Daniel,
I'm going to be hunting all day tomorrow, or as much as I can, and a couple of the guys and a gal who I hunt with and I were talking about where we'll be hunting. We talked about some of the features of the new models and what we're going to be using so far as detectors and coils tomorrow. It led us into a discussion much like what you brought up:
"For it to be a new detector there sure isn't alot of forum talk regarding it like some of the other new models from manufacturers."... One of the small group of us talking is a two-line detector dealer and that's what generated the same topic. You have to give Garrett credit because their introduction of the Ace 250 (and 150 which is hardly ever mentioned) came along a while after release of White's Prizm series, yet it seems to have sparked more interest and discussion on the various forums than the Prizm's. Matter of fact, it has drawn a lot more discussion than even Garrett's own newer up-line model, the GTP-1350.
I look at it this way. Garrett had too many lower-end models (Treasure Ace 100, Treasure Ace 300 and GTAx 400 all under $400) and all three were not really competitive in the industry. They dropped the GTAx400, and basically replaced the two Treasure Ace models with the new Ace 150 and Ace 250. Last year alone, I bought two Ace 250's, two GTP-1350's and two GTAx 1250's, all brand new. I have to tell you I was least impressed with the profiling GTP-1350, and the GTAx-1250 worked just the same w/o the annoying profiling On/Off switching, and therefore I liked the GTAx-1250 better. But here in NW Oregon our ground mineralization is really bad and those two models gave me a lot of problems due to a too negative GB in the Pinpoint mode as well as some poor operation in the Discriminate mode.
The Ace 250's however, were the real surprise! While I think the upper rod length could be increased an inch or two between the foam handgrip and the armcup, that's about the more negative thing (other than coils that don't snug up well, which is a typical thing with Garrett's design). On a positive note they use 4-AA batteries, which I prefer to 9V's. They are lightweight and have a very useful stock coil size. They have a memory, unlike the Prizm series, and have use a notch discrimination system with 12 segments with full-range acceptance or rejection. Best of all, for their very affordable price, they worked! Matter of fact, they gave me equal or better performance, side-by-side, in most places than I got with the GTP-1350 or GTAx-1250!
Let's not forget that not only were they a new and different physical design for Garrett, but they were a different color. Personally, I like the yellow compared to some of the blah shades of green I have seen over the years. In short, they gave us something new and different and somewhat exciting.
Minelab brought out something completely new and different in the way of features, physical design, and with Target and Tone ID in the X-Terra 30 & X-Terra 50. For me, the X-Terra 50 has proven to be an impressive performer. It has a really nice 'feel' with its lightweight design and great balance. The display has a larger, easy-to-read numeric readout than many competitors, and the adjustments are very quick to learn and easy to make on the fly!
The X-Terra 50 has an 18-segment discriminate notch system, and the TID has good 'lock-on' even at reasonable depth. It has a unique operating frequency option based upon the coil in use, and the standard X-Terra 50 operates at 7.5 kHz and is also powered with 4-AA batteries. While it retails for more than the Ace 250, it is designed to be more of a detector, but like the Ace 250 it has a lot of appeal, ois reasonably priced, doesn't have much competitoj at its price for the featuyres, and best of all ... and this is an importnat factor ... the X-Terra 50, like ther Ace 250, is just plain fun-to-use! Oh, let's not forget that Minelab used a very bold and creative method to 'introduce' their new product. They obviously had ample confidence, and this also got it 'talked about' ... as well as it's own Forum!
Fisher is a sleepr, or should I say, has been putting people to sleep, with their last couple of entries. Yes, they kind of work in some ways but other than flame decals or a new-to-Fisher odd blue control face color, they haven't been well thought out, nor did they follow any op. freq. design and you have limited coil selection.
The Matrix M6 is being talked about, but not like I had expected. A few dealers I have spoken with have indicated that some inquiring customers are asking what the big differences are to make the M6, at $150 more than a Prizm V, the better unit when it has either a 7-Tone or singlr tone option, while the Prizm V offers, single, triple, or eight-tone audio. Also, the Prizm V has the optional, although limited, notch discrimination. Then some consumers are a little puzzled by the physical design and all the different adjustment features they get with the MXT at only $100 more, and the only apparent thing they don'e get is the 7-tone audio ID function.
