MXT w/10x12 SEF vs CTX 3030 w/stock 11"

[Wayfarer]

Well nobody has stated the most obvious advantage the CTX 3030 has over the MXT Pro, and that is the ability to take a garden hose and squirt water on your machine. Probably don't wanna do that to the MXT's. Other then that the MXT's are a far more versatile machine able to hunt in a far wider range of conditions. The CTX might do better on a deeper coin, provided the deeper coin isn't being effected/masked by other nearby targets. Not to mention its a (butt) heavy machine that does not balance well. So yes I guess you could say that it is in a class of its own. Very expensive machine for its somewhat limited capabilities.

Several more hunts under my belt now with the CTX, but haven't had a chance to do my direct in-the-park comparison yet. I'm an audio hunter, and the MXT just gives me more raw information via the audio. The CTX is quieter and smoother, though, no question. I agree with your statement that the CTX is a specialty detector. It excels at deep coin detection in most conditions, although it apparently has no advantage in my particular soil. I'm going to be on the lookout for areas where the CTX's alleged advantage can be put to use. So far, I've only used my CTX around Boise in the Treasure Valley (not up in the mountains) which has low-medium mineralized soils. And here, there is no advantage to the CTX that I can tell. I'll concede that the CTX must be better in other soils in other locations judging by the many positive reviews of its depth capabilities.

I disagree about the weight of the CTX. It's heavy but it's so well balanced that it's actually easier to hunt with for long periods. Also, the grip is much better on the CTX. It's curved just right AND you can grab it with all four fingers. On the MXT, the trigger gets in the way of your index finger and you end up having to hold it with three fingers. The CTX wins in the ergonomics department. In fact, I really love the ergonomics to the point that it makes it hard now to pick up the MXT.

I agree with Gregg that the MXT appears to be more versatile. The MXT for all-around versatility and jewelry hunting, especially when it starts to get trashy, and the CTX for open areas with low trash when I'm trying to get the best depth on coins. Probably the best thing is just to take both detectors with me when I hunt and use the one that best matches the conditions and type of hunting. ... was hoping the CTX would totally replace my MXT, but turns out that's not going to happen now that I've used both. The CTX sure beats my old V3i though!

 

[Southwind]

All I can say is not every detector fits the needs as well as others. You either need to find someone that can take you out and show you the obvious difference between the CTX and MXT or just forget the CTX and use the MXT. To me comparing the CTX to the MXT is like comparing the Compadre to the Tejon. For some the Compadre is just the best option.

 

[Wayfarer]

All I can say is not every detector fits the needs as well as others. You either need to find someone that can take you out and show you the obvious difference between the CTX and MXT or just forget the CTX and use the MXT. To me comparing the CTX to the MXT is like comparing the Compadre to the Tejon. For some the Compadre is just the best option.

I've got about 100 hours now on the CTX. Not sure how long it takes to realize the advantages of the CTX, but I've read one of the great things about the CTX is that it allows you to head out and get good depth without a large learning curve. I consider myself a very experienced detectorist, having been in the hobby for 35 years and used most top end machines over that time. There's no great mystery how the CTX works especially with the limited number of user adjustments, in fact it's one of the simplest top-end machines I've used.

As one of the posters above pointed out, there's just not much use in arguing X vs Y since soil conditions have so much to do with performance differences. Lots of guys will vehemently defend their expensive detector purchases out of a subconscious need to justify their purchase. I don't think that's what's going on here, rather it's just a difference in local conditions. But I suspect that some of the overly glowing reviews of the CTX are due to this phenomenon. I also dropped the bucks on a $2,500 detector but am able to remain objective, and I just don't see the claimed advantages so far in my operating environment. I'm not saying at all you aren't getting an advantage, not at all, I'm just hypothesizing that the CTX's advantages are negated by some specialized soil conditions. I have low mineralization, and I suspect that the FBS2 technology is a bigger advantage in higher mineralized soils. In your soil, I'm sure you're getting more out of the CTX than you are an MXT. The CTX does get about the same depth as the MXT and it's a lot quieter and easier doing so, so that's an advantage right there that I can already see. Overall, I find the CTX an excellent machine and plan to keep mine and keep learning it.

