Agreed 100 percent, i have owned almost everything, all machines are not even close to equal. I agree also somewhat with Scuba, i know a someone that with over 40 years with many many machines , could probably take a $150 machine and take me to the cleaners.
So ultimately yes and no Scuba.
What I meant and the way I said it was a bit off. As long as a machine sees a target it will react. Each machine puts that reaction in your ears differently.
Some will be a good solid beep, some will be a scratchy beep, some will be a slight change in threshold. We all know there are machines that will get deeper targets than others.
So any machine that give you a reaction on a target, it is up to you to evaluate and decide or not to dig it. Of course if your machine can't see deep targets you are going to miss them period.
I am just saying MOST of the time the tool helps BUT, ultimately the user is the one that should get the praise if he digs a good target not the machine.
Again, a SOLID zinc penny signal can be a zincoln, a screw cap, a large shotgun head stamp, a 10.00 eagle, an indian penny or a huge gold ring, or a multitude of other things that are not likely.
Is it the machine that decides to dig? NO. It is just a tool to tell you something is there.
You don't praise my CZ-21 when I find a huge gold ring or chain. So we shouldn't praise the Equinox or any other machine. Praise the user.