When I retired I was able to get to what I really loved doing and that is metal detecting anytime I want. I have been in the hobby since the late sixties and have used well over a hundred detector during that time. I tried everything on the market looking for that super detector. When I retired I purchased about 20 detector over a two year period of time and gave them a serious going over. I compared them head to head in every way I knew from those years of experience and my background in electronics.
In all metal the top machines could all detect a target to the same approximate depth. There was not enough difference to even consider. When the going got tough was when it came to discrimination and also how the detector responded to soil minerals. I liked several of the machine, Fisher, Whites, and Minelab were the ones of my preference. I then narrowed it down to the DFX and Explorer. I bought and sold a good half dozen of each comparing them head to head and making sure because I felt I "deserved" to use the best after all those years of work. I then ran the DFX and Explorer head to head. I have two Explorer11, one DFX, and one Sovereign Elite for different reasons after tests. All three operate and have features I really like. However, it is the Explorer11 that can do things I cannot with the others. It is my belief that the Explorer11 has the greatest discrimination at depth of the three. When we consider we have 1024 notches of discrimination in any of these combinations what can be done with the Explorer is hard to imagine.
When it comes to depth I know the Explorer is going to constantly outperform my other machines. That is something we learn for ourselves since depth is more than just the raw power of the detector. We can go to the other forums and see posts just like this one that claims some other machine is the best. For that person the one they are using may be the best because they have really learned how to use it. Then there are the posts that are just "my dog can whup your dog" that I don't pay any attention to. It is fun to say "Minelab Rocks" but saying it really don't get you more depth or good finds unless we can use the machine effectively.
It is interesting to look at the finds posted on the forums. The finds on the Minelab Forms just blows the others away. It may be that the guys on the Minlab forms just post more finds. I don't know but it is pretty clear that there are great finds posted and I have made them myself and deeper than with other detectors and on a consistent basics. So for me I don't even question that the Explorer is one heck of a detector with all the depth and features needed to do the job. I really and truly don't care which detector a user selects to zero in on. I feel it is more important to have confidence in the detector and ones abilities to use it than to have a detector that may be better in reality but we just cannot get comfortable with it.
In all metal the top machines could all detect a target to the same approximate depth. There was not enough difference to even consider. When the going got tough was when it came to discrimination and also how the detector responded to soil minerals. I liked several of the machine, Fisher, Whites, and Minelab were the ones of my preference. I then narrowed it down to the DFX and Explorer. I bought and sold a good half dozen of each comparing them head to head and making sure because I felt I "deserved" to use the best after all those years of work. I then ran the DFX and Explorer head to head. I have two Explorer11, one DFX, and one Sovereign Elite for different reasons after tests. All three operate and have features I really like. However, it is the Explorer11 that can do things I cannot with the others. It is my belief that the Explorer11 has the greatest discrimination at depth of the three. When we consider we have 1024 notches of discrimination in any of these combinations what can be done with the Explorer is hard to imagine.
When it comes to depth I know the Explorer is going to constantly outperform my other machines. That is something we learn for ourselves since depth is more than just the raw power of the detector. We can go to the other forums and see posts just like this one that claims some other machine is the best. For that person the one they are using may be the best because they have really learned how to use it. Then there are the posts that are just "my dog can whup your dog" that I don't pay any attention to. It is fun to say "Minelab Rocks" but saying it really don't get you more depth or good finds unless we can use the machine effectively.
It is interesting to look at the finds posted on the forums. The finds on the Minelab Forms just blows the others away. It may be that the guys on the Minlab forms just post more finds. I don't know but it is pretty clear that there are great finds posted and I have made them myself and deeper than with other detectors and on a consistent basics. So for me I don't even question that the Explorer is one heck of a detector with all the depth and features needed to do the job. I really and truly don't care which detector a user selects to zero in on. I feel it is more important to have confidence in the detector and ones abilities to use it than to have a detector that may be better in reality but we just cannot get comfortable with it.
