Proving to myself which is better 900 or Manticore

[Magicmantx]

I have a permission at a local Boycott camp that I have been detecting routinely for just over a year. The first few months I used my Garrett AT Pro . I found 2 Silver Rosies and no other silvers I found alot of clad and other items here and there typical stuff pocket knives a couple neckerchief slides and a pin or two. I Got my Equinox 900 Feb last year so I've been using it a year. It was pretty much like I had never been there. Tons of Clad, 10 Silver Rosies a Kennedy Silver Half 8 Neckerchief slides several pins and several other items. So there is the one area about the size of a football field that I call the common ground there where I found nearly all of the Silver coins and several wheaties. I have been over this area from many angles using every setting and speed I can think of Park 1,Park2,Field 1 and Field 2 Even tried Beach 1 just to see. Different recovery speeds you name it I've probably tried it. Every time I find a small amount of clad usually a few pennies and a few dimes etc rarely a nickel or quarter and pretty much most everything is no deeper than 8" a time or 2 maybe a foot but most commonly around 4-6" . So is short this spot has been thoroughly detected. Now ... A friend is bringing me his Manticore to use for a few weeks as he is going to be busy at work for the next couple months or so and won't have time to detect until next Fall probably so My plan is to take the Manticore back to the common area of the camp and spend some time in the area I consider to be thoroughly detected and see for myself If I find more than I did with the 900. I'll report back here for anyone who may be interested. My wife has her fingers crossed that I don't find much because she knows if I do what will happen LOL. I've wondered if I made the right choice and always felt that I did so now I'll get to see for myself. Stay tuned for the results. I'm picking it up Tomorrow Friday March 1 and will take it out on Saturday for the first test day. Guess I'll know soon enough.

 

[matt93]

Good luck!
I’ve been using the Manticore for a little over a year now, and I’ve taken it to areas that I absolutely pounded with my 800. Still found a decent amount of keepers…if the site is not laden with tons of nails, you may not “kill it” but if there’s much iron in the ground you could definitely pull a few more goodies out of the ground. I just recently finally got the M8 coil and while it does separate very well, I’m definitely NOT impressed with the depth. The 10x5 coiltek that I have for my 800 will go much deeper than the M8.
Definitely keep us posted as to how it measures up. A buddy of mine who is just getting started picked up a 900 and I’ll get to swing next to it soon so I’m looking forward to comparing the two as well.

 

[HungryGhost]

Interested to hear the results. I run the 900 (3 months in) and it’s really starting to talk to me. From everything I’ve seen in videos and read online, I’m not sure if there’s a big difference in performance and depth between the two. A few more bells and whistles on the Manticore for sure. Good luck.

 

[tnsharpshooter]

so and won't have time to detect until next Fall probably so My plan is to take the Manticore back to the common area of the camp and spend some time in the area I consider to be thoroughly detected and see for myself If I find more than I did with the 900.

Hmmm. Find more with Manticore than I found with 900 model?
Might not be a good standard to use to render judgement.
Remember the targets previously found with 900 are gone.
So targets are getting slimmer in number as you detect site with Manticore.

Nice of you to share your results here,
Cheers.

 

[GreenMeanie]

A lot of the new detectors are close so picking a winner will be tough.

 

[MasonDixonMding]

I have the 900 and love it. It will be interesting to here how you do.

 

[Magicmantx]

OK so I picked up the Manticore tonight and have it on the charger. I will go tomorrow and go over and over the same areas and see if the Manticore can find anything the 900 didn't. The site I am going to has very little iron or nails or anything like that in the ground. At the most a little foil or maybe a very few pull tabs that I haven't dug already so I feel this will be a good comparison test. I fell after using my 900 for a solid year and putting in alot of time with it and using alot of different settings that I've recovered most of the targets. I plan to dig any repeatable targets as I have done with the 900. Hopefully I'll have something to report tomorrow night or the next day after I see how it goes tomorrow.

 

[too_pointer]

I have a Garrettt AT PRO, thank you.
too_

 

[Cherry Picker]

I'm curious to hear the results. I told myself I was done chasing the stars, but I don't think that will ever happen. Our city park has so much potential yet. I keep trying the best of the best, or at least what I can get my hands on, and nothing has yet to really impress me. Some really cool new features, but they have yet to pull anything out I have missed with my past detectors.

