Im about to upgrade from an Ace 200 to the Ace 400 or the Apex and im very excited. My wife is tired of hearing about it so i came here. Im going to go back over my usual places after the upgrade and im hoping to find some things i passed over with my 200
Upgrading
- Thread starter Jadomi77
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markinswpa
Forum Supporter
IMO the 400 is not that much of an upgrade, the Apex or even an AT Pro would be a better choice. My two cents. Good luck, Mark
DiggingThePNW
Forum Supporter
Watch iffy signals videos on YouTube about the apex before deciding
Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
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^^ Agreed ^^
There was a fellow on the wet-salt beach here one time, with a 250. We traded off some deep flagged signals, and he had to confess: He couldn't even hear them, no matter how he set up his machine.
So he rushed out and upgraded to the 400. And again, the next time I saw him on the wet-salt beach, we traded some flagged deep signals . And guess what ? The 400 did no better.
You can BET that ditched that 400 right away, saw the light, and immediately got a Minelab. doh !
HistoryHippy
Senior Member
Ace 200 and 400 are basically the same machine. The 400 has VDI and iron audio.
I like the 400 for certain types of hunting. Coin shooting at trashy parks or in the woods.
They perform the same.
Try something newer maybe a Simplex or Vanquish.
I like the 400 for certain types of hunting. Coin shooting at trashy parks or in the woods.
They perform the same.
Try something newer maybe a Simplex or Vanquish.
Metal detecto
Elite Member
I'm with you... A vanquish doesn't break the bank (hey, I'm a kid and I could afford it) and is fabulous in the wet sand. Just don't get it wet.
GKL
Forum Supporter
I'm not familiar with those models personally but consider the advice of the members who are and maybe consider something different but still within your price range.
As far as your wife being tired of hearing about it don't take it personal, some wives are not into detecting themselves so you need to get an idea how many minutes at a time you can talk to her about it at a time
My wife is not into detecting herself but I can still chat with her about it occasionally with no problem, but I realize she might not want to hear an hour long seminar about detecting so I limit it to occasional shorter "infomercials" My wife is on a fairly busy schedule, but if I started regularly finding REALLY good finds I might be able to interest her in a very occasional hunt cmason122
Junior Member
I recently upgraded from the Fisher F22 to the Minelab Vanquish 540 pro pack and I really like this Detector. I can vouch that it goes deep with good readings.
pryan67
Forum Supporter
What is your price point? I highly recommend the Equinox, especially if you hunt salt water.
aeds151
Senior Member
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The Equinox doesnt exactly have the best track record around water. Haha
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holelottafun
Full Member
I agree. Good advice!
Tahtsadatsago
Full Member
I do own/use an Apex, and while I have not owned it long (still becoming more familiar with it) I can share some thoughts about the machine.
It is well made, very light weight and easy to swing. I find it to be a very fun machine to use.
The wireless headphones are great - any lag is imperceptible to me and the sound is quite good.
The Apex is not waterproof, but it is considered weatherproof - meaning you can hunt in the rain, but it cannot be dunked underwater. The Apex is very good in wet salt sand (use the multi salt program). Other program choices include multi-frequency, and single frequency choices of 5, 10, 15, and 20.
The Apex is not limited to a high of 20mHz in multi-frequency mode. Garrett has not said what the highest frequency is, but has said that the highest frequency (MF) is considerably higher than 20mHz.
The Apex has iron volume (you can choose how much of the iron tones are heard, or you can choose to hear no iron tones). I prefer to set my iron volume to level 2 (so the iron tones aren't overwhelming, but I hear the iron).
I find the Apex is be a fairly fast machine, and that it does a pretty fair job in iron laden sites (mostly were I hunt). I do not believe the Apex is as deep as some of my other machines, but the depth is more than enough for all but the very deepest targets. I believe the Apex can hit a quarter down to 10 inches or so (my soil is generally fairly mild). The deepest target I've dug (so far anyway) with the Apex is a Ford vehicle key that was 7-8 inches down - it gave a great signal (don't recall the VDI) and was repeatable.
I don't pay a lot of attention to the VDI, but can say that the VDI can be a bit jumpy; especially when there is trash nearby and/or the target is a bit deeper. In my experience that is the case with most machines.
Bottle caps can sound fantastic. Wiggle the coil while pulling back and bottle caps give an iron grunt. Coins still sound great.
The Apex has modulated audio (tones) - meaning deeper targets aren't as loud as shallow targets. It seems (to me) that 5-6 inches is the breakoff point - below 5-6 inches and the tone is not as loud.
I like the tones, but I do wish the user had the ability to alter the tone breaks. I am not bothered by the inability to alter reactivity settings - altering swing speed and working around the target works just fine in my book. I tend to swing fairly slowly anyway.
I can't say how accurate the depth gauge is because I don't pay any attention to it.
Pinpointing seems very accurate.
I have dug good targets (with the Apex) that had trash in the same hole (bits of rusty square nails, etc..). The tone was good and I could hear some iron grunts.
I tend to use zero mode or relic mode. Do NOT use iron audio when in zero mode; it has the effect of expanding the iron tone range and will make mid-range targets give off iron grunts. Zero mode already accepts iron - you can adjust how much of that iron tone you wish to hear by changing the iron volume.
I have two coils - the Viper (stock) and the Ripper (5X8). I like both coils, but the Ripper will be the most used (I hunt mostly trashy areas with a lot of iron)
I am very pleased with the Apex. It is a very easy/fun machine, but has enough adjustability to allow for successful hunting in most conditions.
Other machines I have used/owned... just so readers get an idea of how my thoughts (Apex) were derived
Currently own..
Apex
Compadre
Nokta/Makro Multi Kruzer
Nokta Anfibio Multi
ORX (just got it, very little use so far)
Deus (have not received it yet)
Formerly owned...
Bandido
Etrac
CTX 3030
V3i
MX5
MX Sport
F4
Whites BH 300
Tek Eurotek Pro
Tek G2
diggindaboot
Elite Member
Doesn't Monte have 2 of them, maybe three. There is another poster here on the forum who has one and he has done well with it at the beach. I think he lives in California.
Metal Pig
Forum Supporter
I've never owned or used one, but from what I've picked up reading alot, Apex is an excellent detector.
aeds151
Senior Member
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- Jan 30, 2020
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Huckleberry
Elite Member
thanks for the info
thanks ill expand my search field. i chose to continue with the Ace series due to my comfort level with the ace 200
interesting. they are about the same price and the minelab has Bluetooth-the 400 doesn't
