I have/had in the last year.... a T2, V3i, Etrac, Xterra 705, AT Pro, Gold Bug, and a bunch more.... You might laugh at this one, BUT my favorite detector that hit HOT on gold... and it's NOT the most expensive machine I had, NOR one talked about a lot and flies under the radar... was the Minelab Xterra 705!.
No kidding!
The 'Prospecting mode, with the 'high frequency coil' (you can change frequencies with different coils on the 705), and the great sensitivity of that detector did fantastic on gold!.... even small gold! PLUS I would change out coils/frequencies for parks, etc... PLUS it's light as heck so you can swing all day, PLUS is is backlit, very accurate TDI, and a fast recovery which I liked. I sold it for an Etrac at the time because I could not afford both.
No kidding!
The 'Prospecting mode, with the 'high frequency coil' (you can change frequencies with different coils on the 705), and the great sensitivity of that detector did fantastic on gold!.... even small gold! PLUS I would change out coils/frequencies for parks, etc... PLUS it's light as heck so you can swing all day, PLUS is is backlit, very accurate TDI, and a fast recovery which I liked. I sold it for an Etrac at the time because I could not afford both.