Thinking of upgrading

NEA Farmer

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
81
Location
Northeast Arkansas
Currently using AT Pro. I've seen the hack on YouTube comparing the Pro to the 800..... Yeah... the low end AT series versus the mid-high equinox.... it SHOULD out-perform it. Plus it's $300+ higher.

How does the AT Max compare to the 800? I'm sure it'll smoke the Pro.

Thoughts?
 
My current primary detector is the AT Max and I just bought an Equinox 600. I had the 600 before, but only briefly. And earlier this year I sold my Vanquish 540 (but still have the 340). Based on my online research and personal experiences so far, there are several benefits to using an Equinox over the AT Max/Pro

1. Your VDIs will be more stable and accurate, especially at depth with highly mineralize soil. So an Equinox might give you a penny or dime signal while the AT Max gives you either: VDIs that jump all over the place or a consistent low or mid tone. I experienced this today, when my Equinox rang up a copper penny at around 4 inches (I have very mineralized soil) around a 20-24-ish. The AT Max gave scratch tones and VDIs that ranged from 11 to 99. Needless to say, the Equinox told me to dig the target while the AT Max told me to move on.

2. Less chatter. The AT Max is a very sensitive machine, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you have to know how to control it. I typically operate my AT Max at around a 3 to 6 sensitivity (8 is max) to reduce the chatter. What this sometimes means in practice is that I will either operate my AT Max at much less sensitivity or with a lot of notching (I'll often notch out anything that won't ring up as a copper penny) to reduce the annoying chatter. Because I'm normally hunting coins, this works for me. But if I want to go deep or look for nickels and jewelry, I'm at a distinct distadvantage. But with my Equinox, it's easier to operate it with less discrimination and not go crazy from all the sounds coming from the machine.

3. Recovery speed. I haven't compared the AT Max and Equinox enough in the real world to see the difference in recovery speed, but my artificial indoor tests show the Equinox with a clear edge over the AT Max. I still need to run my battery of tests with Monte's Nail Board to quantify these differences, but I fully anticipate the Equinox will be the winner.
 
I believe Callabash Digger did a video on that. Check it out. Good luck, Mark

That’s who I was talking about, I think. He didn’t compare Apple to apples. He colored a higher end Equinox to the low end AT Series. He essentially compared a Ford Ranger to a Chevy silverado.
 
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Currently using AT Pro. I've seen the hack on YouTube comparing the Pro to the 800..... Yeah... the low end AT series versus the mid-high equinox.... it SHOULD out-perform it. Plus it's $300+ higher.

How does the AT Max compare to the 800? I'm sure it'll smoke the Pro.

Thoughts?

It is very very hard to beat a Minelab Equinox 800! Great target ID, stability, recovery speed... Especially for the $.
 
That’s who I was talking about, I think. He didn’t compare Apple to apples. He colored a higher end Equinox to the low end AT Series. He essentially compared a Ford Ranger to a Chevy silverado.

First, the AT series is not low end. The Ace series is low end. The AT Max is Garrett's flagship top of the line VLF detector at the moment.

Comparing the Equinox 800 and the AT Max/Gold or Pro is definitely apples to oranges as far as what's under the hood. Comparing the Equinox 600 and the AT Max/Gold or Pro price wise.........the Equinox 600 costs somewhere between a Pro and a Max. Personally, I would take the 600 (and the 800 for sure) over the AT's all day UNLESS you want to submerge it on a regular basis. Stick with the AT's if you are planning to do a lot of submerged freshwater hunting or save a ton of money and buy a Nokta Makro Simplex.
 
What I was saying is comparing the AT Pro to the 800 isn’t a fair comparison becomes the Pro is the low end of the AT series.

First, the AT series is not low end. The Ace series is low end. The AT Max is Garrett's flagship top of the line VLF detector at the moment.

