Minelab vanquish now for sale

[Keppy]

I saw somewhere here on Tnet that the Vanquish is now for sale at Dicks Sporting Goods but not at any dealers what is with that ? I went to Dicks sporting web site and there they were they had them for sale.

 

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[Ziggy-Grimm]

It's been available on Dick's website for quite sometime. Maybe it's just a pre-order?

 

[Andy Nunez]

My wife ordered mine well before Christmas from Kellyco and still haven't heard anything. Most dealers are putting folks on waiting lists. Demand is so pent-up that if the Minelab doesn't deliver soon, people will start cancelling orders and getting something else like the Simplex Pro. Unless they think people will cancel and upgrade to the Equinox 600 as next cheapest, I don't get what the holdup is....

 

[vferrari]

This is typical for a new release and nothing like the Equinox frenzy. Though a great value, Vanquish is definitely not a machine worth being on a waiting list for, especially if it is available in sporting goods stores. (Neither is Simplex for that matter). IMO

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

According to Minelab specs there is no ground balance, if that is the case it is going to struggle in mineralized ground in many areas.

 

[vferrari]

According to Minelab specs there is no ground balance, if that is the case it is going to struggle in mineralized ground in many areas.

View attachment 1788906

With multi IQ, Vanquish, like Equinox, can do some ground compensation through frequency interpolation of the ground feedback signal response, at a fixed default GB setting (or less than ideal GB setting) better than single frequency machines that are truly fixed at a typical reference GB point. That is how the Vanquish is able to compensate for salt on wet salt sand beaches. But yeah, on severely mineralized ground, the Vanquish will suffer more than machines that have adjustable ground balance features.

 

[vferrari]

My wife ordered mine well before Christmas from Kellyco and still haven't heard anything. Most dealers are putting folks on waiting lists. Demand is so pent-up that if the Minelab doesn't deliver soon, people will start cancelling orders and getting something else like the Simplex Pro. Unless they think people will cancel and upgrade to the Equinox 600 as next cheapest, I don't get what the holdup is....

Um, no, ML, like most manufacturers, don't really have the time nor inclination to manufacture fake detector shortages to stimulate bait and switch schemes to get Vanquish people to buy Equinoxes. They are motivated to move as many detectors as they can deliver to meet profit goals. This is a situation normal for any popular and highly anticipated new release. It takes time to get the throughput of new product lines up and rolling at peak efficiency, so the initial inventories trickle out as soon as they come off assembly line, but with limited throughput as the production line manufacturing bugs are worked out. I saw it with XP Deus, Nokta Impact, the MX Sport, the AT Max, and the Equinox. I learned my lesson early on to avoid giving my money to any dealer to hold a place in line, avoid the the big name detector dealers because that's where the masses go (they are fine for hard to find items and for their large selections but not so great for new releases), and establish a trusted, personalized customer-dealer relationship with a couple small reputable dealers. I also look for the opportunities for the more mass market detectors to show up first in big box sports stores as they do seem to get inventory preference/priority over dedicated MD dealers for whatever reason (money talks, I guess, sad but true).

If you are really anxious and just can't wait, see if there are detectors at a local Dicks or a smaller dealer with a shorter list [if Equinox is any indicator the big volume dealers did not get any more initial inventory than the smalker guys, about 3 units per dealer initially] and see if you can back out of your waiting list situation (that's why I don't prepay for a new release, getting your money back is usually a pain and limits your options and flexibility).

Otherwise, welcome to the typical new detector release waiting game. Been there, done that. Yeah, it is frustrating.

 

[Andy Nunez]

OK, thanks! It's my first experience with Minelab. When the Garrett 400 first came out, it was pretty much available everywhere. I got mine direct from Garrett, but Minelabs around here are eating my lunch, so decided to try the Vanquish. I am a patient soul, so a few more weeks can't hurt. Thanks for the advice!

 

[vferrari]

OK, thanks! It's my first experience with Minelab. When the Garrett 400 first came out, it was pretty much available everywhere. I got mine direct from Garrett, but Minelabs around here are eating my lunch, so decided to try the Vanquish. I am a patient soul, so a few more weeks can't hurt. Thanks for the advice!

One advantage that Garrett has in that regard is they are manufactured in the USA so they can get distributed relatively quickly here. For ML, you are talking about manufacturing in Malaysia and then the literal "slow boat" to wherever they are being sold. It takes time for the off-shore distributors to build up inventory.

 

[Andy Nunez]

That is indeed true. So, they are shipped by sea? I guess it's cheaper than flying them to the US. OK, good to know. I hear on Facebook that UK distributors are expecting them the end of this week, more or less.

 

[Keppy]

I do not think the vanquish will be a big seller with the fixed GB..

