How good is the sovereign gt?

[Mick in Dubbo]

Very interesting post Julien.
Mick Evans.

 

[Critterhunter]

Another thread to print out and give me an excuse to have a smoke over. Thanks for the post JBow, can't wait to read it. Always love to read comparison threads on machines and such.

Kered, I'm not saying I'll never buy an Etrac. I was impressed with the very limited exposure I've had to one and it seems to fix a lot of complaints I had about the Explorer. However, so long as the GT keeps impressing me in depth and unmasking ability I see no advantage to the Etrac thus far from the comparisons I've drawn and also read about. I do miss a nice computer screen with all the little functions I can waste time playing with here and there, but have yet in the field to say "Man if only the GT had this or that setting I used to have on my Explorer." In other words, nothing crucial that I can think of where I've been thinking that not having X function is costing me depth or performance. The GT gives me all the controls I need for that, and I'm finding an almost endless possibility of settings and combinations there of on the GT that I have still yet to explore. Things such as using Silent Search to "boost" the audio at depth, silent search in all metal, and so on.

I probably would consider trying to drop weight on an Etrac if I ever buy one but we all know that won't be nearly as easy as it is with the GT in many ways.

 

[EZrider]

Jbow

"" I have no point of reference because the only Sovereign I have ever used is one I bought from him that I had him do his mods to...""

Just to be clear/fair. Your comparing your modded Sov to the other stock machines?

Tom Dankowski modded a Fisher 1266 that could hit a dime at 12+ inches.

 

[EZrider]

Critter
ET with Docs swing thingy and the SEF 12x15 can be swung with two fingers

 

[kered]

I've been using the ET with the 18x15 lately and no swingy thingy and i've got a duff arm with no problems(broke a tendon), gets a bit heavy if you go an hour without digging though

 

[Thegreat26]

julien thank you very much for your post. Really helpful.

 

[jbow]

Yes, it is what it is... I don't know how much depth Dixie mods add, never thought about it but I also never imagined that the mods would make it out-perform all my other detectors. I don't think it is an issue but it may be. I am going to move the bullet and I will re-check the place to see if I still get something with the Sovereign. For all I know it may be falsing on something, i'll know when I get the minnie moved though and i'll post what I find when I re-bury it in another place and when I re-swing the place where it was.

Thanks for pointing that out! You could be right which would make the Dixie mods a whale of a deal. They now list for 85.00 and are on sale, you have to call for the price though... I don't know what it is.

Julien

 

[Thegreat26]

julien thank you very much for your post. Really helpful.

 

[EZrider]

Yes, it is what it is... I don't know how much depth Dixie mods add, never thought about it but I also never imagined that the mods would make it out-perform all my other detectors. I don't think it is an issue but it may be. I am going to move the bullet and I will re-check the place to see if I still get something with the Sovereign. For all I know it may be falsing on something, i'll know when I get the minnie moved though and i'll post what I find when I re-bury it in another place and when I re-swing the place where it was.

Thanks for pointing that out! You could be right which would make the Dixie mods a whale of a deal. They now list for 85.00 and are on sale, you have to call for the price though... I don't know what it is.

Julien

Ive known about there moded Sovs for awhile. And if i ever did get a new machine "Sov" it would be from them with the mods. Out very own "Bill" from Surfscanner detectors does mods on the Whites line also i believe. What would be the "tale of the gun" would to have two Sovs. Yours and a stock with same settings and coil on the same object.

Hes a sponsor on this site.
http://www.surfscanner.com/Surfscan3/IDXPhotos.html

 

[Critterhunter]

Well, you can look at it like the GT has an unfair advantage being modded but just the same the Explorer and Etrac had I believe the (?) pro coil on which would give them a 1" size advantage over the 10" Tornado and so that should more than equal things out. You're thread was very informative and fun to read. Confirms what I've thought about the GT compared to my prior Explorers and also what I've read some say about it compared to the Etrac. Great job!