I'm off to Northern Nevada for a multi-day nugget-hunting and ghost town detecting trip, so I'll be off the forum for awhile. Thanks everyone for their input and Happy Hunting.

 

[Wayfarer]

Came across this old post from last year and thought I'd give a final update.

I put several hundred hours on my CTX, read everything I could find on getting the maximum out of it, and experimented with every possible combination of settings, and my findings were the same: the MXT matched the CTX.

The last several weeks I was doing comparison testing, I actually toted around both detectors and did careful comparison testing whenever I came upon what I though were deep coin targets. Sometimes I'd find them first with the CTX, sometimes with the MXT. Each time I found a target that sounded like a deep coin, I'd spend 15 minutes or so with each detector carefully adjusting settings, varying sweep speed and angle, to get the best signal on each detector. I even kept notes in a field notebook . Real in-the-ground targets.

The conclusion was the same: the MXT with the big SEF coil was as deep and separated as well as the CTX with the stock 11" coil. The MXT was as deep and ID'd as well on deep dimes, quarters, and pennies, and actually had a bit of advantage on nickels.

I really wanted to like the CTX, and I did, but it wasn't any great leap, at least in my soil. Totally editorializing here ... Lots of folks seem to want to justify a high-dollar machine (me included), there's undoubtedly a subconscious "placebo effect," and some machines undoubtedly do better in some soils than others. But my inescapable conclusion is that the difference just isn't all that great anymore between a good $800 VLF detector and a $2500 VLF detector. Maybe I have a "hot" MXT and a dud CTX? Maybe my mild soil has just the right mix of minerals to negate any advantage of the FBS technology? But I am sure I learned the CTX and gave it a fair shot. It just seems VLF tech has stagnated, a few more bells and whistles, but that's about it.

Why am I bothering to follow up with this rambling post? Good question! Because I'm still sticking with my conclusion the CTX "isn't all that" compared to the MXT. And because I think that anybody hunting with an MXT or some other decent detector and liking it, should stick with what they know and like. And because I'm practically begging the detector manufacturers to put in the R&D and come out with some real advancements that will keep the hobby alive.

Until they come out with the next big thing, go forth with your MXT or other "lesser" detector and keep making the great finds.

 

[BeenFishin]

Wayfarer,

Your write ups and replies are so professionally done I'm starting to think you ARE some type of scientist. I guess some people just don't understand the benefits of leaving variables such as soil conditions out of the experiment. Thanks for taking the time to put in all the hard work. I just made an account to write this post. Happy hunting!

 

[sweeper60]

Elton, boy do I agree with you. For starters, soil conditions and EMI are two big location-dependent variables. Most of these so-called comparisons floating around are near useless because either 1) soil conditions are not noted or even understood, or 2) the operator doesn't know how to properly run his machine. It's pretty obvious when that happens, but there's still frequently good information in such comparisons, you just need to take them with a big grain of salt. The best comparisons are ones that try to be as scientific as possible and at least try to control for as many variables as possible. And location is always a huge variable.

Southwind, you're being modest! Your posts are some of the most informative and helpful I've read, especially on the CTX and the DFX. Thanks!

I went out again in my backyard to try again. Maybe I didn't get the coil right over the center of the target? Maybe I hadn't reset the sensitivity after my last experiment? But no, the results were the same: the MXT hit solid and gave good VDI. The CTX hit "OK" but not as good as the MXT. Again, I tried every possible swing speed and coming at the targets from multiple angles, etc., but the MXT had the edge, no question. This is also with the stock settings on the MXT. Just turn on, set gain to preset, ground balance, and go. On the CTX, the stock "Coin" program doesn't do as well as my open screen A+3 program, so with the CTX in the stock program there was an even bigger performance difference. Not that the CTX performance is bad, we are talking about 8" dimes, just that the MXT is getting them better. None of the CTX settings make much of a difference except for sensitivity. In my soil, the CTX runs at 23-26 when it's on +3, so that should be good enough to beat out an MXT, right?

Maybe I have an exceptionally hot and well-tuned MXT? Although I tend to believe quality control is pretty good on both White's and Minelab and "good" and "bad" detectors are a figment of the imagination...operator error or inexperience almost always ends up being the root cause.

