• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Corrected Equinox WP Headphones w/ New Piezos!

FelixtheCat

A Moderating Knight of the Round Coil
Super Mod
Forum Supporter
Joined
Apr 14, 2006
Messages
13,392
Location
Miami
Needing new WP headphones for new Equinox that I got over 2 months ago I ordered a pair I saw on Ebay for $85 from the Ukraine. They arrived on June 21st. When I tried them out in my yard the volume was too low. I found out the appropriate OHM speakers were not used and they were not piezos. My buddy that did the prior mod on Merlin (my Blue Excal) for me over a year ago told me to order 45mm piezos and he would swap them out. I negotiated a $20 discount back on the headphones to keep them and that covered the cost of the piezos. (Incidentally, the Ukraine headphone guy asked me about the piezos so I sent him the specs to the ones I ordered. I also told him that I didn’t think chromed steel was appropriate for the cup holders. About a month after that exchange he completely redesigned the headphones eliminating the chromed steel and using piezos :roll:). 2 weeks ago the piezos came in and I gave them to my buddy Jim. I got them back last week and have used them on a couple of hunts. They are now loud enough but they do not fit as well as Peltor’s and let wind noise in. I’ll use them like that until the chrome starts to rust out or I feel the wind noise is detrimentally impacting my gold finding ability, in which case I’ll get a set of Peltors for $10-15 and swap them out. :yes:

BTW - I do not recommend that headphone style which is sold for various different detectors because they do not fit well and have that chromed steel which will eventually rust. I'd also like like to thank Jim for his technical expertise once again! :good:
 

Attachments

  • Original Equinox.jpg
    Original Equinox.jpg
    38.1 KB · Views: 295
  • Nox1.jpg
    Nox1.jpg
    31 KB · Views: 275
  • Nox2.jpg
    Nox2.jpg
    25.1 KB · Views: 287
  • Nox3.jpg
    Nox3.jpg
    47 KB · Views: 279
  • Nox6.JPG
    Nox6.JPG
    14 KB · Views: 255
  • Nox4.jpg
    Nox4.jpg
    56.7 KB · Views: 280
  • Nox5.jpg
    Nox5.jpg
    65.4 KB · Views: 241
Nice headphones
any opinion on the eq vs cz21 or excal yet?
Steve - I sold my CZ-21 about 2 months ago. I just couldn't trust it to stay water tight in the battery compartment. It came back from Fisher almost a brand new unit at no cost due to my complaining how often I had sent it in over the years for the same issue regarding water intrusion in the battery compartment. (I also believe Felix at FT sympathized with me and helped out). They said there was "a defect in the housing", AND maybe that has been the issue for years, but they just could have easily billed me another $250-300. Once it returned, I saw the opportunity to sell it and got $800 for it which bought me my new Equinox. (Because of my experience with Fisher I will consider getting a Manta in the future if its reasonable when it becomes available).

Due to MY experience with MY particular CZ going over to an Excal was a no-brainer for me. Sealed battery unit that was rechargeable plus my tech buddy Jim detects with Minelab equipment and is familiar with any repairs that I may need. I do believe that the Excal I was running with my SEF 10x12" coil was a bit deeper than my CZ. I am definte that my Excal is more sensitive on smaller gold in salt environments. I do have a theory that Scuba and others that use CZ's in fresh water are probably deeper than Excal's in that environment and vice-versa.

Now for my Nox vs. my Excal: I know not to take credence in air tests but the Nox registers 1-2" across the board in ALL METAL over my Excal with the same AM setting with the Excal using the 10x12" SEF coil. In DISC the Nox slightly edges out the Excal in some areas while the Excal edges the Nox out in others. (I used a 25¢ coin, small gold ring, large gold ring,and a large silver ring). I didn't bother running the tests with the Excal's regular 10" coil since I don't use it.

I have really only used Noxy 2X since I got the WP headphones done - scoring a small silver ring the 1st time out. Tomorrow, I will be out again trying to get some yellow in the scoop with it. Only after a few gold rings will I start to trust it. I do not seeing it replacing my Excal for pure water hunts. I don't care if its an inch or 2 deeper, the Excal is much more rugged. I also kept hitting the screen/control unit with my scoop while retrieving targets - not a good thing. When your hunting in above waist deep water those VDI numbers become useless to me as I can't see them underwater anyway. I'm a tone hunter and prefer my hearing.
 
What do you think of the volume of your new setup? I know you don't dive but is it a lot louder than it was?
Much louder. Before I had the Nox maxed out at 25 and it was audible but in a beach/hunting setting I knew it wouldn't work. Now I can have the volume at 23-24 and hear targets well. Since the piezos are open and not in a sealed enclosure water would just go into the unit - wouldn't sound be magnified under water and make them louder? If I remember tomorrow, I will completely submerge my head and try this out.
 
New name ...... Felix's R & D.............Research and Development

Those look Sharp!!
 
Are the ear pads Gel? They look like the foam ones that come with the stock Koss phones. Replace them with Gel like I did and you will get a better fit, that will give a snug fit & keep the wind noise out.
DL
 

Attachments

  • addon.jpg
    addon.jpg
    11.1 KB · Views: 179
Tony Eisenhower makes a great pair of waterproof headphones!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top Bottom