Detector upgrade.

[RichyP1980]

Hi all,

New to the forum but have been detecting for just over a year now. I purchased a Nokta Simplex+ to get me started into the hobby just over a year ago. I have decided to upgrade to a new detector and have been looking at both the Nokta legend and the Minelab Equinox 800. I know users of each machine will be biased towards their machine but I would like to know if their are significant differences which would outweigh the purchase of one against the other. I will be keeping the Simplex as a backup or for my youngest daughter when she wants to come out with me. I detect both field and beach areas if this makes any difference. I thank you all in advance for information and guidance.

regards

Richy.

 

[Cherry Picker]

Welcome from Dodge City.

I think either the Equinox or Legend will be a great upgrade.

 

[stetam]

Welcome to the forum. I have both the Legend and Nox and as cherry picker said, either one will be a great machine for you.

Steve

 

[HungryGhost]

If I were going to choose an an Equinox as an upgrade I would go with the 700 or the 900. Both have addressed the water leak issues of the 800. I have no experience with the Legend but I hear good things and it’s a great bang for the buck. Happy hunting!

 

[markinmichigan]

Richy

Since you already have a nokta I would recommend upgrading with a nokta Legend. I believe that they are less expensive and the transition between one brand to another might be difficult. I have a legend and I'm very happy with it.

Mark in Michigan

 

[hoser]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck on your quest for a new machine.

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Hi all,

New to the forum but have been detecting for just over a year now. I purchased a Nokta Simplex+ to get me started into the hobby just over a year ago. I have decided to upgrade to a new detector and have been looking at both the Nokta legend and the Minelab Equinox 800. I know users of each machine will be biased towards their machine but I would like to know if their are significant differences which would outweigh the purchase of one against the other. I will be keeping the Simplex as a backup or for my youngest daughter when she wants to come out with me. I detect both field and beach areas if this makes any difference. I thank you all in advance for information and guidance.

regards

Richy.

Great Choice to keep the Simplex. Always good to have a back up and a loaner for a buddy as it's always more fun with somebody else!
With the deals we have currently on the Nokta Legend, a great set up at a great price especially if you get the free Pinpointer version!
I am a huge fan of Minelab as they've been the top dog for many years. They make the best quality stuff out. The Minelab Equinox 700 is VERY hard to beat.

Feel free to give me a call. Glad to go over and great detail the differences between the machines. That's what we're here for! 405-206-9010

 

[Diga]

I am a huge fan of Minelab, as they've been the top dog for many years. They make the best quality stuff out.

Minelab makes the best quality stuff out? Whaa?

Of the major brands, I would rank Minelab as the lowest in quality. Poor quality and outrageous expense on their gold machines, major quality problems on the 600 / 800, and the Vanquish line is kind of flimsy. Great performance, not so great quality.

Furthermore, we're all lucky Minelab is no longer a "top dog" with a monopoly, because if it wasn't for Nokta and XP breaking that monopoly, I doubt Minelab would have finally addressed their quality issues by the much better quality of the new Nox line and the Manticore, and they probably would have been much more expensive too.

 

[Diga]

Richy,

The Legend is a much better choice over the 800. The only people that will tell you otherwise, is the Minelab fanboys.

The new Nox 900 is more equivalent to the Legend. However, it's more expensive than the Legend, and it seems to have an issue with unstable ID's. Plus, none of the Nox line has Ferrocheck (the Manti and D2 have a similar feature though).

 

[Coin-Saver]

Richy,

The Legend is a much better choice over the 800. The only people that will tell you otherwise, is the Minelab fanboys.

The new Nox 900 is more equivalent to the Legend. However, it's more expensive than the Legend, and it seems to have an issue with unstable ID's. Plus, none of the Nox line has Ferrocheck (the Manti and D2 have a similar feature though).

As if you're not a Nokta fan boy. Which is ok by me but it seems a bit comical for you to refer to anyone as a FAN BOY. It did make me laugh though. thanks for that.