My next experiment will be to take both detectors to the park and test them on the same buried targets. Go through with one detector, mark the targets, take notes on response, ID, etc., and then come through on the same targets with the other detector. That'll have to wait until this weekend when I can use my second detector carrier, aka my 11 year old daughter.

I agree with what you have said here, I did the same test when I bought an MXT in ground that I had Gridded with the Sovereign GT and the Etrac and 8 different coils for the GT and the MXT with the standard coil made them look stupid, Not only that the amount of finds I had left in the ground was shameful, And the type of finds paid for the MXT in the first sweep of the coil on the First day, I too use to believe that because I had bought 2 top of the line Expensive machines that That gave me the right to put down other machines until a friend made my GT and Etrac look stupid in his back Garden, The Recovery speed and Depth were less than useless in junk filled site with over 4000 years of metal workings, In 5 years of using the GT I had found 1 Cut half hammered silver penny, when I bought the MXT I was finding up to 8 per day On the same Ground and I was now finding up to 167 per day, That should not have happened I wasted 5 years Swinging that GT and almost 3 years with the Etrac and in that time I found ONE valued Coin The MXT has increased my finds rated Dramatically, The only thing my Etrac gave me was Snob Value and Bragging rights while looking cool while out detecting, As for the finds the thing was a joke, And the MXT has a better Faster Tracking system and it handles Hotter Ground and it about 12 to 16 times more sensitive basing that when you weigh the items the Etrac can see compared to what the MXT can see using the standard coils. And add to that the fact it has a Genuine Prospecting Mode and has found more Gold than any other machine ever made makes the MXT the Correct choice, Even the Biggest Coil Whites makes is way more sensitive than the Etrac's standard Coil.

Having put many thousands of hours in on the MXT ( well over 5000 hours) and a heck of a lot on the other two and doing side by side testing and then digging the Targets the finds rate of the MXT is well above 10 to 1.and having Dug many coins in the 10, 12 to 14" depth range I see very little use in FBS technology and the only place they really shine is on the salt beach but then A TDI or ATX would be a better option and cheaper so that negates the need to spend $2500 on a machine with limited use,

Those that like FBS are welcome to them, But if a person wants to have some fun then just grab your MXT with the 950 or 12" coil and follow in an FBS user's foot steps and dig all the Targets they have walked over,

Happy Hunting,

 

[Wayfarer]

Welcome to the board BeenFishin, glad to have you!

Sweeper, thanks for the story. Good to know other detectorists have had the same experience. It baffles me how any experienced user can deny that different soils alter comparative advantages among different detectors and simply dismiss any evidence that runs against what they have already decided to be true. Maybe in their soils the CTX is better, but not in mine.

To reiterate, specific site conditions obviously have a big effect of different detectors advantages and disadvantages. I'm sure some experienced users hunt in areas where the CTX is noticeably superior, just not in my low iron mineralized soil.

You killed it in the iron trash with your MXT finding all those silvers!

 

[sweeper60]

Welcome to the board BeenFishin, glad to have you!

Sweeper, thanks for the story. Good to know other detectorists have had the same experience. It baffles me how any experienced user can deny that different soils alter comparative advantages among different detectors and simply dismiss any evidence that runs against what they have already decided to be true. Maybe in their soils the CTX is better, but not in mine.

To reiterate, specific site conditions obviously have a big effect of different detectors advantages and disadvantages. I'm sure some experienced users hunt in areas where the CTX is noticeably superior, just not in my low iron mineralized soil.

You killed it in the iron trash with your MXT finding all those silvers!

