pick if she wanted one. Immediately she grabbed one with a red stone in it and ran to the kitchen sink. I didn't think anything of it. Then she came out of the kitchen crying. What happened? Well...unbeknownst to me, I had found her sister's ring that she had lost when they were kids. She passed away last year. Mom never mentioned her losing a ring but she sure knew it as soon as she saw it. It was their grandmother's ring and their grandmother had given it to mom's sister. She lost it swimming back in the 1960s. It was a 925 silver ring with either a red garnet or ruby...I couldn't tell you because it's firmly in mom's possession now. I am stoked to have found a new spot to hit. I didn't even hunt this one with the D2...the Manticore seemed to be doing fine at it. There's no bedrock on this end of the lake...just sand and mud. Some of the coins were rather deep...pushing 10 to 11 inches and sounded very good.