I do not see a lot about these detectors here so I thought I would start a thread on them.
I have a lot of experience with the MX5 and I think it is a great performing detector. It gives very good audio and visual clues as to what is in the ground. If you like going after coins it might be as good a choice as you will find as when it hits a coin or a solid piece of jewelry it gives a distinct audio signal that is unmistakeable. This lets you take your eyes off the number display when you need to without fear of missing too much.
It very accurately identifies what is in the ground. If you get a solid signal that does not change it's number as you sweep left and right or at a different angle sweep, then there is a very high probability that what is on the display is what is in the ground. It is very good at telling the difference between a penny and a dime, and it's reading for a nickel is very consistent. If the number on the display changes when sweeping left or right or when you change direction then you can be very sure that you are looking at a pop tab or bottle cap or some other piece of junk.
With it's stock coil and it's great ability to separate individual targets in a trashy environment, it is a great tool for working areas where a lot of trash have been dumped. It is great at pinpointing location and depth of a target. Many times have I had the target coin come up on the bottom of the first plug of earth I remove.
This detector will not pick up pure gold, but it will pick up any ten, fourteen or eighteen carat etc. gold, so it really has few limitations.
The MX5 will pick up targets very often down to nine or ten inches and even deeper.
Do I have anything bad to say about this detector? Well it is relatively new and has not been out there long enough for us to know if it will last just a year or two or for many years. The controls are all on one plastic button-board, so if you have a problem with it then you will probably have to replace that entire board instead of just one switch, that sort of bothers me, but I have no proof or experience that it will ever go bad.
Now onto the MXT. I do not see any advantage that the MXT has over the MX5 in performance, in fact it seems like the MXT is not quite as good at identifying targets as the MX5 is. Also the audio report the MXT gives lacks the various notes that the MX5 has, so although it alerts that you have found a target, the audio does not really tell you what it might be, you have to be watching the display numbers more closely with the MXT. The MXT is also going to be a bit heavier than the MX5. The MXT is supposed to be able to pick up pure gold, but I do not live in a part of the country where there are gold nuggets laying around, so I have not tested this. I am not a prospector and am not worried about finding any pure gold nuggets or bars laying around.
Of course the MXT has the old-school metal body with independent mechanical switches that should be cheaper to replace and repair than the MX5, and it has been around longer and more information is out there on it's performance and reliability. It also has a rechargeable pack available which the MX5 does not.
The MXT is $200 more than the MX5, and I could easily believe that it's extra cost is simply because it is more expensive to build with it's metal body and individual switches. It has to be a big savings in production costs to have the MX5 use a plastic body and have all it's buttons and switches on one vinyl-covered button-board.
The MX5 comes with a 9" coil and the MXT with a 9.5". Both do a great all-around job in many different environments, I do not think the coils are anything to consider in choosing between the two machines.
In summary, I think the MX5 is a great machine to learn on, and it is also a keeper as I do not think hardly anyone needs any more detector than the $600 MX5. It simply does everything well and easily, especially for the person looking for coins and jewelry in manicured lawns where they will not be digging down more than a hand-spade will take them. It is a light and easy-to carry machine. I am very glad I had an MX5 for my first modern detector. My first detector was one I used back in the 1970s that was very primitive in comparison and not nearly as much fun.
I ended up using an MXT only because I bought one at an estate sale in very good used condition for $125 with earphones and a rechargeable battery pack, I could not pass it up. Although it's audio was not as rich as the MX5 and it seemed very slightly less sure in identifying targets, it was easy for me to get used to simply because of my experience using the MX5. I also learned to enjoy the solid old-school feeling of the MXT metal body, knobs and switches.
I am confident I can take either the MX5 or MXT to any yard, field or woods and get the same results with them, neither detector will miss any targets except in the case of the MX5 not being made for 24k gold.
I believe the MX5 is actually a great first detector because it is so user-friendly and because of it's advanced audio that lets it's user learn to ID targets in more than one way. It has a larger chance of suiting more individuals. The beginner will be able to quickly learn with it and then they will save money because they will not have to go out and "upgrade" to a serious detector because they will already have one!
The extra cost of the MXT can only be justified if the user wants to go looking for pure gold, or if they are a bit of a retro-grouch like me and can appreciate things made of metal and grew up using radios and TV sets with knobs and switches. My MXT shows software version 1.0 when it boots up, so maybe there is a newer version that has more to offer, I don't have any information on that.
I am a hobbyist, and do not do metal-detecting as a means of income or for a living, so I can not see spending any more on a detector than I have to. If you can get a new MX5 at a discount, on sale or very cheaply used, I do not think you could go wrong. If you have the $800 to spend on a new MXT I do not think you will have any regrets either, even less if you find one used for peanuts like my poor ass did.
In summary these are both great detectors for the working-man who wants to hit yards and fields on his evenings or weekends for fun to seriously consider. They will do more than cheap beginners rigs, and they will do much of what more expensive machines do. I am glad I skipped buying a detector cheaper than the MX5, and I am glad I skipped buying one any more expensive too!
Thank-you for your time and interest.
I have a lot of experience with the MX5 and I think it is a great performing detector. It gives very good audio and visual clues as to what is in the ground. If you like going after coins it might be as good a choice as you will find as when it hits a coin or a solid piece of jewelry it gives a distinct audio signal that is unmistakeable. This lets you take your eyes off the number display when you need to without fear of missing too much.
