Big Boys Hobbies

Equinox Prices

I hated the nox when I first tried one,but now I like it For fields and woods... I see a lot of guys who’s opinions are still that the equinox is the best machine made,and I gotta ask,best at what? Unmasking I’d give it high ratings,9.5 out of 10. But I give a Deus a 10 between the 2 machines,the Deus falses less in thick iron.
Compared to other machines on the market I’d give the nox a 6 on build quality,a 6 on Visual ID capability, a 6 on customer service,and a 9.5 on unmasking abilities.
Now,I think it’s a good machine,but I also think that about a lot of machines.But the best is a bold statement for a machine that falls short in more areas than it excels.Just my opinion,yours may vary.
 
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Hear lots of speculation on why it should happen, why it shouldn't happen, what should be done to justify it happening or not happening. Not heard anything to confirm if it is or isn't happening. Unless someone has and inside source at ML it sounds like we won't know until either something or nothing happens. Wait... sounds like I make be crossing the line into politics right now. :D
 
The investment of a third party shaft added more money to my Equinox. And in my opinion it was not an option, but a necessity. The waterproofing is a gamble. The cuff is a joke. Raise the price? How about making improvements.

But in my opinion the Equinox is better than any detector I have ever used for what I want out of a detector. If mine died I would have to get another.

What I don't understand is the price of the CTX. I've been scratching my head on that since my first Equinox hunt.
 
goodmore said:
The investment of a third party shaft added more money to my Equinox. And in my opinion it was not an option, but a necessity. The waterproofing is a gamble. The cuff is a joke. Raise the price? How about making improvements.

But in my opinion the Equinox is better than any detector I have ever used for what I want out of a detector. If mine died I would have to get another.
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I agree with this. Love my Equinox, but mine had a wobbly shaft from the start and I felt I had to replace the shaft with a carbon fiber shaft as well as replace the flimsy arm cuff with a metal one. The machine feels as good as it perform now. Mine also stays dry. My hunting buddy and I were talking about this and neither of us want to put our Noxes in the water. We both like the machine too much to risk waiting on a warranty replacement yet don't have confidence in the waterpoofness of the machine. We are dirt hunters anyway but there are some old swimming holes around that might be worth hunting.
 
woodbutcher said:
I hated the nox when I first tried one,but now I like it For fields and woods... I see a lot of guys who’s opinions are still that the equinox is the best machine made,and I gotta ask,best at what? Unmasking I’d give it high ratings,9.5 out of 10. But I give a Deus a 10 between the 2 machines,the Deus falses less in thick iron.

Compared to other machines on the market I’d give the nox a 6 on build quality,a 6 on Visual ID capability, a 6 on customer service,and a 9.5 on unmasking abilities.

Now,I think it’s a good machine,but I also think that about a lot of machines.But the best is a bold statement for a machine that falls short in more areas than it excels.Just my opinion,yours may vary.
Click to expand...
Best "all around detector" in my opinion. Not the best in all aspects or scenarios but you will not find a more versatile machine.

As others said above I have had zero quality issues with my Nox. Mine was one of the first available machines and I have been using it since March 2018 almost 3 years. I replaced the shaft because I love CF shafts but did not have too.

As far as balance and comfort the Nox is again the best machine I have used with exception of the deus. I have used most of the more popular machines. It is light and balanced well and I can swing it all day long with no fatigue. I think those with fatigue issues need to look at their technique. I am 6'3 and 165 so I am not a big strong guy and I have no issues swinging nox with stock coil all day. Now throw the 17" coil on and that's a bit different.

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk
 
Ok just so everyone here knows.
I saw original poster put up a Nox 800 with a couple extras. IMO the price was very steep.
24 hours or so later he took the for sale post down.
Then he made this post. Take it for what it is
 
detectorben said:
Best "all around detector" in my opinion. Not the best in all aspects or scenarios but you will not find a more versatile machine.

