Have three Apex devices with different coils attached, I definitely haven't given up on the Apex. I also have a Simplex +, Vanquish 540 Pro Pack / 2-Coil version, and my two favorite Tesoro models plus a Nokta Relic.for the toughest iron nail infested sites.
I have owned a lot of other detectors over the past fifty-six years, and even many of the current offerings are good detectors for certain applications. In the end, it boils down to the detector, the coil, and especially the operator who understands a detector's strengths and weaknesses. Then tey can get the better performance out of it.
I am not into the 'deeper, deeper, deeper' category as experience has shown me that while I do work some sites where depth is achievable, most of the places I search are too littered to allow depth due to good-target masking. Also, and more importantly, because most good stuff isn't that deep anyway. I'm referring to where I hunt. I don't use larger-size after-market coils, or even the bigger ones from a detector maker. The largest coils I have available are my 11" Simplex + coil and 9X12 V-540 coil I keep at-the-ready in my Accessory Coil Tote, and the 8½X11 factory DD I keep mounted on one of my Apex units for open-area searches.
More often than not I plant myself in some iron infested sites, especially iron nails, so I rely on makes and models that provide me some of the better performance in those environments. The Apex w/5X8 DD and Simplex + w/5X9½ DD both surpassed the Equinox 800 w/6" DD in several nail-challenged tests and a few old-use 1870's era hunt sites, so they make a better 'fit' in my Detector Team. The V-540 provides some of the Multi-IQ performance I like for other sites and tasks. No perfect detector, and if I got to a productive beach I'm sure the Apex would be put to work. I've been impressed with its responsiveness on lower-conductive gold jewelry, but it also works fine for other conductive levels of targets.
In the end, most credit should go to the detector operator, and then to their site selection and detecting techniques used than to a particular make or model detector.
Monte
