Coil shopping for my son a coil for his Ace 250?

[88junior]

He's been using the stock coil and has done pretty well with it but he's interested in the 5x8" DD coil. Can someone who's used both chime in and tell me what you guys think of the performance differences between both. I live in Georgia so our soil is medium to highly mineralized in areas. Thanks Morgan

 

[Bearharold]

I used a 5x8 DD on my Ace 250 for awhile but ended up trading it off for a bigger regular coil . It worked real good but my problem with the dd coil on the ace series detectors is that they like Bottle caps real well and dug a lot more caps than normal . I have a SEF 8x6 dd coil now on my ace it works good also but it too likes bottle caps . I only use it in places other than parks where there isn't many bottle caps . The dd coil gets good depth and locates targets just fine and is lighter in weight that the standard coils. Using the dd coil awhile and learning its distinguishing sounds would make it a good coil for your son .

 

[NM5K]

Myself, I don't see how the 5x8 DD would be much better than the stock coil. They are the same appx size.
But I guess it all depends on what type of hunting he does, and also the ground..
I don't use any of the DD's on my 250. I have the stock coil, the 9x12 when I want more depth and sweep
coverage, and the sniper for the trashy areas. I think I'd rather have either one of those over the 5x8 DD,
as they should add more of a hunting change vs the stock coil.

But being I don't use the DD, I can't really say exactly how well it works vs the stock 6.5x9 or whatever size
it is. I think it's 6.5x9 if I remember right. Which being slightly larger than the 5x8 DD, in theory it should go
just as deep, or maybe even slightly deeper than the DD.
Everyone seems to think the DD's are really hot on bottle caps, which doesn't really entice me too much. :|
The 9x12 gives a solid 2+ inches over the stock coil, and the sniper is so handy in dense trashy areas, I
almost consider it a "must have" coil for the 250. And it goes fairly deep for a little 4-4.5 inch coil.
Lets you pop, pop, pop the coins out of trashy areas much easier than the larger coils.

But it's his call I guess..

 

[Itsjustagreat1]

I have upgraded to the at pro and use the 5x8 most of the time on it. I still have my ace 250 and had the stock, 5x8dd, and 11x14dd. I sold the other coils and kept the 5x8. I liked it way better than the stock. It is lighter and much easier to pinpoint with. Like i said, i got rid of the other ones cause the 5x8 was my favorite goto coil. It was also easier to tell how big the object was under it. I found lots of coins, relics, small buttons, and jewelry with it. I definitely would recommend it

 

[FrankG]

I have both the ACE 250 and AT-Pro and have done a lot of side by side comparisons (using ACE Stock coil and AT-Pro 5x8 DD). I do love the 5x8 DD on the AT-Pro but I could never justify the cost of putting the DD on the ACE 250 (which I seriously considered at one point). While a DD does pinpoint a little differently than the stock 250 coil, I never had any issues pinpointing with any of the ACE 250 coils once you get a little experience. Aside from detector differences, the detection capability of the 5x8 DD to the ACE stock coil seem fairly comparable. I hunt coins, jewelry, and junk, mostly in athletic fields, playgrounds, parks, and that's quite a bit different than relic hunting. There's a lot to consider in picking a coil or detector for that matter.

I totally agree with the post from NM5K (a couple posts back). If you're looking to expanding the detecting experience and capability of the ACE 250 I think that the sniper or large coil is a more rewarding dollar investment.

Based on my own detecting goals, If I had choose between a sniper or the large coil for the ACE 250, the sniper would win hands down, particularly if your a coin hunter in trashy areas. There are many places you simply can't hunt without a sniper. The large ACE coil does provide a little more depth and coverage area than the stock coil but I find it considerably heavier and a lot more fatiguing. I found that over the years, I rarely used the large coil but I was constantly switching between the stock coil and the sniper.