Comparing the Equinox 800 and the AT Max/Gold or Pro is definitely apples to oranges as far as what's under the hood. Comparing the Equinox 600 and the AT Max/Gold or Pro price wise.........the Equinox 600 costs somewhere between a Pro and a Max. Personally, I would take the 600 (and the 800 for sure) over the AT's all day UNLESS you want to submerge it on a regular basis. Stick with the AT's if you are planning to do a lot of submerged freshwater hunting or save a ton of money and buy a Nokta Makro Simplex.
 
I have switched to the XP orx

I have had an atpro. I switched to the etrac and loved that detector for a few years. I then switched to the 800 and have been using that up till this year. good detector and I have found good things with it. This year I switched to the XP orx and I love that detector. It is the lightest detector I have ever used. Now that I am 59 that makes a big difference. I have been finding great stuff with it this year. All these detectors are great n their own way. Don't be afraid to own and use different detectors at the same places.
 
Here's an update on my AT Max and Equinox 600 comparison. It's a cut-and-paste of a post I made in another message board:

I did some more testing of the Equinox 600 and the AT Max in my yard, local park and modified Monte's Nail Board. Right now, I'm 98% certain I'm keeping the Equinox 600 and selling the AT Max. Below are my results concerning my series of tests using my modified version of Monte's Nail Board. I'm going to briefly explain my set up, then provide my results. But TL;DR: the Equinox 600 handily beat the AT Max.

My Monte's Nail Board is "special" because I have it set up where I will use a clad dime as the "high tone" target and it's on a plastic tube so the metal detector can be tested with the dime on the same plane as the nails, as well as about 2.5 inches below the nail. At the very bottom are some pics of the modified Monte Nail Board set up.



Legend:

Coin Position 1 (Up) = the dime is in the middle coin position, but the dime is on the same plane as the nails.

Coin Position 1 (Down) = the dime is in the middle coin position, but the dime is below the plane (about 2.5 inches) the nails are on.

Coin Position 2 (Up) = the dime is in the side coin position, but the dime is on the same the plane nails are on.

Coin Position 2 (Down) = the dime is in the side coin position, but the dime is below the plane (about 2.5 inches) the nails are on.

4 = The metal detector gave a tone and/or VDI response that would definitely result in me digging the target.

3 = The metal detector gave a tone and/or VDI response that would likely result in me digging the target.

2 = The metal detector gave a tone and/or VDI response that would likely result in me NOT digging the target.

1 = The metal detector gave a tone and/or VDI response that would definitely result in me NOT digging the target.



When tested, the AT Max was set up so I notched out everything below 65 (so I was in Custom mode), Iron Audio off and sensitivtiy at 2 (out of 8). I also ran the test in Zero mode, but the results were worse (1s all around).

Coin Position 1 (Up):

Sweep 1: 2

Sweep 2: 1

Sweep 3: 1

Sweep 4: 1



Coin Position 1 (Down):

Sweep 1: 1

Sweep 2: 1

Sweep 3: 1

Sweep 4: 1



Coin Position 2 (Up):

Sweep 1: 1

Sweep 2: 1

Sweep 3: 1

Sweep 4: 1



Coin Position 2 (Down):

Sweep 1: 1

Sweep 2: 1

Sweep 3: 1

Sweep 4: 1



When tested, the Equinox 600 was set up in Park 1 where everything was stock, except I adjusted F2 = 0. Sensitivity was at 10 (out of 25).

Coin Position 1 (Up):

Sweep 1: 4

Sweep 2: 1

Sweep 3: 3

Sweep 4: 4



Coin Position 1 (Down):

Sweep 1: 4

Sweep 2: 1

Sweep 3: 1

Sweep 4: 1



Coin Position 2 (Up):

Sweep 1: 4

Sweep 2: 2

Sweep 3: 2

Sweep 4: 2



Coin Position 2 (Down):

Sweep 1: 4

Sweep 2: 1

Sweep 3: 1

Sweep 4: 1
 

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