 

[Diga]

As if you're not a Nokta fan boy. Which is ok by me but it seems a bit comical for you to refer to anyone as a FAN BOY. It did make me laugh though. thanks for that.

Up until fairly recently, I owned 5 detectors, from 4 different manufacturers (including Minelab). Heck, I've often suggested a Minelab detector, depending on what was requested.

It seems you're confusing a "fanboy", with someone who can think objectively. I often suggest a Legend, because of high performance, high build quality, a full array of features / settings, low cost, and a company that is transparent and listens to their customers. As such, suggesting that detector is not being a fanboy, it's smart decision making.

Furthermore, if you disagree with anything I've said, then post a refutation. Go ahead. I'll wait.

 

[too_pointer]

too_

 

[jmaclen]

Hi all,

New to the forum but have been detecting for just over a year now. I purchased a Nokta Simplex+ to get me started into the hobby just over a year ago. I have decided to upgrade to a new detector and have been looking at both the Nokta legend and the Minelab Equinox 800. I know users of each machine will be biased towards their machine but I would like to know if their are significant differences which would outweigh the purchase of one against the other. I will be keeping the Simplex as a backup or for my youngest daughter when she wants to come out with me. I detect both field and beach areas if this makes any difference. I thank you all in advance for information and guidance.

regards

Richy.

Like some who will respond to your question, I have owned and used all three of the detectors you mentioned in your post.

There are several big differences between the Simplex+ compared to the Equinox 600/800/Legend so you need to be ready for this upfront.

The audio tone difference between the Simplex line and the Equinox 600/800/Legend is very big, almost polar opposites. There is literally no way to make an Equinox 800 or Legend sound like a Simplex. For many, that is a very good thing.

The target ID scale on the Simplex+ and the Equinox 600/800 is radically different with the Equinox 600/800 having comparatively a very compressed 50 target ID scale. The Legend has a 60 target ID scale but there are a few similar target IDs in the ferrous and low conductor range between the Simplex and Legend.

The ground is absolutely going to light up with targets using the Equinox 600/800/Legend compared to the Simplex series. Being overwhelmed by the amount of audio information coming from the 600/800/Legend is very common.

EMI will be an issue when using the Equinox 600/800/Legend compared to the Simplex+. That is just how it is with these latest, high gain, simultaneous multi frequency detectors

Screwing up the settings on the Simplex is possible if one is not being careful. Screwing up the settings on the Equinox 600/800/Legend is really easy to do even for experienced users.

I owned a 600/800 for five years and used one almost everyday for four of those years. That detector broke the previous simultaneous multi frequency VLF detector mold and made detecting fun and very rewarding for me. Those that wholeheartedly recommend a 600/800 are not wrong. They are fantastic metal detectors.

Those that say that Minelab released the 600/800 with several design flaws are not wrong either. For such a revolutionary detector, the stock shaft system is from the 1990s. Many serious 600/800 users paid extra dollars for aftermarket carbon fiber collapsible shafts. The hand grip has a very poorly thought out grip angle. The coil ears on the larger coils break easily. The control pods can have a water ingress issue. These are just facts.

The Legend says Nokta or Nokta Makro on it and it's a VLF metal detector with a busy display and collapsible shafts similar to the Simplex. However, the Legend is much much more like an Equinox 800 than it is a Simplex. From my own experience I like the Legend way more than I liked my Simplex+.

I even like the Legend more than my Equinox 800. As far as I'm concerned and the detecting I do, the Legend is a more capable detector in every way and does not have the design flaws mentioned earlier that the Equinox 600/800 has. The Legend has every single setting and feature that the Equinox 800 has and more. The Legend, at least for me is just a tad quieter than the Equinox 600/800 as far as EMI and its falses less on manmade iron infested sites and on ground with high iron mineralization. I have not noticed a difference when it comes to overall sensitivity to a wide variety of targets between the Equinox 800 and the Legend. The Legend is a bit faster as far as overall recovery speed and separates targets a little better.