I have yet to try the 900 or Manticore, but I have tried the rest. I haven't really seen anything to make me think the 900 or Manticore is my golden ticket, but you just never know. The only thing I can say for sure is that my 20 year old FBS apparently did one heck of a job. I can crank the Legend, Equinox 800, or even the Deus up and get iffy signals, but so far they have all turned out to be iron at extreme depths.

I thought I was going to stop and call the Deus my Homie, but an unexpected windfall and I find myself with a Legend, Equinox 800, and the Deus. After some testing at least one has to go. Living on social security makes owning more than the bare essentials unmaintainable for long. It will be tough. I'm finding the Legend and the NOX 800 a very close match. I like the menu system on the 800, but the feel of the Legend.

If the Manticore was to prove itself worth a try in my city park I would sell my other three to buy a used Manticore. But as of yet I have not seen a reason.

 

[longbow62]

OK so I picked up the Manticore tonight and have it on the charger. I will go tomorrow and go over and over the same areas and see if the Manticore can find anything the 900 didn't. The site I am going to has very little iron or nails or anything like that in the ground. At the most a little foil or maybe a very few pull tabs that I haven't dug already so I feel this will be a good comparison test. I fell after using my 900 for a solid year and putting in alot of time with it and using alot of different settings that I've recovered most of the targets. I plan to dig any repeatable targets as I have done with the 900. Hopefully I'll have something to report tomorrow night or the next day after I see how it goes tomorrow.

Hey there, I would not advise drawing any conclusions between the Manticore and the 900 until you have a lot of hours on the Manticore. The Manticore is not exactly a 800 or 900 with a few extra added features. Knowing the 800-900 does not mean you know the Manticore. I got a Manticore early last January. Yes I did start finding silver right from the start with the Manticore, but there is a learning curve. I don't know how to explain it exactly. I just know I was not at all comfortable with the Manticore right off the bat. It probably did not help I dove head first into some super trashy sites. I think the 800 was a much easier detector to get a grip on. The Manticore is a very demanding detector. If you hunt in all metal like I do and with lower ferrous limits than stock you will be bombarded with lots of info for your brain to try to process. It took awhile with the Manticore to learn what to pay attention to and what to ignore. Yes I did pull quite a bit of silver from previously hunted places. Enough silver I am convinced the Manticore was doing something the 800 and several other detectors for what ever reason couldn't. Your mileage may vary, but I wouldn't draw any conclusions either positive or negative until you have a bunch of hours on it. At least 50 hours. It took me months to get to the point of being as comfortable with it as I was my 800.

 

[matt93]

Spot on post.
I’ve been using the Manticore exclusively since a year ago January, and what you state is my thoughts verbatim. I came from the 800 as well and felt well versed in it having swung it for a couple of years, so figured I’d have some proxy experience.
Other than menu operation, nope lol
I hunt almost entirely in all metal mode as well.
After a year in, I’m finally feeling more confident that I’m able to distinguish iron falsing over preferable high conductors, although still get “mildly” fooled on deep iffy signals from time to time. I think part of my problem in differentiating between the two is that I’ve ran the machine with the sensitivity a little too high…it is such a sensitive machine, that unless you’re in an open field or not in a crap ton of iron, you don’t need to run the sensitivity much above 24 (in my ground, at least) The Nox I could get away with maxing it out unless EMI dictated otherwise (again in MY soil). I have pulled some targets in a couple of sites with the manticore that I absolutely pounded with the 800 and the ATPro, but without using the 900, I would be merely speculating if it would be as effective.

 

[Magicmantx]