 

[Andy Nunez]

My understanding is that the Multi-IQ and noise-cancelling features balance out the lack of a manual ground balance. For example, I watched Gigmaster on YouTube. He had to set the manual ground balance on the Makro Simplex to zero in beach mode before it would stop chattering, but with the Vanquish 540, just putting it in Jewelry mode was enough for it to be dead quiet on the beach down there around Virginia Beach. I was almost ready to pull the trigger on the Simplex since it was readily available but I have seen enough head to heads on YouTube with Iffy Signals, Gigmaster and Beach Hunter 757 to convince me that even without GB, the Vanquish is a superior machine to standards like the AT-Pro and maybe even the AT Max. I'll know more after I have it in my hands, but these YouTube videos are awfully convincing. YMMV.

 

[SanMan]

My understanding is that the Multi-IQ and noise-cancelling features balance out the lack of a manual ground balance. For example, I watched Gigmaster on YouTube. He had to set the manual ground balance on the Makro Simplex to zero in beach mode before it would stop chattering, but with the Vanquish 540, just putting it in Jewelry mode was enough for it to be dead quiet on the beach down there around Virginia Beach. I was almost ready to pull the trigger on the Simplex since it was readily available but I have seen enough head to heads on YouTube with Iffy Signals, Gigmaster and Beach Hunter 757 to convince me that even without GB, the Vanquish is a superior machine to standards like the AT-Pro and maybe even the AT Max. I'll know more after I have it in my hands, but these YouTube videos are awfully convincing. YMMV.

That's cheating,........

Florida beaches are white sugar sand with no mineralization.

Try it on a beach that is black or has black streaks in it.
Or a California beach.

Whole different thing.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

That's cheating,........

Florida beaches are white sugar sand with no mineralization.

Try it on a beach that is black or has black streaks in it.
Or a California beach.

Whole different thing.

Correct, mineralized ground is going to give it problems.

Simplex is single freq while vanquish is Multi IQ, multi freq will beat single freq but you still need ground balance of some type for mineralized soil, Vanquish has none, it is an entry level detector.

 

[smokeythecat]

I'm with Treasure_Hunter. Forget using it in the Virginia red dirt hills!

 

[SanMan]

I'm with Treasure_Hunter. Forget using it in the Virginia red dirt hills!

Or in Georgia where my friend has to deal with red clay.

Or California as a whole, the soil is very mineralized here.

 

[Andy Nunez]

Like I said, YMMV. In Maryland, the soil is mostly mineral free, though the beaches do have black streaks. Most of the beach videos I have seen in the US with the Vanquish have been in the Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Sandbridge areas. I am 30 miles from Ocean City, Maryland and that's probably all the beach I can handle. We'll see what happens when mine actually shows up and I put it to work. Maybe I'll change my mind.

 

[vferrari]

Andy - Vanquish should be just fine for your situation and a good step up from your 400.

 

[sprailroad]

I do not think the vanquish will be a big seller with the fixed GB..

And you may be right. However...if most all of my detecting were on salt water beaches, most likely I would spend more and look at the 600 perhaps. For the price of the Vanquish, I think the Multi Freq will more often then not beat out a single Freq. machine. I am not saying in EVERY instance, but more often than not? Fixed ground balance?, you can still do just fine with that, not in every soil of course, all I can go by is that for years I used a Garrett GTA 1000, and I did well with it. The EQ 6 & 800's are good all around machines, all kinds of features, some I will most likely never use. The Vanquish? again, for the price, I believe it might be a great detector for a beginner while holding cost in line, at least until they know IF this might be the hobby/obsession? for them. I did for a time recommend the Garrett Ace series for that, but now it would seem that you could have more "bang" for the buck with the "VQ". I'm just saying.....lot's of different thought's on this of course, but this could be a very good and user friendly machine for a newer guy or lady wanting to detect.

 

[vferrari]

I do not think the vanquish will be a big seller with the fixed GB..

Let me put this in perspective. All of us experienced, advanced detector snobs (look at my profile) who hang out here actually make up a minority of total detectorists and as a result lose sight of the fact that the best selling detectors in the US are probably not the Equinoxes or AT Pros, but the Aces and entry level Bounty hunters. None of which have adjustable ground balance. Doesn't hurt their sales. Imagine now the Vanquish with Multi Frequency that gives you limited ground compensation AND stable salt beach operation without having to lower sensitivity, like most single frequency detectors. That is improved capability vs. the Ace 400 at an Ace 400 price point. Still think it is not going to sell?

Yeah, the hard core detectorists and those that hang out on these forums with their Equinoxes, Deus's, AT Maxes, and Nokta Anfibios may not be interested but the Ace/Bounty Hunter crowd certainly will be interested in getting their foot into multifrequency at an Ace price point. Garrett and First Texas have had very little competion in this market segment for a number of years and are now potentially in for a rude awakening by ML and to a lesser extent Nokta as they attempt to market more capable detectors to that demographic with Vanquish and Simplex.

It is possible that ML doesn't sell as many as they might think, but that might be because those seriously considering Vanquish might realize the leap in value and performance by skipping directly to the Equinox 600. Either way, ML makes out on the bottom line.