Equinox 600 Versus Equinox 800

[Chase Goldman]

16 minutes ago, DetectingMO said:

Yep, unfortunately, the 600 is in less supply than 800 though.   Great value comes with great wait apparently.  :(

Though that value is diminished somewhat if you factor in the cost of the wireless hardware (Aptx phones and WM08 module) included with the 800 vs. the 600 wired phones.

[DetectingMO]

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Though that value is diminished somewhat if you factor in the cost of the wireless hardware (Aptx phones and WM08 module) included with the 800 vs. the 600 wired phones.

I have $13 atpx ear buds that work great.

[vive equinox]

it should be emphasized that the difference in recovery speed of 3 maximum on the 600 and 8 on the 800 is a very important point for users like me who hunts old sites infested with ferrous. the beach modes are set to 6 in the 800, is not it a reactivity too high for most beaches? do not lose in depth compared to the 600 out of 3? of course we can go down to 3 on the 800, but someone who does not could find less with his 800 than a 600 on a beach no? What do you think ?

[Norm S]

It's like buying a new truck off the lot. It has lots of nice features you want or you can order a new truck that's loaded however in 5 years they will give the same amount of service no matter which one you bought. The loaded truck has more buttons to play with

[Chase Goldman]

2 hours ago, DetectingMO said:

I have $13 atpx ear buds that work great.

Let me put it this way, wouldn’t it be nice if ML had an 800 option that eliminated the wireless accessories and subtracted the ML price for those accessories from the bottom line?  

Actually, wouldn’t it be nice if ML just published the price and availability of accessories? 

Also, I would like to use my GG’s but untethered to the detector and can only do that with the WM08 module.  So yeah  we can play that game all day.

But point taken, you can look at the 600 as a capable, less expensive detector where you are not paying for accessories you don’t need.

The value is all a matter of perspective based on the needs of each end user, so the value of the 600 vs. 800 will certainly vary from user to user.

 

[Chase Goldman]

Actually, an Equinox recovery setting of 3 on the 600 is equivalent to a recovery setting of 6 on the 800 because they are based on two different scales.  See p. 51 of the user manual.

[flgliderpilot]

On 11/19/2017 at 10:26 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

Since water hunters often hunt strictly by ear the extra audio customization options are the main thing the Equinox 800 offers to beach hunters versus the Equinox 600.

 

Hi Steve, about about the 50 tone mode?  I am almost entirely wet sand and water hunting.  The 50 tone mode sounds more useful than moving tones around in 3 or 5 tone mode.

What is your experience? I've only used 3 tone machines until now.  Is the 50 tone mode similar to the Excel?

[Steve Herschbach]

Personally I like the 50 tone mode stock setting which is the same on both the Equinox 600 and Equinox 800. It has been years since I ran an Excalibur so I can’t make a clean comparison, but it “sounds like a Minelab” to me. The main thing is Excalibur responses are much slower and tones drag out. Because Equinox is much faster you have to expect shorter tone responses, but this can be modified with the Detect Speed setting. Lower settings produce longer tones.

Five tone is very nice but the tone breaks for use worldwide are equally apportioned and being able to move the breaks around is preferable. However, out of sheer laziness I have used it as is most of the time and like anything detecting I adjust quickly to it.

Detectors talk and all you have to do is learn the language. Full tones takes more time to learn, but in the long run I think it conveys more information about the target, and that is what I want. So call me a fan of the 50 tone setting. You can modify it on the 800 a little, but the 600 would work just as well for me at least in that regard since the stock setting is just fine. 

[Champ Ferguson]

Steve, Thanks for posting your thoughts on 50 tone. I have long struggled to understand why seemingly everyone 'dumbs down' their machines to 4 or 5 tone mode and deprived themselves of information. You are the first of the elite level detectorists (don't be modest) I have seen state what I thought was obvious. I've even asked on forums for someone to tell me why a few tones would be the preferred hunting setting (I understand why you would use it in some specific cases). Seriously, I've had myself wondering if I didn't misunderstand something important by preferring 50 tones.