As others said above I have had zero quality issues with my Nox. Mine was one of the first available machines and I have been using it since March 2018 almost 3 years. I replaced the shaft because I love CF shafts but did not have too.

As far as balance and comfort the Nox is again the best machine I have used with exception of the deus. I have used most of the more popular machines. It is light and balanced well and I can swing it all day long with no fatigue. I think those with fatigue issues need to look at their technique. I am 6'3 and 165 so I am not a big strong guy and I have no issues swinging nox with stock coil all day. Now throw the 17" coil on and that's a bit different.

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk
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So you are one of the isolated exceptions to these issues, good to see some quality examples were produced. Almost everyone I know has broken at least one arm cuff on the equinox, and has trashed the stock shaft for an aftermarket one. I agree it's a very light detector, but I disagree on the balance part. Almost every other machine I've used was balanced/built better IMO. The equinox tires me out quickest. I've tried moving the cup up and down, different shaft lengths, nothing alleviates the pressure so far. Maybe I need a custom shaft with a counter balance? Maybe it's because I'm a bigger guy? I dont know, just stating an opinion on an unjustified price increase, that has yet to even be confirmed from the source. One thing I know for sure, it is NOT my technique :laughing:
 
Sure after I saw what my 800 could do I replaced the shaft and the cuff. I put a coil ear protector on too! Mine actually crapped out after only about 2 months and Minelab replaced the head unit. I had it back in like 7 days from the date I shipped it. I would call that great service. Minelab paid for all shipping. Zero issues since.

I stand by my best all around comment. No detector is perfect for everything. I have seen the Equinox best a lot of detectors in certain situations though. Enough times I have been astounded. If you had seen the trash and depth I have pulled silver from you would be too. XP Deus is better in iron but not by a lot. Etrac and CTX are better on silver in some situations, but not by much. The Equinox is waterproof and can do 90% of what the other top 3 can do at a lower price. In my book that rates as best all around. Ergonomically it fits me well. I can swing the Equinox longer than my other detectors. People are built differently and what works for one may cause the next guy to fatigue faster. They've sold a bunch of them and a whole lot have moved to it for a reason.
 
woodbutcher said:
I hated the nox when I first tried one,but now I like it For fields and woods... I see a lot of guys who’s opinions are still that the equinox is the best machine made,and I gotta ask,best at what? Unmasking I’d give it high ratings,9.5 out of 10. But I give a Deus a 10 between the 2 machines,the Deus falses less in thick iron.
Compared to other machines on the market I’d give the nox a 6 on build quality,a 6 on Visual ID capability, a 6 on customer service,and a 9.5 on unmasking abilities.
Now,I think it’s a good machine,but I also think that about a lot of machines.But the best is a bold statement for a machine that falls short in more areas than it excels.Just my opinion,yours may vary.
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woodbutcher in the last week and a half I have pulled 9 silver coins and a really cool WWII silver ring from a site that has left two other detectorist scratching there heads. Between them they got three silvers total and I know 2 of them were very shallow for the site. They could not touch the depth that I was getting with the Equinox. Those guys aren't newbie's either. 2 different Etracs, CTX, Anfibio, XP Deus, were all used. They even put big coils on to try to get more depth.

We also hunt a park where we live and the only sliver left is super deep around iron. I pulled two more mercs this week at 9+ inches maybe deeper. and might have dug 6 holes to do it. CTX's and Etrac's with stock coils can't find them, and dig a bunch of iron trying.

I'd like to add one more thing. In my personal opinion both the Etrac and CTX are best in clean yards. You put one in even light iron or modern trash and that fantastic I.D. is gone. You end up digging blind. I think the Equinox trumps both of them for I.D. in trash and honestly I.D. at depth also. I know people who use them both and unless it's a clean spot they dig way more modern trash and iron than I do, but that might just be a personal choice.

So yeah the Equinox don't do anything good.
 
