Excalibur II vs the Sovereign Series

After the better part of 3 seasons using Sovereigns for all my dirt hunting and anything beachy from dry sand to knee deep, I've moved on to using a Explorer for all that...but kept my Excals for just the water. But here's some info...the Excal is basically a waterproof Sovereign without a notch control. Regardless of which Sovereign model, mount it on a straight shaft. Get a meter if you're gonna hunt dirt, it's especially useful in a trashy park situation. Elites and GT's share the upgraded battery pack and they are still available. The original and GT models had the iron mask on/off switch, all other models had no switch, the iron mask is always on. White Coinsearch coils are not waterproof. When beach hunting, Sovereigns are deeper in disc than Excals, but a Excal run in pinpoint will hear stuff the Sovereign won't make a peep on...I just sold a beautiful Elite and I had all the trimmings, half a dozen coils, couple different meters, even the Sunray probe...where were you a month ago

KirkS said:

Looks like I'll be doing about 50% saltwater hunting at the beaches here in western Florida, but not diving, I would guess at the most I'll be going waist deep. So wet and dry sand for sure.

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Captain Silver said:

After the better part of 3 seasons using Sovereigns for all my dirt hunting and anything beachy from dry sand to knee deep, I've moved on to using a Explorer for all that...but kept my Excals for just the water.

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Both are proven machines, but the thing about BBS machines is that to gain depth, you have to max out threshold until you reach an earbleading dB of noise. As Capt said, with the Excal you can gain great depth if you P/P and use reverse disc, but the explorer (or Safari, etrac, CTX) are the next step up. THey have signal boost so you can hear the faint whispers loud and clear....and without the crazy threshold. Plus you have a larger range of tones to id targets as well as display.

I see trends and it seems the folks that have been in the hobby for a while have more experience with analog machines and so the SOV and Excal have quite the following. Meanwhile the newer generation of hunters gravitate more to the digital machines with displays. With that said, Yes, you can put a SOV or any detector in a waterproof box. (I had two waterproof explorers and a waterproof BH.) THe FBS machines run full auto and are usually set-it and forget-it machines. Whereas the SOV (In my opinion) requires a lot of extra effort to install remote P/P switches, and adjust as you go to maintain optimal tuning. Again, just my opinion but, for the $100 in waterproof parts, all the work and risk, waterproofing a land machine has started to lose its appeal to me.

I guess what you are really asking is what can you buy with a limited budget, and then get the best for that budget?

Going back to your original question....the nuiances between the SOV models are so minimal its almost like asking what model was made on a Wednesday instead of liquid-lunch-friday? Like cars, there is no replacement for displacement, so since the models all have the same BBS engine, why not just upgrade the coil. Bigger coil = more depth.

A brand new Excal with warranty is under $1,200. A waterproof PI machine (Sea Hunter or Sand Shark) is around $400 (used) / $600 (new) and a used explorer or sov is $200-500. So if you can't front the cash, I'd buy a new PI for the water and a used explorer for the dry. If you can't buy both, then consider your competition. Most people are hunting with a stock 8 or 10" coil. Buy a bigger coil so you can hear deeper targets and while cover more ground than your competition.

I've had the oportunity to own multiple explorers, quattro, PI's, CTX, CZs, an Excal, BHID, and dollar-store models too. Although I found a ring on my 1st outing with the Excal, it pretty much remains wall-art until the once a year when I go snorkeling, otherwise its been the explorer and CTX.

H/H, -David

DaviDs said:

A brand new Excal with warranty is under $1,200. A waterproof PI machine (Sea Hunter or Sand Shark) is around $400 (used) / $600 (new) and a used explorer or sov is $200-500. So if you can't front the cash, I'd buy a new PI for the water and a used explorer for the dry. If you can't buy both, then consider your competition. Most people are hunting with a stock 8 or 10" coil. Buy a bigger coil so you can hear deeper targets and while cover more ground than your competition.

I've had the oportunity to own multiple explorers, quattro, PI's, CTX, CZs, an Excal, BHID, and dollar-store models too. Although I found a ring on my 1st outing with the Excal, it pretty much remains wall-art until the once a year when I go snorkeling, otherwise its been the explorer and CTX.

H/H, -David

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Thanks Capt Silver and David. That answered a lot of questions, but also added another machine to consider - the Explorer.

David, do you use the Explorer for the wet salt sand, like I have intentions of using my next machine on? or do you use it only on the dry? Of course I wish there was a do-it-all machine, but I realize there is no such beast. In my mind, the Excal seems to be the latest and greatest must-have for the hardcore dive hunters, but it also seems to have almost no versatility. Last week I picked up a Compadre, and I really like it and the Tesoro line, but I know that machine while nice, is severely limited. But it does make me like the idea of the Sand Shark for the wet/water, and something else for the other stuff.

Budget is really no concern, but I am inherently frugal. I could drop the coin for a CTX, but I think it would be overkill at this point for me in the hobby. I like buying used stuff simply because I hate the depreciation off the showroom floor. I'm weird that way.

Currently, I have 2 machines, a White's TreasurePro, and a Compadre. Bought the TreasurePro to get started with, and the price was right, but because I definitely know how I am, and because I'm enjoying it so much, I think I'll outgrow it very quickly, and that's why I'm looking for something else. Would you say that a combination of the Sand Shark and the TPro would be a decent arsenal to keep my busy on the dry and the wet? Or would trading up from the TPro to the Explorer/Sov/e-Trac be a better fit?

