bustercrab
New member
I have the chance to purchase the first sovereign for $250.00....What is the difference between the first one and the GT or are they about the same...Thank You...
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ONE MORE QUESTION ABOUT SOV.
- Thread starter bustercrab
- Start date
BusterCrab,The newer GT is going to have a warranty,can be used for nugget hunting and chances are your not going to need any repairs.The balance is better than the older units with the S rod asm,but an older model with a after market straight shaft will have the newer GT beat on balance plus this after market rod asm with the stand will keep the unit off the ground. I have used the whole lineup of Sovereigns the one I liked least the Elite the Original doesn't have a volume control and can be annoying to turn on without volume control headphones.None of these Sovereigns are complete metal detectors including the GT until the updates which are a straight shaft,Sun Ray Probe and 180 Sun Ray meter.These add ons will probably average another 300.00 but will make the Sovereign unbeatable.Buying extra coils will boost the price further.A complete Sovereign GT with these setups will bring the price close to an Explorer SE.If you find a used XS that hasn't been over modified you could probably have a Sovereign with a Rod Asm,Probe and 180 meter for a little over 700.00 with out additional coils.I think a XS with a Slim Line 1000 Tornado coil will be close to the GT performance wise and with a straight shaft will have better balance.I know the GT has a straight shaft but it doesn't balance out as well as the after market. Bottom line all these Sovereign are excellent units.
All the Sovereigns are great, but some I feel are a bit better. I didn't like the original or the Elite that much, but they are OK too while the GT is my favorite one plus the XS or XS2 are also great detectors. The XS2a is OK too, but it has the toggle switch for single or multiple tones which I felt was a waste as the Sovereign are what they are because of the tone ID. If you can get a older Sovereign for $250 that is a XS,XS2 or XS2a is a OK deal and what makes it better is if it has rechargeable batteries and a digital meter to help you ID the targets so you can see what tones read what. Coils I feel the 8 inch coinsearch was the best to learn with, but are not waterproof like the BBS coils or the new Tornado coils are.
One more thing is ask if it has any mods done to it as some will start messing with the controls inside and make it much worst as I have got 2 of them I bought that were this way and had to have them repaired to work like they should work.
This is how I figure a used Sovereign.
A XS,XS2 or XS2a with the S rod is worth $200 let say. Add the coil and if it is a BBS 8 or 10 add $50 and if a 8 inch coinsearch I add $60. Now if it has a rechargeable battery and charger that is another $30 while a Minelab 550 meter I add $50 while a Sun Ray DTI I add another $100 and a 180 Minelab meter I add $65. Now if it has a Sun Ray S1 probe and the old style with the big switching box that is $75 more while the newer style with the smaller switching box add $100. These prices are if there is no mods done to the control box and the Sovereign is in good shape.
This will give you a idea of what a Sovereign is worth and I have seen some great deals on these forums and some over priced too. I just sold a very nice XS2 I built up on a straight shaft with the brand new Minelab rechargeable battery and charger, brand new Minelab Digisearch 180 meter and a brand new Sun Ray S1 probe (newest black probe) with the 8 inch Coinsearch coil that looks and works great for $500. Some may say that is high for a older Sovereign, but it has all the goodies to make this the best detector around.
Rick
One more thing is ask if it has any mods done to it as some will start messing with the controls inside and make it much worst as I have got 2 of them I bought that were this way and had to have them repaired to work like they should work.
This is how I figure a used Sovereign.
A XS,XS2 or XS2a with the S rod is worth $200 let say. Add the coil and if it is a BBS 8 or 10 add $50 and if a 8 inch coinsearch I add $60. Now if it has a rechargeable battery and charger that is another $30 while a Minelab 550 meter I add $50 while a Sun Ray DTI I add another $100 and a 180 Minelab meter I add $65. Now if it has a Sun Ray S1 probe and the old style with the big switching box that is $75 more while the newer style with the smaller switching box add $100. These prices are if there is no mods done to the control box and the Sovereign is in good shape.
This will give you a idea of what a Sovereign is worth and I have seen some great deals on these forums and some over priced too. I just sold a very nice XS2 I built up on a straight shaft with the brand new Minelab rechargeable battery and charger, brand new Minelab Digisearch 180 meter and a brand new Sun Ray S1 probe (newest black probe) with the 8 inch Coinsearch coil that looks and works great for $500. Some may say that is high for a older Sovereign, but it has all the goodies to make this the best detector around.
Rick
What not been mentioned is that the original model has an extra switch (SET,FIXED,PIN POINT) which has to be used to ground balance the detector and has the option of ground mask on/off which has only just returned in the GT version. So a fraction harder to use than the XS type models.
The solid white coil supplied is larger than the later 800 (7") open coil but I always thought it was a better coil apart from one thing. Its not waterproof. Rainproof but not water proof.
Better iron rejection than the GT but a little less sensitivity.
No internal control box shielding but you could add this.
Won't work well if you decide to come to Europe detecting unless its re chipped.
If it is the first model type its now really ancient which makes $250 seem rather a lot of money unless its in really excellent/little used condition.
The solid white coil supplied is larger than the later 800 (7") open coil but I always thought it was a better coil apart from one thing. Its not waterproof. Rainproof but not water proof.
Better iron rejection than the GT but a little less sensitivity.
No internal control box shielding but you could add this.
Won't work well if you decide to come to Europe detecting unless its re chipped.
If it is the first model type its now really ancient which makes $250 seem rather a lot of money unless its in really excellent/little used condition.
There's an original Sovereign on Ebay for 450.00 still at least three days out(which doesn't make any sense maybe artificial bids),also a XS2 PRO with accessories sold for over 600.00 yesterday.I think the Sovereigns are harder to find at a cheap price.Rick by the way have picked up Timber Wolf headphones for the Sovereign to use this spring
Gary Drayton
New member
People think that because they spent all that money on extras such as straight shafts , meters,headphones and after market coils they should get top dollar for their machines but thats not always the case , its a bit like driving a new fully loaded car off the car lot , theres quite a bit of depreciation, if you decide to sell it . Some people customise their machines to the max before actually spending any time learning how to use the machine as is and learning for themselves what other extras would improve the machine. I see some machines for sale that have so many extras that its the extras and not the actual detector that makes the item(s) worth buying.
I learned the hard way that the Sov and Sov SX are considered obsolete by Minelab. If the chip goes, the unit is useless, they don't have the chips any more.
I sure hope the Sov SX 2a Pro is not obsolete, I bought one on Ebay to replace my failed Sov SX.
If anyone knows where I can get the chip for the Sov SX I sure would like to revive this unit.
Dan
I sure hope the Sov SX 2a Pro is not obsolete, I bought one on Ebay to replace my failed Sov SX.
If anyone knows where I can get the chip for the Sov SX I sure would like to revive this unit.
Dan