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cellrdwellr said:
To each their own, but i certainly wont pay more for a detector that is flat out uncomfortable to use. I can swing my old heavy explorer for 8 hours with no arm fatigue, but after 20 minutes swinging the equinox my arm is sore :tissue: I have never broken a coil ear, but I've had the coil ear protectors on from day one. My plastic arm cuff broke after a month or two, then I ordered a metal one. Then the metal one broke too! I had to make my own arm cuff out of the broken metal one. I've dropped close to $1,000 already on a nox 600. So after one buys a brand new equinox, and after all the necessary upgrades, your already looking at $1,000-$1,200 :roll: you want to make more money? Make some low cost product adjustments, and rollout an improved version. Seems ludicrous to raise the price and not make any much needed, cost friendly, improvements.
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Funny how "mileage may vary." I haven't put any extra money into my equinox and it's been great. The only problem I've had is the foam falling off of the arm cuff, which happened pretty much right away. It's never bothered me. My experience is also the opposite as far as comfort. Half the time with the Explorer compared to the Equinox.

Differences make the world go round.
 
longbow62 said:
woodbutcher in the last week and a half I have pulled 9 silver coins and a really cool WWII silver ring from a site that has left two other detectorist scratching there heads. Between them they got three silvers total and I know 2 of them were very shallow for the site. They could not touch the depth that I was getting with the Equinox. Those guys aren't newbie's either. 2 different Etracs, CTX, Anfibio, XP Deus, were all used. They even put big coils on to try to get more depth.

We also hunt a park where we live and the only sliver left is super deep around iron. I pulled two more mercs this week at 9+ inches maybe deeper. and might have dug 6 holes to do it. CTX's and Etrac's with stock coils can't find them, and dig a bunch of iron trying.

I'd like to add one more thing. In my personal opinion both the Etrac and CTX are best in clean yards. You put one in even light iron or modern trash and that fantastic I.D. is gone. You end up digging blind. I think the Equinox trumps both of them for I.D. in trash and honestly I.D. at depth also. I know people who use them both and unless it's a clean spot they dig way more modern trash and iron than I do, but that might just be a personal choice.

So yeah the Equinox don't do anything good.
Click to expand...

From running fbs extensively I can say without a doubt that platform will dust a equinox on depth in my Pennsylvania soil,at least here in coal country Indiana county.Not even close,fbs hits so hard on deep coins it’s unreal.And for plain old yard iron,no problems at all. Maybe in a ghost town fbs might struggle,but I never had a problem in yards.
I like Minelab,have 3 of them now and always have one or two. And I think the equinox has the potential to be one of the greats, but truth be told there’s only a few hard core hanger on’s left that haven’t turned back to fbs for deep old coin hunting.
Just my opinion,but I think Minelab shouldn’t have watered the nox down to make a buck (Vanquish) ,,they should of adressed the issues raised by lots of folks,came out with a version 2 like they did with the explorer and priced it at a grand.Who knows,maybe after a few updates it’ll tell the difference between a zinc and a dime.Thats important in manicured yards when seeking old coins,can’t just go chasing every ghost silver signal only to find a penny and leaving holes everywhere..
 
I can say without a doubt that platform will dust a equinox on depth......

IMO this is not true. Otherwise I wouldnt of let my CTX's and Etrac's go.
Pete I am looking forward to getting together for a hunt soon.
I am getting excited and will look at this as a challenge.
Shoot me a text! haha
Jer
 
longbow62 said:
woodbutcher in the last week and a half I have pulled 9 silver coins and a really cool WWII silver ring from a site that has left two other detectorist scratching there heads. Between them they got three silvers total and I know 2 of them were very shallow for the site. They could not touch the depth that I was getting with the Equinox. Those guys aren't newbie's either. 2 different Etracs, CTX, Anfibio, XP Deus, were all used. They even put big coils on to try to get more depth.