Hey, while you're at it why not check the target in PP and All Metal Fixed (after setting the balance) and let us know if it could hear it in those modes as well. That would be helpful information to the great debate about PP and/or All Metal being deeper than Discriminate on a GT.

Also, check it in Silent Search and also in Silent Search where you then again bring up the threshold so you can hear it again. I'm interested in hearing if the audio changes or seems louder after using Silent Search as a "booster".

By the way, your other thread comparing them on here was very good too. Thanks again for doing those tests.

 

[crazyman]

I can only speak about the Sovereigns depth in my area when comparing them to other detectors I've owned but without a doubt my Elite and GT are deeper than any detector I've used in my bad ground . At least 3 inches deeper on dimes on dry ground and a lot deeper than that on our nasty beaches. The high gain high frequency detectors that you compared with your GT don't do well in my mineralized ground. The deepest detectors I owned before getting my Sovereigns were the Fisher CZ's and even they had a hard time with my ground registering coins as iron past 7 inches most of the time. The Sovereigns have been doing so well for me that it has actually brought my wife and I even closer as I have no plans on buying and trying any new detectors soon and that makes her happy.

 

[sacul]

I haven't used one,but I hear they can take the weight off,and they aren't that expensive.
As to the Sovereign,I have the XS model and they are a great detector.I don't use a
meter because I'm mostly in sand when I use it,so I hipmont it, use the tones,and
the shaft and coil are light enough to hunt for hours comfortably.Good luck on your
choice.HH Joe

I would not buy one! I bought one for my Explorer II - you go to other forms of pain with it. It all sounds and looks good but after you are all hooked up it will put excess pressure on other parts of your body as you must now PUSH LEFT, PUSH RIGHT, ETC, ETC!!! Plus the suspenders keep coming loose!!! Don't waste your money on it! What I finally did was to buy a standard shaft from another detector, mounted my coil on it, added an extension cable to the Explorer and hold the Explorer in my other hand. It made a BIG difference! Plus you can still make screen adjustments to the screen! I'm tired of being ripped off by these dealers!

 

[sacul]

Hi there. Firstly i know that this is a sovereign forum so its the right place to find what i am looking for.
i am using the explorer 2 for 4-5 years now and lately i start feeling some pains in my back after some hours of detecting. Always i wanted a backup powerful detector so i would be able to borrow it to some mates of me to go hunting together.
After these pains issue i thought about buying a sovereign gt which i heard is heavier but better balanced than my explorer.
Now its up to you to help me decide if the choice is right. I know its a slow detector but i always was the slow explorer type of detectorist.
Tell me about advantages and disadvantages of sovereign.
Please any help would be appreciated.

Any more I would not buy any detector without a try out. I've been in and out of detecting for 30 years. I now have an Explorer II, Teknetics T2, and an XP Goldmax Mark I. I bought them all based on the recommendation of others. Some (others) are prominent figures in the metal detecting hobby. So which detector do I use the most and find all my silver coins with??? A 20 plus year old Garrett ADS III. It blows the Explorer away! The T2 will find gold jewelry like crazy, though. And the XP is great for trashy (iron) sites. BEWARE OF HIGH FREQUENCY and MULTI-FREQUENCY DETECTORS!!!! The Garrett runs at 5.5Khz.. If there is any ferrous oxide in your soil, the higher freq. machines will not work well finding silver! The Sovereign, at least, is skewed to the lower frequencies. That is why I believe it works out for many users - I do not believe its other technology of multi-freq.(FBS) adds anything positive to the performance.

 

[Critterhunter]

Yea, I'd say the much higher frequencies of the FBS machines is more of a problem than a help at some sites compared to the "lower" frequency BBS Sovereigns. That's why many report higher sensitivity/depth/smoother operation on the Sovereign than the Explorer or Etrac in some areas. Anyway, the higher frequencies the Sovereign users are more than high enough to hit hard on gold and nickle targets, so I don't really see a point in having even higher ones. There are going to be very limited situations where those might come into play as a help, but I bet more often than not they are more of a problem than a help (requiring lower sensitivity because of EMI or bouncing off ground minerals). JUST MHO though. Others will argue otherwise.