So, Garrett created a void in their product line and introduce a nifty little unit, at an afordable price, that was apparently different and worked well. Talk was generated!
Minelab introduced a model that was completely new in the way of physical design, Target ID and full-range notching and did it at a reasonable price point, and all that, with other advantages, generated a lot of interest and talk!
White's discontinued an excellent-performing IDX Pro at $550 and an equally good XL Pro at $700. Two models that could compliment each other or others due to the differences in their operating design (2 & 4 filter type operation). They were replaced with a model that has a general appearance of the IDX Pro (I personally like the 'Classic' rod/housing/trigger pod design), that has only two control knob adjustments, hints to performance similar to the multi-tasking MXT, yet the M6 is priced at $700 (I am rounding the figures for this post). So in many ways you have to ask, what is there for dealers to talk about?
Sadly, too many dealers either use and promote, or just promote, the higher-end models simply because they make more $$ on them. Not a bigger percentage, just more cash in hand. This isn't the best business to try and make a living in and if you're a dealer who is in it because you love the hobby but don't have to rely on it for a living, such as Steve Herschbach or others who make their living from other than detectors, then you can be totally honest with the consumer and use the models that work for you and sell them the models that will work for them. Too many dealers, for any brand, are just not real active hobbyists, or knowledgeable detectorists, and therefore often promote what will bring them the most immediate cash-in-hand.
What this means is that even many dealers I have spoken with see the MXT as the better choice than the Matrix M6 .. but that's partly because they haven't played with the M6 enough to know it.
"Is it just not eye appealing to alot of folks or what? I got one for my wife to use and I have been using it when I get the opportunity. My jury is still out on the unit to be honest."... I know what you mean. There are a couple of functions about the M6 I like, and haven't seen mentioned on a forum post yet, and I hope to decide by the end of the month if I want one, or if I want to hold out for what I hope is going to come in the future.
"It air tests extremely well and handles the coins in my test garden pretty good. But in real world hunting I've just not been able to locate any deep targets with it. Everything I have found has been shallow and I'm not so sure that with the type signals it gives on the shallow items, if it is going to be capable of getting down to the deeper ones. I'm questioning its ability to go deep in and around trash. In the test garden there is no trash and it is able to easily pick out the coin targets there. In school yards and ball fields, it struggles in the more trashy areas. Perhaps the smaller coils would be better for target seperation there."... I have to agree with you here, too. Personally, I like the Matrix M6. I think it is a great detector that would have been competitive if it would have been priced at a suggested $599.95 or $629.95, but not a nickel below $700.
My air test depth on coins appears to be good with more audio saturation at depth for a louder 'hit' with the stock 950 coil than I get with my X-Terra 50 w/9" coil, or Shadow X5 with 7" or 5x10 DD coils. But in the field, so far, the two I have pluck the coins out of trashy sites with better audio and less noise at near maximum gain than has the M6. I used a smaller coil on the M6 but then I got better performance out of the X-Terra 50 w/9" and the Shadow X5 w/7" when I hunted from the heavy trash out into an almost trash-free section of ground.
"But what I'm concerned with is the depth on the older coins that are there in the school yards and ball fields. I'll get a weak sounding audio signal that registers in the upper 70s and and around 80. It reads as 1c/10c. I say to myself "this is a deeper coin" then pinpoint it and it's just showing 2 inches deep and sure enough there it is...just under the roots."... I think that many models operating at a higher frequency, have this type of problem in some bad ground conditions, especially on the targets that have a higher conductivity. I saw that right after I got my first MXT, and hunting with it using a 5.3 Eclipse coil to work over an old, but small, picnic and recreation park. I then went in the day after working it for a week or week and a half and used my XLT with the same sized 5.3 BullsEye coil and I hit on several silver dimes right away that were only 2
