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I'm back and could use a hand?

C

crazyjz

New member
Good morning all!

I have been metal detecting for about 10 years now but have been out of it for the last 3 or 4 years. I guess I missed it because I find myself shopping for metal detectors every chance I get. I used to be a regular contributor on this forum so I thought I would come back and see if any of you could help me make a decision.

I have owned and loved my CZ-20, my XLT, DFX and my Explorer. I was thinking I would just get another one of either of those machines. I found the Explorer to be a little heavy for me and not really remarkably better than my DFX or my CZ-20 so I was leaning toward one of those two when I started hearing about the Sovereign GT. Much of what I read leads me to believe that I might be able to get the good aspects of the Explorer without the weight and complexity.

I am not wealthy but I can afford any of the machines out there so money is not my concern. My question is, if somebody offered to trade you their Explorer for your Sovereign, even up, would you trade?

Thanks guys. Your answer will help me make a decision.
 
I have both the Sov GT and the Explorer and wouldn't trade either one. But the ugly fact of the matter is the Sov weighs as much as the Explorer. Actually the Sov GT weighs a few ounces more than an Explorer. Just over 5lbs with cover. Still the GT is better balanced since the electronics mounts under the armrest which counterbalances the coil quite well and the straight shaft is nice. So if you are thinking by trading down to the less features of the Sov for a savings in weight that isn't going to happen. They basically weigh the same. If you were happy with the Explorer and liked all the advanced features I would go back to that as nothing has come along that can surpass it yet. Both the Explorer and the Sov GT are great machines and you really wouldn't go wrong with either one. JMHO

HH

Beachcomber
 
Thanks beachcomber,

I appreciate your input. I guess that I had made some erroneous assumptions while reading some other users posts. Many made comments about the lighter weight of the Sovereign but my guess is that they were speaking of perceived weight and not actual.

I don't need most of the "advanced features" of the Explorer. IMHO, many of those features are used very little by the average metal detectorist. MineLabs tone ID and the multi-freq technology is what has me drawn back to the MineLabs.

I have been reading here about the value of adding a meter (either SunRay or MineLab) to the Sovereign GT. Once you do that, you are just about in the financial range of a Explorer!

Decisions, Decisions!
 
Art,

You seem to be pretty adamant about your preference of the Sovereign over the Explorer. Any chance I could get you to articulate your preference just a bit?
 
I been swinging a Sov for almost 4 years now. Liked it from the very beginning.

Like the tones and ease of operation. I find it easy to relate to.

I have a feel for the sound and motion that I would not want to give up. It's a big confidence factor.

Don't need more options. Don't use half of them I have now. Don't care to get 1/2" deeper or make 1 more find out of a dozen with just the right settings on a more complicated detector.

HH
 
If I could only have one it would be a tough decision as they both work good, but the Sovereign GT with Sun Ray meter if I could find one would be my choice. There is several reasons I feel this way. One with the stock set up the Explorer is the heavier of the 2, but if you change to a smaller coil it not as bad. The turn on a go of the Sovereign is so much easier to set up and you don't have to try to find the right adjustments to use for the area you are in. The visual ID of the target is what you are hearing with the tones, so what you hear is what you see on the digital meter on the Sovereign, but the Explorer you hear the target and until the threshold comes back you don't have a visual ID. The Visual ID on the Explorer is the last target it sees, so if you hear a good tone and the coil goes over a nail before the threshold come back you will not have a accurate ID. Another thing I like better on the Sovereign and this is because of my hearing is the tones on the Sovereign stay until it sees the next target so I know the detector has seen something different. With the Explorer the tones go back to the normal threshold, so some of the weak ones that are deep may be only a quick signal and back to normal threshold, not enough for me to hear.
The Explorer as we see on these forums and the finds it can get, much better than the Sovereign, so we know it is a excellent detector for those that have mastered it. I have several here that have used both, some have sold the Sovereign as they do better with the Explorer, some sold the Explorer as their finds were much greater with the Sovereign, so it all depends on how well you know and understand the detector you are using.
To help on the weight the Sovereign can be easily hip mounted while the Explorer a person can get a swingy thing from Doc.
In actual hunting I dig less trash and more coins with the Sovereign over the Explorer. In actual signal comparisons on the same target I find the Sovereign can get a good 90-95% of the ones the Explorer can get my buddies use.
They both are good, the Explorer is better for most once you understand it, but not for everybody the same as the Sovereign is, so if you want to try something new and only did OK with the Explorer maybe the GT is worth a try,but if you knew the Explorer well and did great with it, then it is the one you want and just get a swingy thing from Doc to help with the weight issue. On my Explorer I use the Joey coil, the 5 inch coil and the Platypus coil as they don't make the Explorer so nose heavy so they dint feel as heavy.