 

[UtahRich]

Any more I would not buy any detector without a try out. I've been in and out of detecting for 30 years. I now have an Explorer II, Teknetics T2, and an XP Goldmax Mark I. I bought them all based on the recommendation of others. Some (others) are prominent figures in the metal detecting hobby. .

Excellent Advice - Try before you buy. Especially with the prices of detectors. $,$$$.$$.

So which detector do I use the most and find all my silver coins with??? A 20 plus year old Garrett ADS III. It blows the Explorer away! BEWARE OF HIGH FREQUENCY and MULTI-FREQUENCY DETECTORS!!!! .

The Garrett ADS III blows the Explorer away! ?? Having been swinging a detector for a long time, I can appreciate the abilities of some of the "older" detectors. I have to admit, I am taken back by somebody with as many years as you have swinging a detector, claiming that a solid performing detector from 20+ years ago blows away even the Explorers XS, the oldest of the Explorers, especially on silver.

What sort of performance are you experiencing with your Garrett?

I agree that High Frequency detectors are less suited for coin hunting than the lower frequency detectors. Why the slam on multi-frequency detectors?

After 10 years of using an Explorer XS (FBS) and more recently a Sovereign XS-2A Pro (BBS) and now an E-Trac (FBS) I have found that they are exceptional in performance in the mineralized ground of my area (Several miles west of me is one of the largest open pit copper mines in the world. A few miles to the east are silver and gold mines in the canyons who's sediment my house is built on). The Explorers and Sovereigns are uncanny at finding good targets in and amongst rusty iron and garbage. And I can't count the number of times that I have found coins in the same hole with rusty nails, bolts, pull-tabs, foil, and so forth. Sometimes there is nothing left of the rusted object other than the rusty blood stain in the dirt found while recovering the target. Sometimes there are multiple rejected targets in the same hole. These BBS and FBS technologies saw past or ignored this junk while signalling on the good target I was looking for. To me, they are impressive. Am I too easily impressed?

I certainly have fond memories of my old detectors and reflect back fondly on the finds made with them. I did like the rugged metal enclosures of the older detectors and the simplicity of their settings. Still, once set with my hunting preferences, the only setting that I adjust on my everytime I go out with my E-Trac is the sensitivity.

Anyway, good luck with the ADS III. Sounds like you have a winner there. As for the question about how good is the Sovereign? I will say WAY GOOD.

Rich (Utah)

 

[Critterhunter]

Good post and Amen. Whites still use a "rugged" metal box for the control housing. I can say what I want about the weak depth of Whites compared to what the competition has these days but they do have many other things going for them, including very smooth audio and a good VDI (as good as the Sovereign's in certain respects, not counting all the multitones of the Sovereign which are way better to me).

The "friendly feel" and light hardware of a Whites is also as good as it gets out of the box, but that's no longer an issue for me with my custom lightweight GT. Minelab & Whites should get together on a joint venture machine. Let Whites handle the hardware and let Minelab handle the electronics and coil. I might let Whites have some input on the VDI/audio but not at the expense of a Minelab's multitones. What I'd want to see is a low frequency machine or at least a low multifrequency, assignable (by number) tone alerts, and infinite number range notches. That would be something to see...

 

[kered]

The minelab relic hawk i think runs at 5.5khz, that should be low enough

 

[Thegreat26]

Guess what my sov arrived yesterday. So today i took her for a spin.
Hip mounted you can use it fot days .
In my first 3 hours with her i found three roman arrowheads and 4 roman coins and 2 bullets. Not in good shape but for a start its just fine. Maybe i was luckier than usual but who cares. What i like most are the strong sounds that this machine gives even for small coins. Any tips would be appreciated.