Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Lets talk: Best All Around Metal Detector- High End Level

sssmiller said:
Ok, Let the feathers fly!
I'm wanting to hear what and why you guys love your high end machines.
The machines in question are the most popular, all around machines.
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Are you talking inland or sea? Dry or wet weather? Tiny (<0.5g) or average size targets? Hmmmm....

Well, here are my top machines....
  • Fisher CZ-7a Pro - found my first gold
  • ML Explorer II - found my most valuable platinum/diamond
  • ML Excal - found the most quantity of rings
  • ML CTX - found the most gold & silver
  • Garrett Sea Hunter (w/big coil) - found my deepest coin @ 28" (hard pack)
  • Ground Penetrating Radar - found my deepest target @ 74"
  • DetectorPro PI - lightest machine and easiest to swing
  • ML NOX600 - second lightest machine, but with discrimination
  • ML NOX800 - ha, right, still waiting for it in the mail
  • Whites Surf PI - easiest for newbies / visitors to use
  • ML GPZ7000 - Best for tiny or deep targets. May require digging tool as shown below...
 

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Best All Around Metal Detector
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I've seen some nice suggestions, but there is two key words in the OP subject I think narrow it down a lot.

E-Trac? Great detector, but lacks in the gold and freshly plowed fields ability. Unfortunately. I have to put the CTX in with the E-Trac.

Deus? Now that's a contender, but dog gone it there is that jumpy ID I think hurts its standing. Great ALL AROUND machine just not top dog if good accurate target ID is a concern, and it is for me.

My vote would have to go with the Equinox or Deus. Both are very close to best ALL AROUND in my books.
 
Never used the Equinox so I will say Deus. I found things with the Deus that I don't think I ever would have found with the CTX. I can't turn that statement around. So the Deus trumps. But then I'm talking dirt. Water? Excal....It ignores the iron.
 
Best all around.

If we pick one coil to go on all = Equinox.

Not even close.

Deus can contend somewhat,,but you have to have LF coil and HF coil.
Not waterproof either, cost more.
Piss poor ID.
Nox beats Deus in higher mineral I believe.
Deus audio does well when it come to binary decision of nonferrous and iron. But it's audio stinks when it comes to differentiating different nonferrous. Nox has advantage here.

I mean anyone reading here and wanting to be able to actually detect in all the different settings, Nox real good.

Trash
Iron
Beach
Gold nugget hunting
In the rain
In the snow
In the water
In sites with mixed trash and iron.

And don't cost arm and a leg either. Maybe one leg.lol

Can it compete with specialty unit.
I think so. Nox won't win out every time. But can make finds.
This is what Minelab's aim was. Make a more universal use detecfor.
Looks like they nailed it.
 
WyoTom said:
Ctx for hunting parks and yards and a Deus for the real trashy sites... I have owned multiple Etracs, they are awesome but not on the same level as the ctx in my opinion. No lag, color & brighter easier to see screen, better balance, target trace ect, combined mode Ect...
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My sentiments exactly.
 
For most of my relic hunting grounds which are open fields/pastures, depth and alerting to a target comes first, separation second.
No sense having the worlds best unmasker if it only works to 6 inch, on some of my grounds the targets don't show till you get 6 or 7 inch lol, i'd say most of my finds are in the 6 to 10 inch category, my mineralised soil kills most machines though for depth.
So current winner for me= AKA Signum, i've not tried the Nox yet though!
 
ghound said:
For most of my relic hunting grounds which are open fields/pastures, depth and alerting to a target comes first, separation second.
No sense having the worlds best unmasker if it only works to 6 inch, on some of my grounds the targets don't show till you get 6 or 7 inch lol, i'd say most of my finds are in the 6 to 10 inch category, my mineralised soil kills most machines though for depth.
So current winner for me= AKA Signum, i've not tried the Nox yet though!
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I bet you would be surprised by the Nox depth. Even in tough soil it seems to be pretty deep. My soil is not bad but it will hit masked targets at darn near a foot. My test garden is bad soil for some reason. Most machines wont hit anything past 6 inches in it but the nox hit everything in my garden. Even my ctx struggles to give a diggable target in my garden.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
I'm hoping the Nox does work for me, i've not been in a rush to get one, probably wait till there on the shelf here.
I can only compare the Signum to the Etrac which it out performs for sheer depth, so i'm watching vids on the Nox vs Etrac/ctx etc, to get a guide.