Rick
 
Thanks, all of you.

I was not kidding when I said that I was shopping for a MD and I bought a Sovereign GT today.

I am sure that I will be spending some time on this forum trying to glean any and all help learning to master the art of this machine.

Good hunting!
 
this how dumb i am, i usually post on the explrer forum its pretty quiet, anyhow i own the excal. its the same as a soverign right?
 
well first off, its good to have you back. i have an explorer xs with the x-1 probe. 5" sunray coil, 8" and 12"er along with the 10" coil i got when i brought it when explorers first came out and NO i wouldnt trade it for anything. its an excellent detector and i know how to use it pretty well.

about a month ago i brought the sovereign GT along with the digisearch meter, s-1 probe and a 8 " coil . before spring i should have the s-5 and the s-12. ive only had it out a couple times due to the weather so i'm still very much into the learning curve myself. im looking forward to when detecting weather starts coming around but already ive learned alot from this form. everyone on this form are so helpful and make you feel right at home.

stan pa.
 
Based on the statement below (from your other post):

I don't need most of the "advanced features" of the Explorer. IMHO, many of those features are used very little by the average metal detectorist. MineLabs tone ID and the multi-freq technology is what has me drawn back to the MineLabs.

I would say you might want to give the Quattro a try. It's cheaper than the Explorer, more than the GT, and has the 28 freq FBS circuitry. It has a more simple target ID system (-10 to +40 linear scale) and the variable tones more like the Explorer than the Sovereign. It has excellent depth and is pretty well built. It's as heavy as the Explorer. It shares the Explorer coils and accessories. I have had the DFX, Sovereign Elite, and the Quattro and now have the Explorer II. I wouldn't go back to the DFX but I think you can't go wrong with any of the Minelabs mentioned. If you would like the manuals for the Quattro and the Explorer II in PDF form to help you decide, send me your email address and I'll send them to you.
 
hi mike,
you do have a real good point there. from what i have read about the quattro it sounds like a nice machine and being you can use all the explorer coils and probes it would be great in between detector to have.
i have the explorer xs and ive had that ever since the explorer came out. i myself have pretty much run it with the same settings that ive been using for a number of years and dont really go into alot of the options but its nice having them at hand. i just got the sovereign GT and im still in the learning curve as far as settings and getting the feel of the disc. and sens. modes. pinpointing with the double d coil was easy because of the explorer but i wish it had the no motion pinpoint like the explorer. pinpointing i feel in the disc. mode is almost like the no motion mode im finding.
like i said the quattro does sound like a great in between detector to check out.
im sure looking for this weather to get just a little better cause both of my detectors are ready to go.
HH,
stan pa.
 
Another thing about the Quattro is it's incredible pinpointing...one of the best. And it has the cool little LCD graph for the pinpointing that actually has an LCD "wave" that rises to fill the graph box when you are spot-on the target. At first it looked gimmicky to me but I quickly came to like it a lot.

As for the Sovereign, I haven't used to GT but from what I can tell it's a Sovereign Elite with a few nice features added. I had the Sovereign Elite and whether I used the 10" Tornado or the Sunray 12.5, I found the pinpointing on that to be excellent as well, though totally different than the Quattro. But the Elite was the only machine I've had where I could pinpoint in ID mode...in other owrds, without going to "pinpoint". In fact, I used the pinpoint switch like once or twice in my initial testing of it but once I got to using it I found that I could do it without it very easliy and never used it again in over a year of heavy hunting with it. The only reason I let that one go was because it was my beach machine and I liked it so much I got rid of it and got the Excalibur...which is just a waterproof Sovereign. The GT sounds like they added some nice improvements...certainly can't go wrong with that. I see it as the natural progression of the line, just like the Explorer II is the cumulative refinement of the Explorer line.
 
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