Probably not, but my point is that "it's all about bucks; the rest is conversation."
Why Minelab is top dog
- Thread starter longbow62
- Start date
Probably not, but my point is that "it's all about bucks; the rest is conversation."
I don't believe the original impetus for Charles Garrett and Bruce Candy to start either company was because it was "all about the bucks".
Maybe not. But Codan is now a public company, with shareholders to worry about.
I don't know much about Australian securities, but if they're similar to financial securities in the US, the Codan leadership are beholden to what the shareholders want. And in 99% of cases, all the shareholders care about is making money and they don't care how management does it, as long as it's legal and doesn't look bad in the public eye.
So if that means Codan could triple their net income and pass on the profits in the form of dividends, and all they'd have to do is fly kites, guess what the shareholders are going expect Codan to do?
Your viewpoint is way too cynical for me.
Not every company and not every shareholder is just concerned with the bottom line and how much goes into their pockets. The companies that do are not in it for the long haul. When Garrett and Minelab are willing to put millions each year into R&D and they both are also willing to make high quality security and military grade countermine products that are essential to our public, first responder, law enforcement and military personnel safety along with some great hobby metal detectors for us.........they have my admiration not my scorn.
They don't have my scorn either.
I just used an extreme example to explain how Minelab's business decisions aren't always about producing the most technologically advanced products. So when they produce what seems to be a low-end or poor product, there's probably a financial reason for that decision.
diggindaboot
Elite Member
Go Find detectors were supposed to compete with the ACE line of detectors. It was an abysmal fail on the part of Minelab. They had to do something else because Garrett owned that market for about 10 years or more.
Minelab was trying to capitalize on that market and had to change course because what they were doing wasn't working. I agree with you, it's all about the bottom line. The fastest way to make that happen is to bring something new to the table that is different and works and Minelab did that with the Nox.
Hopefully the persons that designed everything but the electronics for the Go-Find series (which is still amazingly a part of Minelab's current lineup) were moved out or demoted. Maybe they sell well somewhere and receive some respect in the rank beginner world but they don't get any here on this forum or on the other ones I visit. I actually used one for awhile. It is a novel concept design wise, it detects very well (since it is an X Terra 705 internally) but the display and controls are a joke unless you are under 13 years old with no detecting experience.
Minelab definitely got it pretty right with the Equinox and for ACE competition, Minelab nailed it with the Vanquish series. Sales of Equinox and Vanquish along with Minelab's gold prospecting detectors have been breaking their previous sales records since the Equinox was released by 30% or more each year.
Beachhunt1
Elite Member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2020
- Messages
- 1,433
I think anybody that has minelab products, doesn't really have to ask why they are top dog!
For you long-time Garrett owners (which includes me) I got my new Garrett Goldmaster 24K in the mail today. All I can say after some testing on gold nugget targets which I have buried in my back yard.......the Garrett version is better than the Whites version that I previously owned. I believed at the time and still do after todays test, that the coil on the original Whites version was defective. It would overload very easily on my highly mineralized ground, was hard to ground balance and was very knock sensitive. The new Garrett coil does none of that. I was able to run it at almost max sensitivity with no problems and no coil knock. Very impressed. After the testing I did today, I firmly believe that the Garrett Goldmaster 24k is the best single frequency gold prospecting specific detector on the market today.
Also, the Garrett box for the Goldmaster 24K has labeling and its Quick Start Guide in four languages including Arabic. That proves that Garrett is not messing around with this great detector and is actively marketing it in Africa and the Middle East.
Also, the Garrett box for the Goldmaster 24K has labeling and its Quick Start Guide in four languages including Arabic. That proves that Garrett is not messing around with this great detector and is actively marketing it in Africa and the Middle East.
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"do you believe this will be a really good "ring hunter" at the beach? it's '"splash proof" but ya can't immerse it, but looks like it will hunt 'wet sand" ok!"
(h.h.!)
j.t.
I hear questions like this a lot. Gold PROSPECTING (not jewelry) specific detectors currently are running above 30kHz. The GoldMaster 24K is running at 48 kHz. So, it is specially made for detecting tiny sub gram sized gold nuggets down to .01 gram sized flakes. There is still larger gold out there but the vast majority of detectable gold nuggets are in that 1 gram and smaller size range. Sure, you can use the 24K for just about any kind of detecting.........but it is specifically made for smaller shallower non-ferrous low conductive target detection. It will hit really hard on tiny bits of foil and aluminum canslaw. It will sound much the same on a gold ring and a pull-tab. It only has one VCO tone in all metal and a ferrous and non-ferrous tone in its semi-discrimination mode.
(h.h.!)
j.t.
I hear questions like this a lot. Gold PROSPECTING (not jewelry) specific detectors currently are running above 30kHz. The GoldMaster 24K is running at 48 kHz. So, it is specially made for detecting tiny sub gram sized gold nuggets down to .01 gram sized flakes. There is still larger gold out there but the vast majority of detectable gold nuggets are in that 1 gram and smaller size range. Sure, you can use the 24K for just about any kind of detecting.........but it is specifically made for smaller shallower non-ferrous low conductive target detection. It will hit really hard on tiny bits of foil and aluminum canslaw. It will sound much the same on a gold ring and a pull-tab. It only has one VCO tone in all metal and a ferrous and non-ferrous tone in its semi-discrimination mode.
diggindaboot
Elite Member
I thought it was interesting they pulled away from the ACE line and developed something to compete with the ATP. It was later they released the Vanquish series. I think Garrett is taking the opposite approach releasing the Apex only to later on have an Apex ATP if you will.
longbow62
Forum Supporter
Minelab kinda owned the upper price range of detectors. They attacked mid-range detectors first with the Equinox Multi-IQ. The Vanquish is a land based somewhat downgraded feature set Equinox. They knew the Multi-IQ technology was a game changer for mid-price detectors and minus a few features could dominate the lower priced beginner detector market.
Now I'm just waiting for a fully mature Multi-IQ flagship model. Hopefully Minelab is working on that right now.
Now I'm just waiting for a fully mature Multi-IQ flagship model. Hopefully Minelab is working on that right now.
You're not the only one!
iDetectorX
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2016
- Messages
- 19
I agree with the original poster. I live in the USA, and have been detecting as well as keeping my finger on the pulse of the market, new and used for over 10 years now. Garrett has always been in that time a more popular brand because they make reliable low and mid-range hobby product and market the hell out of it. Not at any time in the time I’ve been watching have they been seen as premium or an elite brand (though some users will argue to the death that the AT series can find anything any other machine can). Fisher had that distinction for a while, and Whites was still seen as a premium or high end brand to the end, but if Garrett ever had that distinction it was quite some time ago. Minelab and XP are seen as the high end brands even here with the Deus, CTX, Equinox and Etrac. You have Nokta Makro gaining quickly, but more on Garrett’s level at the moment. I can tell you that those of us in the United States hope to see Garrett break into that high end tier, but it’s going to take something more than the mediocre AT series and something deeper and faster, with more visual disc sides than the Apex. The Whites acquisition may enable them to do that, but at the moment there’s a difference between popular and elite or high end. Everyone here knows Minelab is king of the hill. Technologically they are the company to beat. A minority think XP is, or running in 2nd, particularly now that Whites is gone. What you might hear some people say is that even though this is so, they nonetheless don’t have the budget or think it’s worth the extra money for a discrete advantage.