Well like you I was told it was the best thing since sliced bread, And I tried and tried for 5 years with the GT but I just could not find them 2000 year old Roman coins and I use to buy Treasure Hunting magazine and the searcher and see all the pictures and look in Awe and wonder if I would ever find anything like that, But like I said I found one Cut Half Silver 12th century Penny, Now I know they are rare But ONE in 8 years is a little over the top, But when I bought the MXT it was on fire and when you think about how many years I had invested in the Other two machine, Including modern coins In the first 3 weeks I had found more than I did in 8 years, In two days I found 324 coins dating from the 1800s to the 1950s and in excess of 30 silver coins ranging from .925 to .500. I was digging that much that I forgot it was getting Dark, On the first day I found 3 lots of Gold in one sweep of the coil, I could not believe how the MXT had changed my Luck, And this latest one with the 10" D2 coil seem extremely hot, I have found bits of lead weighing 0.01 grams or 0.2 Grains and when you consider that there are 480 Grains to 1 Troy Ounce, and I have used the MXT in some of the worst ground in the world (Australia) and it worked and found Gold and here in the UK I have found it to be the most reliable Detector when it come down to finds, Not once have I ever come of the field wondering did I use the right settings or did I miss anything and In all the years/hours I have never gone home without something that little bit special, So I know what you say is Fact because Like you I also invested a lot of money in high Dollar machines that bring very little to the table.

Good luck, HH.

 

[Mega]

Must admit after reading up about the MXT i have been doing some homework on the machine and think i may have located a as new condition one,so maybe the new owner this week,i all ready own a DFX which as luck would have it i can use all my coils that i have on the MXT.The thing that i am not sure about as yet is am i basically duplicating a machine as the DFX can of course run in 15Khz the same as the MXT,but of course it has a trump card up its sleev that it can also run in dual freq ie 15khz and 3khz or even just in the lower 3khz on its own.

The MXT is a far more popular machine than the DFX but saying that i have had mine since 2001 and have 1000s of hours on the clock,the crops wont be long before they come off so then it will be the full steam ahead detecting wise again.

@sweeper60,you should try a TDI Pro or a GP3500 those are good machines as well

 

[sweeper60]

Must admit after reading up about the MXT i have been doing some homework on the machine and think i may have located a as new condition one,so maybe the new owner this week,i all ready own a DFX which as luck would have it i can use all my coils that i have on the MXT.The thing that i am not sure about as yet is am i basically duplicating a machine as the DFX can of course run in 15Khz the same as the MXT,but of course it has a trump card up its sleev that it can also run in dual freq ie 15khz and 3khz or even just in the lower 3khz on its own.

The MXT is a far more popular machine than the DFX but saying that i have had mine since 2001 and have 1000s of hours on the clock,the crops wont be long before they come off so then it will be the full steam ahead detecting wise again.

@sweeper60,you should try a TDI Pro or a GP3500 those are good machines as well

Well you won't be duplicating your DFX because the MXT runs a lot Hotter as In sensitivity and it Also has a better Tracking System, ONLY because it has a real prospecting mode and it can deal with wild ground conditions better than most, Depth is +/- of the DFX with the Edge going to the MXT because of the Hyper Sensitivity, This new one can see my bare hand between 4 to 6 inches.

@Mega, I would love to try a TDI Pro or a 3500, But every time I try to some coils for them someone just South of Utopia keeps buying all the Coils, And the Current Draw his detector has from running them big Coils keeps making my Lounge Room Light Go Dim

So I am having to make do with a Magnet

 

[sweeper60]

Welcome to the board BeenFishin, glad to have you!

Sweeper, thanks for the story. Good to know other detectorists have had the same experience. It baffles me how any experienced user can deny that different soils alter comparative advantages among different detectors and simply dismiss any evidence that runs against what they have already decided to be true. Maybe in their soils the CTX is better, but not in mine.

To reiterate, specific site conditions obviously have a big effect of different detectors advantages and disadvantages. I'm sure some experienced users hunt in areas where the CTX is noticeably superior, just not in my low iron mineralized soil.

You killed it in the iron trash with your MXT finding all those silvers!

Like you I followed the Hype about the GT and the E-Trac but in all those years I never saw any of the wild claims come true and I drove all over the country using those machine and not once did I see any thing remotely comparable with the Rumours, I listened to some of the so called experts who are involved with such companies and conclude that their views are career related and they cost me a heap of money in the process.

