Explorer XS or Sovereign ? :shrug:

[Cal_Cobra]

I'm torn between picking up a second hand Explorer XS or Sovereign. Both seem to be great detectors and have their following.

I received a PM from a buddy that hunts with an Explorer and he shared his thoughts on the two. I'm hoping for some input as he seems to make a good point in favor of the Explorer:


I would not recommend the Sov for turf hunting. There is much difference between the Sov and the Explorer. The Sov. has loonngg drawn out "bongs". That is great for wide open clean areas like the beach, but can be a tooty fluty cacophany of sounds when you're in a junky situation. I'm of the opinion that any time a tone is drawn out, then by definition, it masks the next target in the "tail" of that tone. JMHO.

I think they both go just about as deep. The Sov. might have a reputation of being a bit deeper on some web claims, but that can simply be d/t the increased likelihood that you'll hear it. Ie.: if you paid attention to faster smaller beeps, you're getting the same depth. JMHO.

TIA,
Brian

 

[Rick(ND)]

Everybody has their favorites and I use both the Explorer and the Sovereigns and both are great, but I trust the Sovereigns ID and can hear the deeper coins with the Sovereign for the fact that the tones stay longer plus the threshold will change to the last target it sees. The Explorer will tell you the difference in silver and copper in most cases and even between dimes and quarters, but to me the tones on the deeper ones are weaker and you have to listen more as the threshold tones stay the same. Depth wise I have dug the same depth with each one, but find the Explorer was harder to hear the deeper ones. Now I have a few friends that had the Sovereign and went to the Explorer and love the Explorer much better while others have had the Sovereign and went to the Explorer for a couple of month and their good finds had drop and their trash had increased so they went back to the Sovereign again.
Like I say I like them both, but I seem to do better with the trash to good target with the Sovereign because of the tones it has and the 180 meter that will ID what the coil is seeing as you swing the coil over it. The ID on the Sovereign is one of the best I have seen, but like the Explorer has to be swept slow.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Thanks Rick, that makes sense. I think what my friend was trying to say was that in his opinion the Sovereign compared to the Explorer had a slow response speed. He's a beach hunter and had the Excal before moving to the Explorer II.