detectorben said:
I bet you would be surprised by the Nox depth. Even in tough soil it seems to be pretty deep. My soil is not bad but it will hit masked targets at darn near a foot. My test garden is bad soil for some reason. Most machines wont hit anything past 6 inches in it but the nox hit everything in my garden. Even my ctx struggles to give a diggable target in my garden.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
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jwp1964 said:
If the CTX didn’t require me to hire someone to swing it for me I’d have one. I think it’s capabilities are well documented. Sticking with Deus because it performs good enough and I can swing it all day.

I did get the chance to pick up a Nox this past weekend and see it in action. It seemed to have a little better depth than my Deus, but I saw zero difference in picking targets out of iron/trash infested site. When I picked it up I was expecting it to be competitive with the Deus in weight and feel, but it wasn’t even close. Way to unbalanced. I scratched it off my list. That thing needs a lighter stock coil. Deal breaker for me. JD had the same reaction and he swings T2SE.


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The Nox is nose heavy huh? Have you had a chance to swing the CTX? Mine is heavy, but it is so well balanced that I can swing it all day long with the large stock search coil without any discomfort. The trick is to shorten the rod. I have both the stock and 6 inch search coils, I'm thinking that the Coiltek 10 x 5 is going to be the perfect search coil for the type detecting that I do.

beephead
 
Beephead I'm a strong big guy and the CTX killed my neck and shoulder after 4 hours... Your a tough dude! 5lbs is 5 lbs no matter how you balance it....

Whats heavier a pound of feathers or a pound of steel?
 
IDXMonster said:
Agreed on all. Passion turns certain people into zealots. Experience,research and knowing your quarry turns other people into repetitively successful detectorists.
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Absolutely correct!

sssmiller said:
I know the variables are almost endless to actually decide the top condender, just thought it would be fun for everyone to "strut their stuff" so to speak. 😁

You have a wide variety Big Treble. CTX, Etrac, V3i, which one would you keep if you could only have One? 😳
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Sorry didn't see this post before. Really depends on what I'm doing, where I'm going and what I'm hunting for. The CTX and Etrac are killer on high conductors, like silver and copper, and do a phenomenal job seperating the iron from silver and copper when in Iron trash. The CTX i prefer over the Etrac i feel its more accurate in ID and falses less.

However I give the nod to the V3i in lower conductors. I'm not a Gold Ring hunter but from all I gather these two Minelabs aren't super Gold machines. I don't dig nickels with the Minelabs as it cant distinguish between pull tabs and nickels.

The V3i when set up correctly, I seriously believe is deeper than my Etrac, but ad a little iron in there and it can suck down the VDI to a point you may think it's trash and miss the good stuff.

To sum it up I'd pick my 3030, but I'm not saying it's the best for everyone in all situations, or the best machine in general.

2 important keys
1 no perfect machine.
2, everyone on here is an expert and knows more than the others.
 
beephead said:
The Nox is nose heavy huh? Have you had a chance to swing the CTX? Mine is heavy, but it is so well balanced that I can swing it all day long with the large stock search coil without any discomfort. The trick is to shorten the rod. I have both the stock and 6 inch search coils, I'm thinking that the Coiltek 10 x 5 is going to be the perfect search coil for the type detecting that I do.

beephead
Click to expand...

That 5x10 coil is heavy.
Floats too.
 
calabash digger said:
Beephead I'm a strong big guy and the CTX killed my neck and shoulder after 4 hours... Your a tough dude! 5lbs is 5 lbs no matter how you balance it....

Whats heavier a pound of feathers or a pound of steel?
Click to expand...

I'll tell you straight up, the CXT is a breeze to swing compared to the AT Pro and CZ-5. I've always hated heavy detectors and that's why I never tried the CXT until now. For some reason the weight doesn't bother me since it's so well balanced. I think the trick is to shorten the shaft and go slow, low and easy. The CTX has amazed me so far. I'm starting to look around for a Coiltek 5 x 10 search coil to see how well it works on the CTX.

beephead
 
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