OK so I took out the Manticore Saturday for 6 hours, 3 hours +1hr lunch break then another 3 + . I spent the entire time detecting the area at the camp where I was pretty sure there wasn't much left. I hunted in all terrain withe sens at 22 for the first three hours. I found 2 pennies and a nickel all about 4 " deep so more than likely just managed to miss them previously. I also dug alot more trash signals just to make sure. Several pull tabs , a few pieces of can slaw and a few nails. For the most part I was already pretty sure they were trash just by the tones , signal quality and TDI range nothing I couldn't have figured out with the 900. The 2D screen would pretty much always show the pull rings as a coin looking target and the can slaw as something odd shaped so that is useful. So nothing overly impressive. The second run after lunch I tried several of the other settings in the same general area nearby. I did not modify any of the factory settings other than sensitivity. Anything higher than 22-23 I would get a small amount of chatter but not alot so I kept it mostly around 21-22. I got about the same results as earlier. very few recoveries and zero silver so at least I am pretty sure I hadn't missed anything to speak of with my 900. Sunday I went back and spent the entire day and a different location at the BS Camp. I have found a lot of clad at this camp and still find a reasonable amount every time I go usually 5-8$ Sunday was no different. I hunted for 3 hrs and took my lunch break. When I resumed I made it about 1 hr and the battery died. I fully charged the machine when I got it so total I got about 10 hrs running detector only no vibration or lights etc. So big advantage to the 900. I can get 3 full 6-7 hr days on the 900. I usually charge it every other trip and never had it even close to running out of power. I finished the day off with my 900. One thing I have noticed is the manticore seems to be a tiny bit heavier but may be just to me haven't checked the specs. I really noticed no difference between the depth of the targets between the two. If there is any difference I didn't see it at all. Most everything is 4-6 inches there with the occasional 8-10 and even every once in a while a foot. So finishing up at the Boy Scout Camp I was really surprised that there really hasn't been to this point any discernible difference in performance between the Equinox 900 and the Manticore. If I didn't find it with My 900 I dint find it with the Manticore either. For the people commenting about the difference in the 800 and the Manticore I have zero experience with an 800 so If there is a difference between an 800 and Manticore that is highly possible. For my purposes here I'm only comparing my 900 to a manticore. While there are differences between the 900 and Manticore there are alot of similarities. 900 has Park1 and Park2 Field 1 and field 2 beach 1 and beach 2 and the gold settings. To me the Manticores settings seem to be similar setting just named differently. I did use the horseshoe button occasionally as I do with my900 similar results there and same with the pinpoint button. I hunted both machines as recommended by Minelab using zero ground balance. So 2 days and not a big difference in results. On to Mondays Hunt. On Monday I spent about 4 hrs at an old Ballfield that I have hunted many times that has yielded a couple silver Rosies and 2 IHP's as well as 5-6 Wheaties . I hunted the areas starting with all terrain general then tried other settings and spent probably an hour all terrain high conductor. Didn't see alot of difference other than high conductor setting seemed to be quite a bit quieter overall. In the entire 4 hours I found an occasional memorial penny maybe 5-6 about 4-8" deep one clad dime and a clad nickel and 2 quarters neither deep maybe 4". Every time I go there I find about the same so no surprises there. My Only decent surprise was a 1942 wheat penny at about 10-12" deep in an area that I had been over many times. I also spent an hour early Sunday at an empty lot where there was an old house previously which was mostly covered with nails and can slaw. I saw where there were signs of previous detecting so I left. So far I can say while I feel the Manticore is a good machine I certainly don't feel at this point it is Far superior to the 900 certainly not 600$ better and if you figure in a smaller coil is another $250 then your looking at an 850$ difference. While I do like the 2D screen I really didn't look at it a whole lot just ever now and then. I find the build quality of the 2 about the same. I think the biggest difference ,so far, is the 2D screen and a bit more adjustability in some areas. I'm sure this may be a big benefit to the highly experienced detectorist but for the average hobbist not so much and even for the more experienced I'd be hard pressed to justify the difference in cost. So all that said I will probably have this machine till possibly Memorial Day and will continue to use it and try other settings and gain more knowledge with it. Will my opinion change? Maybe but I doubt it. I was kind of hoping the Manticore would prove to me it was indeed a better performing machine and I would rush home and put in my order. At this point I'm very comfortable with my choice of picking the 900 instead of the Manticore. I'm sure there will be people who disagree and that's fine. If you have one and are happy with your choice then that's all that really matters. This is my experience and my opinion so you can take it for what it's worth. Who knows I may prove myself wrong later. Not gonna hold my breath though. Now If I can get my hands on a Deus II to do a match up I'd be good. For now though anyone buying either of these machines will be happy with them.

 

[Diga]

Thanks for the thorough write up Magic...you just saved Cherry Picker from buying yet another SMF detector, that doesn't find him any more stuff than his FBS/BBS detectors did

The Vanquish, Nox 800, Nox 900, and the Manticore, all use the same SMF Multi-IQ technology. Granted, the Manticore has 50% more transmit power (Tx) than the Nox line, but more Tx doesn't mean more depth in the ground. Here's why:

Mathematically, 50% more Tx results in a 7% depth increase on coin sized objects in the air. When that extra power is pumped in the ground, the ground signal level increases at a significantly faster rate than a coin type signal. In other words, the extra power only results in increasing the signal to noise ratio toward the noise side. That means more ground noise and false signals, with no discernable depth advantage on coin sized objects in the ground.

