Is The Manticore Worth It? Does It Perform Better Than The Nox?

[CliveHamy]

Hi folks, first I'd like to say thanks to Steve H., Chase, Phrunt, CJC, Strike and many others that have been contributing over the years. I have been following the Nox and now the Manticore forums since early 2018 and your advice has been brilliant in helping me to get the best out of the NOX 800. I appreciate that the answer to the Topic I've raised depends a lot on ones detecting environment, experience levels, funding and objectives. In my case I'm a NOX 800 user in the Southwest of England primarily interested in discovering artefacts in the rural Devon countryside. I have two roles: one as a hobbyist where time on Club digs and my own permissions is limited, so I want to ignore Iron (BOAT - Bit's off a tractor) and find interesting stuff in the limited time. The Romans did not have a massive presence, and the local British tribe the Dumnoni did not have coins until the Saxons took over in about 650AD, so our fields are quiet with the occasional hammered coins, buckles, horse brasses etc. (My default setting is Field2, sensitivity 22-24, All metal, rest standard, no discrimination)  My second role in retirement is as an archaeologist teaching students to use MD in archaeological excavations, checking excavations and spoil heaps. Here I have to change my hobbyist approach and discover all metallic objects as they are all indicative of human activity. I find the Nox 800 excellent but as a hobbyist I wish I did not dig so much BOAT!

I've been following the Monticore forum closely and nearly bought one earlier in the year, the idea of being able to determine (via the 2-d display and enhanced audio) whether an object is likely to be Iron before digging particularly appeals to me in my hobbyist role. However the price, and the less than glowing reports (depth, ID and software update issues) makes me wonder whether the Manticore provides any extra depth or Identification compared to my trusty Nox 800. I appreciate that it takes time to learn and get the best out of a new machine and that you folks have only just started on the journey, but my question for you all is:- Does the Manticore really provide any extra depth and Identification compared to the Nox800?  (All the other fancy features are secondary)

Many thanks in advance

Cheers Clive H. 

[scoopjohnb]

As a Minelabian from just over the Channel I would have to say.

Yes it really offers you better depth and very dependable Iron disc.

However there is a trick to not digging BOAT on the NOX 800.

Swing away from the BEEP. And engage Ground Balance. Now casually swing over the suspect target.

You will hear a tell-tale Low-high-low tone response.

On the Manty you just have to watch the 2D screen and look where the splatter starts. If it starts in the ferrous regions. It is Ferrous, no mistake about that 😉

I May I attended a weekender in the Shepton-Mallet area. Didn't have any problems with the BOAT signals with the Manty.

 

From an archeologists perspective. It's a great tool because you can tell it which Iron you like and which you don't. The Ferrous Limits are fully adjustable.

Depth, well don't get me going about that. Since the update there is more than ample depth to the unit.

Mostly we aren't able to use it to its full potential. Because there is a bit of mineral in the ground.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll be digging hammereds a way bit deeper than you're use to 😉

[Outdorssmun2]

I ran my nox 800 for over 4 years it was a magic machine for me. But the manty is better in every way. Much deeper and better id for sure.

[strick]

The M-Core is deeper then the Nox 800 in my experience just as Minelab advertised it would be. I find the screen valuable in discerning targets as well. I still have my wife's 800 and all the coils to that machine. I used it a little about a while back and found my wrist hurting from the grip...now this never happened before so maybe my arm is now used to the ergonomics of the M-Core grip which is better then the Nox 800...

strick

[phrunt]

The Manticore does appear slightly deeper than the Nox and when in spots you can crank up the extra sensitivity of the Manticore it shows the depth increase a bit more, as for iron identification I'm not sure as we just don't have a lot of iron junk to deal with here.    I think we reached peak VLF depth some time ago so the depth increase is small, so don't expect anything dramatic.   I'm in really mild soils though so a $200 detector gets me great depth so perhaps I don't notice the depth increases as someone in bad soil where the better ground handling of one model detector may make it far deeper than a different detector that handles the ground worse.

The hard part being the price difference and if it's worth the upgrade.  I find it's a better detector, but not significantly better and I'm not quite sure I can justify the price difference.   As an overall package its much better than the Nox, nicer to swing, better quality and the 2D screen is pretty valuable once you learn how to use it although I like the CTX target ID system better.  The new update has improved Target ID stability for me, it was poor now it's pretty good.  Not solid like the Nox but it has a bigger range of numbers so you have to expect that.

The big question is really if it's worth the price difference, for me the money didn't overly matter too much so yes it was worth it, if the money is a big issue then some maybe disappointed as the difference isn't as great as they may be hoping for the extra cost depending on the cost in your country of course, here the Manticore is basically the CTX 3030 price and the Nox is pretty cheap so a big price difference between the two.

[TampaBayBrad]

5 hours ago, strick said:

I still have my wife's 800 and all the coils to that machine. I used it a little about a while back and found my wrist hurting from the grip...now this never happened before so maybe my arm is now used to the ergonomics of the M-Core grip which is better then the Nox 800...

Interesting point strick. I didn't own a nox so I can't compare.

Or maybe it's just that you're a year older now? 😄

[Gold Catcher]

I thought for just gold the nox 900 has an edge of the manticore with the 6 inch coil, or at least is not worse. No? I just placed the order for the nox but could still change to manti....I need it for trashy mine sites with the most effective ID. Any additional feedback welcomed. Thx.

GC

[UT Dave]

7 hours ago, strick said:

T00 in my experience just as Minelab advertised it would be. I find the screen valuable in discerning targets as well. I still have my wife's 800 and all the coils to that machine. I used it a little about a while back and found my wrist hurting from the grip..

I've used my 800 with the 6" coil a few times in the last month.  First thing I noticed is how bad the grip is compared to the Manticore.  The 800 grip never bothered me at all.  The Manticore is just that much better.

@phrunt pretty much nailed my take on is the Manticore worth it.  Which is to say, it depends...  It was worth it to me.  But I can sure understand why it might not be to someone else.

- Dave

[Gold Catcher]

Ok I changed it to the Manticore after a long discussion with my good friend in AZ. I also will get the 8 inch coil which are coming up soon, so I was told. Who knows, I might become a VLF fan 🙂

GC

[strick]

4 hours ago, Gold Catcher said:

I need it for trashy mine sites with the most effective ID. Any additional feedback welcomed. Thx.

GC

For mining camps the Nox works just fine and the M-Core might be a little overkill but once you learn it you will be happy I'm sure esp if you start going down the dark road of a park/jewelry hunter lol...

strick