Tesoro's are probably the only brand I would consider getting brand new, only for the lifetime warranty, but even then it would be a tough psychological decision.

I too was considering a Sovereign for mainly wet sand use and then opted and bought a used Excal which I had mods done to recently. One of the mods is a waterproof connector so that I can swap out coils. Here's the post for that: http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=242513

However, I also have a Tesoro Deleon for dirt and dry sand with 3 different coils. I also have 2 other water machines; a PI (Sand Shark) and another VLF (CZ21). It's been said here numerous times over the years - "There's no one do-it-all machine".

If you opt on a Sand Shark, or any other PI, make sure you take into consideration the extra iron trash you will dig.

KirkS said:

Thanks Capt Silver and David. That answered a lot of questions, but also added another machine to consider - the Explorer.

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Hunting dry, wet, or submerged to neck deep ... being able to swap coils and headphones ... there is a perfect machine (IMO) and that is a CTX. Or you could buy 2-3 separate detectors for land and water which will probably be almost as much as a CTX. Choices, choices...

Yes, you could probably use your current machine for the dry and just buy a PI. Although it lacks the Excals discrimination, most swimming areas (waist or deeper) have very little trash, at least compared to on land. The PI is relatively cheap and if you have time on your hands than why not? But if you are still in the daily grind with a job and family, well, time is precious and you want to make the most of every minute you have available to hunt. The Excal will do that because it has discrimination.



So back to wet sand. If you want to look at Explorers, here is a quick run down...

EXPLORERS:
The Explorer evolved through time, and there are many trim levels. All trims effectively handle conductive salt and mineralization but the new models have some useful features as explained below

S - Did not come with "noise cancel", and slowest of CPUs
XS - Added noise cancel, great for city areas plagued with EMI
II - Added dual ID display for ferrous and conductivity readings. Also faster CPU
SE - Changed color to black and rumors circulate of a faster CPU
SePro - Added pro/slim coil. Rumors of another CPU upgrade towards last year of production (same CPU as eTrac).

The II or newer are really the models to have. The faster CPUs help when you get in trashy areas where multiple targets are under the footprint of a coil... even more important when you are using monster size coil. When looking for a used model, inspect the cam locks. They are plastic and since these units are 5-15 years old, the plastic may break.

I've compared the Explorer to my Blue Excal 1000, both with 10" coils. I placed both machines in auto mode. On the Excal the threshold was set to just a slight hum. The explorer was 50% deeper. If I increased the threshold on the Excal to obnoxiously loud, it would match the Explorers depth. If I left the Excal in ebnoxiously loud and switched to P/P, it would gain at least 30% (and up to an arguably double) depth over the Explorer. A coil swap on the Explorer achieved the same depth as the Excal in P/P, and without the threshold noise.

Where the Excal takes the cake is in the water. In wave action at the edge of surf, the Excal can be swung easily without too many false signals from water striking the coil and/or wire. Meanwhile the Explorer may eminate an erroneous signals at the surfs edge in strong waves or currents. Get deeper in the water and you are OK. Also, the occasional runnel or knee-deep puddle doesn't seem to affect either unit.


The Excal and CTX allow you to hunt the dry, head towards the wet, back to the dry and then like a kid with ADHD, you dive right in the water then suddenly change your mind and head back to the dry. That freedom comes a slightly higher price tag. Now if you want stellar discrimination settings, tones and target it, well that is soley the CTX. Either way, it is something you have to decide on if its right for you.

Does that sound confusing? Lets summarize what was discussed. The PI is a great machine in submerged water but you can't disc, swap coils or swap phones . The Explorer is a great machine on dry/wet sand, but you have to mod it for water. The Excal is a great machine on dry/wet/submerged but is loud, lacks a display and has to be modded to swap phones and coils. The CTX is the only detector that covers all the bases. It is waterproof, has waterproof connectors to swap phones and coils, has a display, and has an all metal mode like the P/P, as well as disc settings so you can discriminate by tone, notch, or visual display.

I bet dollars to donuts you are also asking yourself "what other options do I have compared to an Excal and CTX?" Suprisingly you only have two other multi-frequency, waterpoof detectors...the Fisher CZ21 and Whites BHID. The BHID has manual ground balance so you have to "pump-it" to tune it to the ground. In the water, you have to hold the coil down or the whole machine floats up to the surface. Its cheaper than the others but not as desired. The CZ (and Excal) has auto-ground balance. It has a sturdy construction, and performs very close to the Excal...unless you run the Excal in P/P mode, where the Excal gains more depth. Excal and CZ prices (new) are within $100 of each other.

While you ponder all of these options, I encourage you to look at the forum signatures of beach hunters. What detectors are listed by the folks with over 1,000 posts or the folks you see over and over posting nice finds? Yes, some of it has to do with these folks spending more time scanning the sand, but really, they have tested, saved, and eventually bought the best tool for the job. You may also scan old threads and you will likely see the natural progression of beach hunters. As Felix just mentioned, most start with a single-frequency machine or PI. Then they buy a multi-frequency machine, then a waterproof multi-frequency machine.