It very accurately identifies what is in the ground. If you get a solid signal that does not change it's number as you sweep left and right or at a different angle sweep, then there is a very high probability that what is on the display is what is in the ground. It is very good at telling the difference between a penny and a dime, and it's reading for a nickel is very consistent. If the number on the display changes when sweeping left or right or when you change direction then you can be very sure that you are looking at a pop tab or bottle cap or some other piece of junk.
With it's stock coil and it's great ability to separate individual targets in a trashy environment, it is a great tool for working areas where a lot of trash have been dumped. It is great at pinpointing location and depth of a target. Many times have I had the target coin come up on the bottom of the first plug of earth I remove.
This detector will not pick up pure gold, but it will pick up any ten, fourteen or eighteen carat etc. gold, so it really has few limitations.
The MX5 will pick up targets very often down to nine or ten inches and even deeper.
Do I have anything bad to say about this detector? Well it is relatively new and has not been out there long enough for us to know if it will last just a year or two or for many years. The controls are all on one plastic button-board, so if you have a problem with it then you will probably have to replace that entire board instead of just one switch, that sort of bothers me, but I have no proof or experience that it will ever go bad.
Now onto the MXT. I do not see any advantage that the MXT has over the MX5 in performance, in fact it seems like the MXT is not quite as good at identifying targets as the MX5 is. Also the audio report the MXT gives lacks the various notes that the MX5 has, so although it alerts that you have found a target, the audio does not really tell you what it might be, you have to be watching the display numbers more closely with the MXT. The MXT is also going to be a bit heavier than the MX5. The MXT is supposed to be able to pick up pure gold, but I do not live in a part of the country where there are gold nuggets laying around, so I have not tested this. I am not a prospector and am not worried about finding any pure gold nuggets or bars laying around.
Of course the MXT has the old-school metal body with independent mechanical switches that should be cheaper to replace and repair than the MX5, and it has been around longer and more information is out there on it's performance and reliability. It also has a rechargeable pack available which the MX5 does not.
The MXT is $200 more than the MX5, and I could easily believe that it's extra cost is simply because it is more expensive to build with it's metal body and individual switches. It has to be a big savings in production costs to have the MX5 use a plastic body and have all it's buttons and switches on one vinyl-covered button-board.
The MX5 comes with a 9" coil and the MXT with a 9.5". Both do a great all-around job in many different environments, I do not think the coils are anything to consider in choosing between the two machines.
In summary, I think the MX5 is a great machine to learn on, and it is also a keeper as I do not think hardly anyone needs any more detector than the $600 MX5. It simply does everything well and easily, especially for the person looking for coins and jewelry in manicured lawns where they will not be digging down more than a hand-spade will take them. It is a light and easy-to carry machine. I am very glad I had an MX5 for my first modern detector. My first detector was one I used back in the 1970s that was very primitive in comparison and not nearly as much fun.
I ended up using an MXT only because I bought one at an estate sale in very good used condition for $125 with earphones and a rechargeable battery pack, I could not pass it up. Although it's audio was not as rich as the MX5 and it seemed very slightly less sure in identifying targets, it was easy for me to get used to simply because of my experience using the MX5. I also learned to enjoy the solid old-school feeling of the MXT metal body, knobs and switches.
I am confident I can take either the MX5 or MXT to any yard, field or woods and get the same results with them, neither detector will miss any targets except in the case of the MX5 not being made for 24k gold.
I believe the MX5 is actually a great first detector because it is so user-friendly and because of it's advanced audio that lets it's user learn to ID targets in more than one way. It has a larger chance of suiting more individuals. The beginner will be able to quickly learn with it and then they will save money because they will not have to go out and "upgrade" to a serious detector because they will already have one!
The extra cost of the MXT can only be justified if the user wants to go looking for pure gold, or if they are a bit of a retro-grouch like me and can appreciate things made of metal and grew up using radios and TV sets with knobs and switches. My MXT shows software version 1.0 when it boots up, so maybe there is a newer version that has more to offer, I don't have any information on that.
I am a hobbyist, and do not do metal-detecting as a means of income or for a living, so I can not see spending any more on a detector than I have to. If you can get a new MX5 at a discount, on sale or very cheaply used, I do not think you could go wrong. If you have the $800 to spend on a new MXT I do not think you will have any regrets either, even less if you find one used for peanuts like my poor ass did.
In summary these are both great detectors for the working-man who wants to hit yards and fields on his evenings or weekends for fun to seriously consider. They will do more than cheap beginners rigs, and they will do much of what more expensive machines do. I am glad I skipped buying a detector cheaper than the MX5, and I am glad I skipped buying one any more expensive too!
Thank-you for your time and interest.
, friendly user interface, ID's in all metal, and is DEEP. It's my favorite detector. The 8 tone function is really nice, and if you've ever had a mosquito fly in your ear
, your know what a quarter or dime sounds like-it stops you in your tracks. The tone id, vdi numbers, and icons, make it nice for probability of a find. Simply push the pinpoint button for a split second and you're in pinpoint-no need to hold a button down. The two tone function is nice for searching in iron infested areas. You can accept or reject like a notch detector, but I doubt I'll ever use such a deep detector with all it's features in this manner. 