It's the ground signal that limits depth, not the transmit power. The balance between transmit power and ground noise was achieved decades ago. If all it took was something as laughably simple as increasing the Tx power to increase depth, then the engineers from all the other manufacturers would have done it a long time ago.

 

[Cherry Picker]

Thanks for the thorough write up Magic...you just saved Cherry Picker from buying yet another SMF detector, that doesn't find him any more stuff than his FBS/BBS detectors did

LOL. I like a good honest writeup.

Didn't change my mind about the Manticore, but only helped confirm what I felt in the first place. It probably does well for some in the right conditions, but I have yet to see anything to convince me it would find a lot of stuff my current arsenal won't.

 

[Diga]

Here's a great analogy that I've heard metal detector engineers use, to explain why increasing transmit power doesn't increase depth:

Increasing transmit power is similar to what happens when you turn on your car's high beams in fog. The "extra power" of the light, causes so much extra glare, that it further hides the person you're trying to see. Think of the fog as the ground signal, the transmit power as the high beams, and the person as the coin you're trying to find.

 

[tnsharpshooter]

Hmm.
I see the poster above trying to equate FBS/FBS2 to Manticore.
That would be a mistake I am afraid.
Why?
Freq used to start with.
Manticore can Excel in some circumstances FBS/FBS2 falls short.

How about the salt beach.
Does Manticore offer any advantage at locating things over EQx 800/900 or even FBS/FBS2? I think so.
Some of this has already been talked about over at Dankowski forum.
The thread is trying talking about Manticor is trying to be brought back to the site since it was updated.

So, is the long press for noise cancel on Manticore just a hoax? EQx 900 don’t have. Does it.
It is just not about freq used either. For things involved. I’m afraid.

Why is the Legend not as deep on salt beach on a nickel vs Manticore? Hmm. Coil size for coil size? Hmmm

 

[Cherry Picker]

Hmm.
I see the poster above trying to equate FBS/FBS2 to Manticore.
That would be a mistake I am afraid.
Why?
Freq used to start with.
Manticore can Excel in some circumstances FBS/FBS2 falls short.

How about the salt beach.
Does Manticore offer any advantage at locating things over EQx 800/900 or even FBS/FBS2? I think so.
Some of this has already been talked about over at Dankowski forum.
The thread is trying talking about Manticor is trying to be brought back to the site since it was updated.

So, is the long press for noise cancel on Manticore just a hoax? EQx 900 don’t have. Does it.
It is just not about freq used either. For things involved. I’m afraid.

Why is the Legend not as deep on salt beach on a nickel vs Manticore? Hmm. Coil size for coil size? Hmmm

Your bias is showing LOL.

I don't care if a detector has a fluginbobin with a caretinfacet, what counts is the fun you had, and what is in your pouch at the end of a hunt. I'm sure on the beach the Manticore is great, but we don't have beaches in southwest Kansas. If you believe the Manticore, or any other detector for that fact, is some kind of magic stick of find all in any condition, then power to you. I just have yet to see anything that tells me it would do me much better than what I have.

You know, when the SMF became the selling point for the new detector models I said I thought it was a boon for the beach hunters. Nothing has changed my mind yet. And that is fine. Good to see any advancements. What does confuse me is that like beach hunting I hunt for jewelry in tot lots. Like I see on the beaches, they dig everything because with jewelry, especially gold, you just never know. I watch these videos of people using the Manticore, and others, and 90% of the time I hear them say "It reads like iron". They recover it to find it is a piece of gold jewelry. I thought the whole idea of SMF was more accurate TID. What's up with that?

 

[Diga]

Hmm.
I see the poster above trying to equate FBS/FBS2 to Manticore.

I never equated FBS to the Manticore. In fact, I differentiated the two by stating the Manticore uses Multi-IQ SMF. I have no idea how you inferred that I was equating FBS to the Manticore.

 

[Diga]

Also TNS,

I'm aware that FBS / BBS has superior TID at depth than Multi-IQ in ground that isn't highly mineralized.

 

[tnsharpshooter]

Also TNS,

I'm aware that FBS / BBS has superior TID at depth than Multi-IQ in ground that isn't highly mineralized.

You sure about that?
How about a Nickel?..
Which detector is deeper. And which one gives best ID? Hmmm

Hammered coins in UK. Which model is superior at locating. FBS/FBS2 or Manticore? Hmmm