Hotdawg said:
Hi all, I own both a White's Quantum 2 with the stock 7.8" coil that is 6.59KHZ and the White's Matrix M6 with the 9.5" stock coil that is 14KHZ.
Two very different detectors, and it's not quite as easy to try and compare them with an 8" coil vs. the '950' coil. Of the two I would easily dump the quirkier one [size=small](the Quantum II)[/size] and use the other, or move up a model for more versatility.
Hotdawg said:
Are they both the same as far as finding deep silver and copper coins?
No, they perform differently in many ways. Both will respond to silver and copper as well as lower-conductive targets like nickels and gold jewelry, but ... the M6 will do it without sweep-speed restraints the Quantum series has. It will also do it with a variable Discrimination control rather then a segmented Disc. design.
One question I always have with these types of posts are when the poster [size=small](
You)[/size] asks things like "
as far as finding deep silver and copper coins." I don't know where you're located. The type of ground mineral conditions you hunt. The ground content or make-up the coins are located in. And I really don't have a clue of what activity or fault of nature has caused silver and copper coins to be located deeper than normal, and I really don't know what YOU consider '
Deep' to be?
It especially gets down to the time and effort someone puts into seeking silver and copper, and since you hint to it being 'deeper' and some of it older silver coins, then I guess you're also alluding to hunting older sites. Location is definitely the key to old-coin success, especially finding and hunting older sites that haven't been hammered for four or five decades. Now, don't get me wrong, I like to find older coins, especially silver, and doing so means I also have to rake in [size=small](not physically with a rake, although I do use one at some sites with my detectors)[/size] a good share of coins [size=small](pennies)[/size] in the copper family [size=small](Indian Head and early Wheat-Back Lincolns)[/size] and lesser-conductive 'V' and Shield nickels.
I've used some mid-frequency detectors in the 10 kHz to 12 kHz range from Tesoro to find a LOT of the older coins since the summer od '83, but I have also found SOME of the oldies using a 6.59 kHz White's 5900 Di Pro SL, XLT and XL Pro since 1990, but several times more with the 6.59 kHz White's Classic series models, which provide the more efficient slow-motion sweep with quick-response and fast-recovery, since '94. Note, below, that I have a Classic ID and Tesoro Bandido II µMAX in my current carry detector battery in my vehicle right now. But while glancing below, also note that I have two of the ±14 kHz MXT family detectors as my primary-use detectors.
The MXT All-Pro is my #1 do-everything detector, and I have been using the MXT to MXT Pro to MXT All-Pro since the MXT was released. I also used the M6 since it was introduced as a great compliment to my MXT. The MXT Pro kind of trumped it by having the M6's Tone ID added plus more, and I used the M6 less. The MX5 took the place of the M6 and Omega and a couple of others I've had to be my immediate back-up to support my MXT All-Pro.
So, for about 14+ years I've used the MXT 'family' of detectors in the very same sites and types of sites that I have been hunting since 1969, but especially since the summer of '83, and the good stuff just keeps-on-coming. No, not as fast and furious as it once did, but it's coming from sites I've hunted with those other frequency detectors. The others will still find desired coins and trade tokens and neat artifacts, but the MXT 'family' use a very versatile and very functional circuitry design, and, with just two search coils, I can hunt day-in and day-out and all-night-long to avoid the summer heat. It's not just a frequency-based decision, but also the particular detector circuitry designs that provide the best versatility.
Oh, back to the '
deep'' comment for a moment. Of the sites I have strived to hunt since '83, starting with the ghost town I first hunted on May 4th 1969 with my brother Ed, using a '68 White's BFO, I have found silver and copper coins, and not an even split, either, with silver dimes and quarters and halves outnumbering all copper coins, to include Large Cents, 2¢ pieces, and Flying Eagle, Indian Head and early 'wheat-backs' combined.
At all these sites since '83, a mere thirty-one years, I have recovered no more than 18-to-20 Mercury Dimes. Barber Dimes have out-numbered Mercury Dimes at a ratio of about 23-25 to 1. And since I love to find silver coins and you apparently do as well, let me share my excitement because my Seated Liberty Dime recoveries since '83 have been ± 35-to-1 Barber Dime. I made a trip to that town with a couple of friends about a decade ago and we went in to Ogden, Utah and met with a long-time friend. She and I used to adventure out to this old town site about once every 5 to 7 days for a year, and many more trips later when I lived close for a couple of years.
When my hunting-couple friends asked her she confirmed how well we used to do as I had pulled hundreds of coins from just one town, filling four binders with 2x2 carded coins. We hit other towns in Utah and two other states as well, and I enjoyed similar ratios with most silver dimes being Seated Liberties close to 30-35X the Barber Dime count, and only now and then had a let-down by unearthing a Mercury Dime. We also worked stage and railroad stops and sidings, pioneer and military encampments, homesteads, dancehall and other period recreations sites, and that's why I had the edge on older-era coins. Coins that were easily recovered as 90+% of them were located from surface to the 3" to 4" depth range.
'Depth' is really something that has a different meaning to each individual hobbyist or avid detectorist, and all sorts of things enter into the considerations. Things like ground environment and condition as well as the amount, type and density of masking trash targets at a site. By the way, all of the 6.59 kHz, 10 & 12 kHz and 14 kHz models have served me well at the locations I like to hunt. Frequency wasn't the important factor, but how they worked, especially in brushy, building rubble and iron trash infested places.
Hotdawg said:
From what I read there both high performance metal detectors.
The M6 is, to me, definitely a higher-performance detector than the Quantum II, and has held its own since release, whereas the Quantum series of two models had a short and very low-appeal lifespan.
Hotdawg said:
Is one better than the other because of the lower frequency for silver?
No, one is better than the other because it is based on a much better circuitry design, uses a 3-filter operation instead of the somewhat restricting 2-filter design, and has a more useful variable Discrimination control and quicker automated Ground Balance and Auto-Trac circuitry.
You're not asking but I'll share my personal opinion and suggestion here and say .... sell the Quantum II and coils you might have, keep the M6 as a 'back-up' unit, and buy a new MXT All-Pro. Keep a 6½" Concentric coil on the M6 [size=small](a suggestion)[/size] and a 9" on the MXT All-Pro and you'll have two detectors that share search coils, ready-to-go at any site.
The MXT All-Pro will also give you some added performance and control, such as allowing you to adjust a slight audio Threshold, or you can reduce to just barely silent like the M6. I like the MXT All-Pro's Relic mode using the 2-Tone audio ID to help classify most ferrous targets from non-ferrous. You'll also have the Ground Grab touchpad to hunt with a Locked GB but quickly update using the press of a thumb. Also the All Metal Prospecting mode for hunting some sites without Discrimination.
Just some thoughts, personal opinions, and my feeling that 'depth' is an over-hyped topic. Can some coins be a little deeper than others? Yes, if there has been activity or deposition to relocate or bury them, but in most cases they are going to be in the typical coin range.
Monte
I just bought a brand new Tone Mod kit off another forum (at a king's ransom) and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. Once I get that board put in, there will be *three* of us with a modded XL Pro. I've had my XL Pro since I bought it new about 10 years ago and had been kicking myself for passing up on the tone mod back when they were available. I count myself very lucky! 