Wayfarer
New Member
The M6 is a great detector and if you can get a barely used one one year old for $345 US, then it's also a great deal. The M6 is proven, built like a tank and an excellent all-around performer. True, the newer designs have more bells and whistles and a bit more performance in certain conditions, but the difference is slight enough that the user skill plays a far more important role. And the M6 is easy to use and get good with. Simple controls, excellent ground balance, and excellent separation and audio characteristics.
It may struggle a bit in heavy mineralization, but the right coild helps a lot. The White's 6x10 DD is a very good coil, and the Detech 6x8 excellent too.
As for the weight, it's not all that heavy and more importantly, it balances very well and feels good in the hand. The newer detectors like the Equinox look good on paper due to the low weight, but they are very nose-heavy and will end up hurting your wrist and arm at the end of along day more than a slightly heavier detector with good balance like the M6.
If you compare say, an Equinox, side by side with the M6, you'll immediately see that the M6 is far better built, really built to take a beating, whereas the Equinox is quite flimsy and delicate in comparison.
Don't necessarily get swayed by newer and shinier. Basic detector technology and physics hasn't really changed over the last 20 years, so you're not really getting much extra basic performance out of the newer models - maybe a bit more performance and some bells and whistles, but not much. By the mid 90's, the engineers pretty much had VLF detecting technology figured out.
With the M6 you are getting an excellent proven detector with 95+% of the same performance as any of the newer machines. At $345 for a one year old machine with coils, you can't go wrong.
It may struggle a bit in heavy mineralization, but the right coild helps a lot. The White's 6x10 DD is a very good coil, and the Detech 6x8 excellent too.
As for the weight, it's not all that heavy and more importantly, it balances very well and feels good in the hand. The newer detectors like the Equinox look good on paper due to the low weight, but they are very nose-heavy and will end up hurting your wrist and arm at the end of along day more than a slightly heavier detector with good balance like the M6.
If you compare say, an Equinox, side by side with the M6, you'll immediately see that the M6 is far better built, really built to take a beating, whereas the Equinox is quite flimsy and delicate in comparison.
Don't necessarily get swayed by newer and shinier. Basic detector technology and physics hasn't really changed over the last 20 years, so you're not really getting much extra basic performance out of the newer models - maybe a bit more performance and some bells and whistles, but not much. By the mid 90's, the engineers pretty much had VLF detecting technology figured out.
With the M6 you are getting an excellent proven detector with 95+% of the same performance as any of the newer machines. At $345 for a one year old machine with coils, you can't go wrong.