The MXT will always out Hunt the GT and FBS machines because of their Recovery speed and the way they can separate the targets, Even the lower range Tesoros can whoop them in junk filled sites, I know that because I have had folks who own them do it to me,

I don't think your MXT is a one off Hyper machine because all 3 of mine have been the same, It is just the Nature of the Beast, But I did ask Whites a while back if they had updated the software and they NO but there is Always On Going fine tuning going On, And they have not been messing with the Coils because My Coils are all ages

Another thing I noticed in your Posts was that you were trying to run the CTX at it's most powerful settings, Which leaves me to wonder what would of happened if you had Run the MXT maxed out like you did with the CTX, ??

I have heard so many tails about the Etracs and the CTX that I no longer believe any of them, and you get the same in the prospecting circles, If someone made a magic detector I would buy it "regardless of Cost", The GT and the CTX are blind as a Bat when it come to small targets and small Gold even when fitted with their 6" Coil or the 5x10 Coiltek coil, The Coils are fine, but in order to reduce the Ground noise on the GT's, Etrac and CTX they have kept the internal Gain settings Low and while that works for coins it is useless on fine chains or small/Tiny natural Gold where as the MXT will see bits 30, 40, 50 times smaller Maybe more., Fit the CTX with the factory 6" coil and do the same with the MXT and you are in for a shock, But we have to remember that the MXT was designed by Prospectors for Prospectors so it is no surprize that it is a live wire of a machine.

I have spent quite a while testing the MXT's Coils and some of them do not behave the way that we have been told how certain Coils react, And although they are All different their features seem to interlock because where they might be alike in some ways they are totally different in others, I don't know if Whites intended for them to be that way or if it was pure luck, But what I saw is some pretty Amazing results when test to Extremes,

The down side of all the testing is that it enforced my thoughts that there is still no Machine on the market that offers anything that I have not got already and those that are close are just copies of what I have, And the thing about some of the tall tails going around is something that is included as part of the Kit because of the high price tag, I was the same when I bought the GT and then the Etrac, That all changed when someone made them both look stupid with one off the first model MXT's, there is a Good reason why the MXT has stood the test of time.

 

[Southwind]

Those that like FBS are welcome to them, But if a person wants to have some fun then just grab your MXT with the 950 or 12" coil and follow in an FBS user's foot steps and dig all the Targets they have walked over,

You're welcome to follow me any time. And if you find one deep coin I missed I'll buy you a new machine. Guaranteed!

I had the MXT and the MXT Pro both were great machines when it came to all-around hunting. But when it came to pulling the deep stuff from our city park it was the CTX/E-Trac that was/is the king.

 

[sweeper60]

Those that like FBS are welcome to them, But if a person wants to have some fun then just grab your MXT with the 950 or 12" coil and follow in an FBS user's foot steps and dig all the Targets they have walked over,

You're welcome to follow me any time. And if you find one deep coin I missed I'll buy you a new machine. Guaranteed!

I had the MXT and the MXT Pro both were great machines when it came to all-around hunting. But when it came to pulling the deep stuff from our city park it was the CTX/E-Trac that was/is the king.

You Sir are a True Sportsman, And a Great Asset to this place,

J

 

[mrwilburino]

sweeper60- If you are hunting old, iron littered sites where a good target can fall anywhere in the non ferrous range, then I would agree there are better machines for that type of hunting that the FBS units. A mid to higher frequency, fast target separator would do a better job under those circumstances. Those of us who hunt for U.S. coins face a different set of challenges. We are looking for targets that register in very specific ranges. Many of the sites that we hunt contain worthless trash that can register anywhere and everywhere along the conductivity scale. Getting an ID that is as accurate as possible, especially on the deep stuff, is what gets us more keepers at the end of the day. That's where FBS is one of the best.

 

[sweeper60]

sweeper60- If you are hunting old, iron littered sites where a good target can fall anywhere in the non ferrous range, then I would agree there are better machines for that type of hunting that the FBS units. A mid to higher frequency, fast target separator would do a better job under those circumstances. Those of us who hunt for U.S. coins face a different set of challenges. We are looking for targets that register in very specific ranges. Many of the sites that we hunt contain worthless trash that can register anywhere and everywhere along the conductivity scale. Getting an ID that is as accurate as possible, especially on the deep stuff, is what gets us more keepers at the end of the day. That's where FBS is one of the best.

