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Need honest opinions about Ace 250

P

Prospector

New member
I recently upgraded to a higher end machine from the coinshooter I had. Now I am thinkining of buying a lighter low-end detector for hunting fresh water beaches for rings and jewlery. I used to own a Minelab X-terra 30 that I had good results with. It was quick, easy to use and had good depth. I am thinking of buying an Ace 250, and would like to know how these two compare as to depth and finding gold jewlery.
 
Hi Prospector.
I own both machines. I've got around 500 hours total time on them, with close to an even amount on each. I enjoy them both, but for different reasons.
As far as depth goes, the Ace has an inch more reach than the X-Terra, using standard coils. Our $2:ausflag: coins hit just like your zinc pennies, even similar in size. This was my test coin in all depth tests. The X-Terra has a maximum reach of 7.5 inches in an air test and the Ace was 8.5 inches. I have previously tested them in dry beach sand with their respective large coils. The same coin had a max depth of 8 inches with the X-Terra and ten inches with the Ace. in wet sand, 5 inches was the max for both detectors. Also, the Ace, with the large coil on, is the same weight as the X-Terra, with it's standard coil on.
The Ace has better ergonomics than the X-Terra, out of the box. I took an angle grinder to the X-Terra to improve things. Also, the Ace kills the X-Terra for what you can do with it's pinpoint mode, also a lot more accurate. The best I've seen. the Ace can also get in a lot closer to play equipment than the X-Terra's. For locking onto targets, the Ace does it better. On a recent hunt with my Explorer, I recovered a few coins via it's audio that the numbers were jumping around a lot like a junk item.They were slightly corroded. When I tested these with the X-Terra, then the Ace, the X-Terra's discrimination jumped around to the point, that I would have left it there. On the Ace, they all gave solid locks and pinpointed properly. They would pinpoint on the X-Terra's.
the X-Terra's to their credit, have a more pleasant to the ear audio system and a VCO that goes some way to telling screw caps apart from coins and has a slight advantage over the Ace for separating Aussie coins from square pull tabs. I Don't like the X-Terra's pinpoint for actual coin recoveries. These days I don't use it's pinpoint mode to actually find the target, I just watch the ground for where it sounds off when the coil passes over it. the X-Terra also has a volume control, the Ace doesn't. I wish it did, as I don't like wearing head phones. The Ace needs to be used with headphones that have a volume control.
The X-Terra's have a slightly faster recovery speed than the Ace, so can be swung a little bit fast; not much though. The Ace's elliptical coil sees less ground than the round X-Terra coil, so can get in between junk more easily. The X-Terra's can handle more moisture than the Ace.
That's about all I can think of at the moment.
Good luck.
Mick Evans.
 
Hello:
I think Mick gave a good break down.
The Ace is good but if your X-30 already does a good job.......?
Still, if you can afford to put out the $212.00 the Ace will give you
a good MD experience and you can judge for yourself. If its not for
you the Ace has an excellent resale value.

Good luck.
Robert R
 
After using the machine with all of the bells and whistled it occured to me that the ACE is such a great machine, without the hassel. No real adjustments, just turn and go! I realize that I dont dig many more coins with the high end machine; I just dig less trash. It cost 6 times more for this convenience. Is it worth it? It really depends on how much enjoyment you get out of it.
 
I have also owned a xt30. The 250 is better in my opinion. Accessory coils are a lot less money not to mention the unit cost. Both have 12 segments of target separation. Between those two detectors you need to buy the 250.
 
Ace is the best.
 
Hi!

Love all the great info and the time ya'll take to do so.

I am serious about purchasing the Ace 250. After exhaustive research in that price range it appears to be the best value and features. Only one question remains. How does it do in wet sand? Most of my MDing will be the beach with some land.

Thanks!
 
If you are talking saltwater, it is always better to get a detector that is made for saltwater. Of course fresh water there no no noticeable change. This is a list of what I noticed when I lived in Fl. and detected Daytona Beach. Every beach is different.

Salt water tips on Daytona Beach for the Ace:

sensitivity..4-3 in wet sand
use all metal mode
PP is very vague,detune pp works good
Fast moving water makes it false..sen. 1...no good cure
swing level
You can hear and learn a false hit from a good hit
YOU CAN notch out below penny and eliminate most falsing and all gold
Pennies 4" and quarters at 6" in wet sand
Stay in the dry sand and you can beat them all(well, it seems like it)

Summer treasure comes from tourist. Winter treasure comes from the sea.
 
Thanks John!

Very good info!

I got an email from Tony at TC Metal Detecting. He recommended a Tesoro U Max or Cibola and that they would be better in wet sand conditions in that price range. I keep hearing such good stuff about the 250 though!

Thanks again!
 
If your talking wet salt sand then the Cibola having a factory set ground balance won't be any better than the 250. I prefer notch discrimination for coin and jewelry hunting. The 250 has that feature. The C is about $130.00 more than the 250. This leaves you money left over for a sniper coil, Predator digger and nice set of headphones.
 
[quote shagdue]Thanks John!

Very good info!

I got an email from Tony at TC Metal Detecting. He recommended a Tesoro U Max or Cibola and that they would be better in wet sand conditions in that price range. I keep hearing such good stuff about the 250 though!

Thanks again![/quote]
I just stated what the Ace does in wet salt sand. I don't think other non Ground balancing detectors would do any better and they are more expensive. It takes a ground balance detector for wet salt sand. A good detector for wet salt sand is going to cost around a $1000+. If you are going to be a regular on the beach you need to get a beach detector. It will pay for itself.
 
Thanks khouse!

I am now sold on the 250. Appears to be a win win solution. I can always "move up" later after I find that first fortune!

Maybe not, everyone that has one seems to hang on to it.

Thanks again!

Sam
 
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