We also hunt a park where we live and the only sliver left is super deep around iron. I pulled two more mercs this week at 9+ inches maybe deeper. and might have dug 6 holes to do it. CTX's and Etrac's with stock coils can't find them, and dig a bunch of iron trying.

I'd like to add one more thing. In my personal opinion both the Etrac and CTX are best in clean yards. You put one in even light iron or modern trash and that fantastic I.D. is gone. You end up digging blind. I think the Equinox trumps both of them for I.D. in trash and honestly I.D. at depth also. I know people who use them both and unless it's a clean spot they dig way more modern trash and iron than I do, but that might just be a personal choice.

So yeah the Equinox don't do anything good.
Click to expand...

Jamflicker and alot of the SoCal crew use FBS in trashy pounded public parks all the time. I'll guarantee they can attest to FBS doing just fine in trashy environments, slow yes, but they will find the goods no doubt. In just about all situations, except for IN the water. The equinox can do it too, and faster as well. Ive found relying on visual ID on deep targets wont get you far on ANY machine though. I've recovered much more relying on audio ID first, visual ID is always a last resort. I know how much a signal can change with depth and if it's not laying completely flat in the ground (on edge), nearby garbage masking, etc. I had a seated half dime coming up on the equinox between 17-19, I was in a VERY trashy old park. Plenty of iron, plenty of modern garbage, but it was a deep good SOUND that led me to investigate. After I acquired the SOUND, I then checked my numbers and proceeded to dig. Down at 8" or so was the half dime. Alot of hunters relying on visual ID may have skipped that signal, because they are literally ALL over these woods. It could also explain why it was still there, this park has been heavily hunted for many years. Either way, I'll keep both the FBS, and the multi-IQ, as I really do enjoy both platforms. I just feel like it's a win win for all of us if they improve these issues, if they are going to raise the price anyway? Would save ALOT of users from warranty repairs, and aftermarket purchases. Sure it's a great detector now, but with a few minuscule improvements, it could definitely put it closer to the top, where many feel it's already close to, if not already there.
 
cellrdwellr said:
Jamflicker and alot of the SoCal crew use FBS in trashy pounded public parks all the time. I'll guarantee they can attest to FBS doing just fine in trashy environments, slow yes, but they will find the goods no doubt. In just about all situations, except for IN the water. The equinox can do it too, and faster as well. Ive found relying on visual ID on deep targets wont get you far on ANY machine though. I've recovered much more relying on audio ID first, visual ID is always a last resort. I know how much a signal can change with depth and if it's not laying completely flat in the ground (on edge), nearby garbage masking, etc. I had a seated half dime coming up on the equinox between 17-19, I was in a VERY trashy old park. Plenty of iron, plenty of modern garbage, but it was a deep good SOUND that led me to investigate. After I acquired the SOUND, I then checked my numbers and proceeded to dig. Down at 8" or so was the half dime. Alot of hunters relying on visual ID may have skipped that signal, because they are literally ALL over these woods. It could also explain why it was still there, this park has been heavily hunted for many years. Either way, I'll keep both the FBS, and the multi-IQ, as I really do enjoy both platforms. I just feel like it's a win win for all of us if they improve these issues, if they are going to raise the price anyway? Would save ALOT of users from warranty repairs, and aftermarket purchases. Sure it's a great detector now, but with a few minuscule improvements, it could definitely put it closer to the top, where many feel it's already close to, if not already there.
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I like the Etrac as I have said, but I tend to reach for the Nox almost always. Part of my bias may be because I do so well with the Equinox, and have devoted very little time to really learning the Etrac.
 
Talked to a Minelab dealer friend, he said Nox 600 price to remain the same, Nox 800 price to go from $899.00 MSRP to $949.00
 
Minelab is the only company I would pre-order from before the detector was released to the public. Every detector they put out is top notch. Absolutely no worries about them putting out a subpar detector.
 
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