I used mine to hunt farm and woodland and I just could not get Solid VID numbers from it such as a 1696 silver coin the size of a Quarter, I got 11-44, 11-42, 11-43, 12-45, 09-48, 10-42, 08-39, and it was impossible to tell what the targets are because I could get 6, 7 or 8 sets of ID numbers, I took the Etrac and the MXT 300 fitted with the 12" concentric coil to one site and I gridded the area with the Etrac and I found 3 coins and the rest of the targets turned out to be junk, So I fired up the MXT 300 and did the same again and the Etrac had missed 11 Coins 4 of them being silver,

I kept a log of the Etrac's ID numbers and because the numbers are jumping about whether the target is in the ground or in an air test I found that a person wastes so much time trying to get solid ID's and in junk filled sites it is even worse because of the recovery rate, and I never hit any deep targets with it, Where as I am always hitting coins up to and in the 13" range using the 950 Coil and although the 950 coil is a Concentric The Whites 10" is slightly deeper maybe by 1/4" and it shows the same results in Air tests too so the reason for the deep coins is not down to the Coil being a concentric,

One of the things that really annoyed was when I called the shop and ask about the Etrac's wild ID's I was told to ignore the screen and that you should not used the screen, Well if that is the case then why did ML spend so much time and effort in giving it one, That's like buying a Car and then having the dealer remove the Gauges because that would get a person in trouble with the Law for speeding and running out of Gas etc, And I have very little Trust in the ML self made super stars, And really these machines should not be sold in countries that have heavily Iron infestation, where the US has 400 years of metal working, The EU has 4500 years worth of junk hidden in the soil which is why people in their thousands changed over to the XP GMP and the XP Deus, And I prefer the Sound of Whites machines but there is very little difference in terms of performance between the MXT and the XP machines, And in the right hands either machine will go deep and any rumours that are out there about the Etrac/CTX being deeper are spread by those with an invested interest.

One of the XP reps invited people to bring their best machine and their own Coin and put them up against the XP Deus and the Deus was hitting Coins at 17" and the CTX /Etracs were not even close. and they did this Test Live for everyone to see, So I would advise folks to take any such rumours about these two ML machines to treat then as such "Rumours" being mostly put out there by ML people them selves and real world conditions and Testing will prove to be False.

 

[pghmole]

Wow,I can tell you this,in my area the ctx reins supreme,nothing else can find silver in my area like it...im from Pittsburgh pa,in also know many people who made the switch from the mxt to the ctx and haven't looked back because their finds doubled and tripled,i also have a deus and it does AIR TEST for depth better,but in ground the depth doesn't come close especially with the terrible target id i.e. putting pull tabs well into the 80s also no id on deep targets!and sucks on bottlecaps!,I have another buddy that uses the deus and is pretty skilled with it and I always smoke him with my ctx usually finding 10 to his one silver and I hunt with mr palamino,check his finds out,I know he is well over 400 silvers already this year and I'm at 60 and I haven't been out hardly at all,the results speak for themselves... the "rumors" that the ctx is king for most situations is true

 

[sweeper60]

Wow,I can tell you this,in my area the ctx reins supreme,nothing else can find silver in my area like it...im from Pittsburgh pa,in also know many people who made the switch from the mxt to the ctx and haven't looked back because their finds doubled and tripled,i also have a deus and it does AIR TEST for depth better,but in ground the depth doesn't come close especially with the terrible target id i.e. putting pull tabs well into the 80s also no id on deep targets!and sucks on bottlecaps!,I have another buddy that uses the deus and is pretty skilled with it and I always smoke him with my ctx usually finding 10 to his one silver and I hunt with mr palamino,check his finds out,I know he is well over 400 silvers already this year and I'm at 60 and I haven't been out hardly at all,the results speak for themselves... the "rumors" that the ctx is king for most situations is true

I don't hold much stock in air tests, they are ok for checking out a coils sensitivity but that's about it, I have used the MXT in heavy Red Iron Oxide soils In Australia in the Golden Triangle and the heavy Clays in the UK And I have never run short of depth, the skill is down to the user, I know in extreme soils the MXT will run rings around the CTX and when it comes to finding Gold the MXT is the only horse in the race.

Thought I'd give this thread another Airing,