I recently made the transition from ACE 250 to the X-Terra 305. I am very pleased with this change as the X-Terra IMHO has an edge over the ACE. Don't get me wrong, the ACE 250 will find a lot of stuff but the X-Terra appears to have an edge, at least for me personally.
One thing that has improved for me with the X-Terra is less falsing over iron. The ACE seemed to false a lot over iron. This happened for me even when reducing the sensitivity (and depth). With patience this can be sorted out with the ACE before digging most of the time. On the other hand, I am finding that the X-Terra deals with iron much better with minimal falsing. I even found a nickel sitting right on top of a piece of corroded barbwire at about 5 inches depth. The target separation was made possible with the 99 tones of the X-terra where both iron and nickel were heard in close proximity. This last nickel is the only coin that the ACE 250 could not find in my yard. In other words, the ACE did its job very well. But I was required to use all three coils available to the ACE. On the flip side, the X-Terra seems to be able to sort things out with just the stock 9" concentric coil. Unfortunately the coins had already been dug using the ACE so a signal comparison could not be done.
I will say that a follow-up trip to the local ball field produced 4 more quarters and 2 dimes in 30 minutes with the X-Terra in an area that I had already covered with the ACE. I also found a stainless steel mood ring in a brief hunt the evening before.
I really enjoy having a threshold and manual ground balance again with the X-Terra. I am used to this type of detector and was dismayed when the new fangled detectors were made silent search. I hope they keep building this feature into the Minelabs. I think it is better to hear a slight tone (hum) and have the notched out targets drop out when sensed.
Also, I think the pinpoint on the X-Terra is slightly better than the ACE. I say "slightly" because I had absolutley no problem pinpointing with the ACE. The X-Terra 305 is a little more precise and has the VCO feature and overload on shallow targets. Both detectors feature non-motion pinpoint which I prefer over detectors like the Vaquero which I found to be strange.
I have also found that it is important to master the manual ground balance with the X-Terra 305 right away as you are required to do this before detecting. If you don't, the good targets "will" be choppy and appear to be junk. I tested this, so accurate precise ground balancing is essential to success with the X-Terra.
The X-Terra 305 I purchased as used is equipped with the high frequency 18.75 khz coil. I have read that this is very good for gold and nickels and this has proven to be the case with an increased nickel finds in the day and half I have had this detector. I have also read that the downside of this HF coil is a slight loss in overall depth over the 7.5khz standard coil. So I plan on adding the 9" 7.5 khz coil as well as the 6" coil in 7.5khz.
A couple other features I like about the X-Terra over the ACE is the location of the headphone jack being on the right hand side (good for right handers but not for lefties) and the overall balance. The ACE seemed to me to be front heavy whereas the X-Terra is very light in overall feel and is more balanced.
I have a new hunting buddy locally who will be using his ACE 250 and I definately plan a side by side comparison on found targets in the near future. I will keep you posted if interested.
Both are excellent, low cost detectors. I just prefer the X-Terra. Unfortunately I could not keep both due to the "wife factor".
One thing that has improved for me with the X-Terra is less falsing over iron. The ACE seemed to false a lot over iron. This happened for me even when reducing the sensitivity (and depth). With patience this can be sorted out with the ACE before digging most of the time. On the other hand, I am finding that the X-Terra deals with iron much better with minimal falsing. I even found a nickel sitting right on top of a piece of corroded barbwire at about 5 inches depth. The target separation was made possible with the 99 tones of the X-terra where both iron and nickel were heard in close proximity. This last nickel is the only coin that the ACE 250 could not find in my yard. In other words, the ACE did its job very well. But I was required to use all three coils available to the ACE. On the flip side, the X-Terra seems to be able to sort things out with just the stock 9" concentric coil. Unfortunately the coins had already been dug using the ACE so a signal comparison could not be done.
I will say that a follow-up trip to the local ball field produced 4 more quarters and 2 dimes in 30 minutes with the X-Terra in an area that I had already covered with the ACE. I also found a stainless steel mood ring in a brief hunt the evening before.
I really enjoy having a threshold and manual ground balance again with the X-Terra. I am used to this type of detector and was dismayed when the new fangled detectors were made silent search. I hope they keep building this feature into the Minelabs. I think it is better to hear a slight tone (hum) and have the notched out targets drop out when sensed.
Also, I think the pinpoint on the X-Terra is slightly better than the ACE. I say "slightly" because I had absolutley no problem pinpointing with the ACE. The X-Terra 305 is a little more precise and has the VCO feature and overload on shallow targets. Both detectors feature non-motion pinpoint which I prefer over detectors like the Vaquero which I found to be strange.
I have also found that it is important to master the manual ground balance with the X-Terra 305 right away as you are required to do this before detecting. If you don't, the good targets "will" be choppy and appear to be junk. I tested this, so accurate precise ground balancing is essential to success with the X-Terra.
The X-Terra 305 I purchased as used is equipped with the high frequency 18.75 khz coil. I have read that this is very good for gold and nickels and this has proven to be the case with an increased nickel finds in the day and half I have had this detector. I have also read that the downside of this HF coil is a slight loss in overall depth over the 7.5khz standard coil. So I plan on adding the 9" 7.5 khz coil as well as the 6" coil in 7.5khz.
A couple other features I like about the X-Terra over the ACE is the location of the headphone jack being on the right hand side (good for right handers but not for lefties) and the overall balance. The ACE seemed to me to be front heavy whereas the X-Terra is very light in overall feel and is more balanced.
I have a new hunting buddy locally who will be using his ACE 250 and I definately plan a side by side comparison on found targets in the near future. I will keep you posted if interested.
Both are excellent, low cost detectors. I just prefer the X-Terra. Unfortunately I could not keep both due to the "wife factor".