The only thing that I like about the Equinox 600/800 over the Legend is the user interface. However, if the Equinox 600/800 had all of the features that Legend has, the Equinox 600/800's display would get crowded fast and its user interface would be a lot more complicated.

Some have mentioned the Equinox 700/900. Minelab addressed the design flaws that I mentioned earlier when they released the 700/900. Minelab also dramatically changed the target ID system and increased the recovery speed, target separation and sensitivity on the 700/900. Minelab also changed the Bluetooth system to one that is not currently supported by aftermarket vendors so it's basically proprietary and very limiting at the moment. I owned a 900 for four months and I made the mistake of thinking it was supposed to act like an improved 800. For me it was more like a very misbehaving 800.

Since you have never used an Equinox 700 or 900, you may not have the issue that I did coming straight from the 800. It does have a very similar non-ferrous target ID range to the Simplex and has a very similar, well thought out build quality with great collapsible carbon fiber shafts and is a real pleasure to swing.

Good luck with your choice and welcome to this forum!!!

 

[Diga]

EMI will be an issue when using the Equinox 600/800/Legend compared to the Simplex+. That is just how it is with these latest, high gain, simultaneous multi frequency detectors

I forgot to mention that, and Richy, that is the first thing you'll probably notice, and be overwhelmed by! Note that I said "first"

You can try the EMI noise reduction feature, but in most scenarios, it won't do anything. For effective EMI noise reduction, either the source of the EMI has to be narrowband (which it almost never is), or the detector has to be narrowband (single frequency). As such, you'll likely hear a lot more EMI noise with a SMF detector, compared to a SF detector like the Simplex.

You can lower the sensitivity to mitigate EMI, but of course, you'll lose depth. I choose to keep the sensitivity high, because EMI noise is mostly mitigated when the coil is swinging on the ground. The reason for that, is because the ground signal drowns out most of the EMI signals.

 

[jmaclen]

RichyP1980,
If you choose an Equinox model or Legend, please do not crank up the sensitivity until you are well acquainted with running one of those detectors. Just use the default sensitivity settings or even lower them a bit so you will be able to easily learn the difference between a real target and all of the audio responses that are likely tiny trash, ground noise or EMI.

 

[Diga]

RichyP1980,
If you choose an Equinox model or Legend, please do not crank up the sensitivity until you are well acquainted with running one of those detectors. Just use the default sensitivity settings or even lower them a bit so you will be able to easily learn the difference between a real target and all of the audio responses that are likely tiny trash, ground noise or EMI.

Agreed...especially with the "even lower" part.

Richy, my point about sensitivity, was only in regard to EMI mitigation.

 

[RichyP1980]

Thank you so much for the replies to my post. I may have made a slight error by not mentioning i'm based in the UK. Regardless of where we are in the world the help and experience from you guys is greatly appreciated and I think I am leaning more towards the Legend Pro pack which is available here and comes with a carbon shaft and 2 coils. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Diga]

That all depends on if you need all those accessories, and what the cost is without some, or all of them.

For example, you're in the UK and probably hunting pastures and not trash infested parks. As such, you won't need the 6" coil.

 

[RichyP1980]

That all depends on if you need all those accessories, and what the cost is without some, or all of them.

For example, you're in the UK and probably hunting pastures and not trash infested parks. As such, you won't need the 6" coil.

Where I live in the North East it is very trashy due to the majority of the land around me being old Coal mining and the farm land I have permission on throws up all kinds of crap like buried corrugated sheeting etc. I already use an XP MI6 pin pointer but there's no harm having a spare. I do travel 4 hrs every 6 to 8 weeks to join A group where there is lots of roman artefacts recovered and think having a smaller coil may help there too.

 

[Diga]

Hmmm.

I've never seen a UK pasture hunter use a small coil. It's always an 11" or larger, due to the rare chance of co-located targets, and wanting maximum depth. Regardless, if you do have a need for it, then great. Always good to have a backup pinpointer as well. It's an amazing deal for that whole package. Congratulations