600 or 800 ?

[Sandancer]

Ok I am ready to order. The question is which one? Use will be used on both land and salt beach about equally. In the salt up to my knees, mostly the north east. I can afford either but no experience with wireless headphones and not particularly fond of technical problems. Fair amount of experience over past several years. Any comments appreciated.

 

[Tedyoh]

Easy one....800 if money's no object...

 

[vferrari]

800. Just gives you more options and versatility than the 600 so it's a better value overall. The wireless tech is reliable and you can always plug your favorite phones into the detector with the right audio adapter if you want to go old school.

Here is a detailed rackout of the differences between the two detectors:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/e...-thing-missing-600-a.html?highlight=gold+mode

Here is another thread that goes through the arguments for 600 vs. 800:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/equinox/591917-minelab-equinox-600-vs-800-buy.html#post5975637

HTH

 

[SD51]

If you get the 600, you will always be wondering how would the 800 do!

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

I got the 600, had same thoughts on wireless headphones, just one more thing to be worrying about. But, IMO the stock wired 600 headphones were not loud enough to hear the nuanced tones that are important with the Nox. Ended up spending $50 for the wireless headphones and it made a huge difference.

 

[saanich2018]

The thread vferrari references, is mine. I went through the same questions you are trying to answer, and have decided on the 800.

I am waiting to see if Santa got my list and hopefully, it will be under the tree on Christmas morning.

If not, I will buy the 800 myself!

 

[HighVDI]

800. The tone adjustments are endless and that is worth even more than the wireless IMO.

 

[ZR2guy]

I bought the 600, made my own headphone adapter, bartered for a set of KOSS/Minelab UR 30 headphones and never looked back. Nothing against the 800 but I haven't given it one thought about woulda,shoulda,coulda got the 800. I have found silver and jewelry with the 600 and even though I may only have about 50 hours of hunting time with it, I feel very comfortable and confident with it. Minelab really hit one out of the park with the Equinox. If you aren't planning on nugget hunting ( I live in southwest Ohio!) like me, the 600 is an awesome bang-for-the-buck detector. Buy one already!

 

[secondstar]

I got an unbelievable deal on the 600, I use it in conjunction with the XP Deus. You should get the 800 if it’s going to serve as your primary machine. The 600 does however make a nice companion machine, and has served me well so far.

 

[JoeVal]

I got my 600 for $500 shipped, and I’m not a gold hunter, so it works for me. Since money isn’t an issue, just go for the 800. You get the wireless headphone with it, so you don’t need to spend $60:for the good ones. I hate being tethered, so my new headphones will be under the tree from my daughters.

Happy hunting!

 

[SultansOfSwing]

I went with the 600 for $551 shipped. Got the Archmage headphones for $40 on amazon. Pair easily and are comfortable. So Im in for $591. My friend got the 800. He doesnt use any of the extra capabilites the 800 has over the 600 because hes had his best season yet (2018). Ive also had an excellent year. The learning curve isnt too bad. I went from garrett products (cant stand their tones now) and he went over from a DFX. We both picked it up within a couple weeks and now were slamming silver at 10 inches plus as well as large cents. small gold jewelry is easy too.

Oh and hes on park 2 and i run park 1. Whether it be woods or fields. Both of us use 50 tones.

600 is just as capable to find deep targets as the 800, but 800 has more options to customize things. So if you like to tinker then go for it. But a 10 inch quarter or large cent sounds the same on both machines.

 

[Sandancer]

Well it seems that the consensus of opinion is to go for the 800. Thanks to everyone for revisiting this subject. As usual the amount of information and the depth of knowledge on this board is impressive.

 

[RustyGold]

Both the 600 and 800 are very capable detectors at the beach. I bought the 800 for the same reasons stated above and love it. Best of luck!

 

[Happa54]

If I were in your shoes and not having either the 600 or 800.. then choosing the 800 is an easy choice. For me, and possibly others who bought the 600 because the 800 was unavailable, it's also an easy decision to stay with the 600 especially if you hunt the way I do...ie; 50 tones, no tone breaks, all metal, high sens, 0 IB, 3 recovery. It has more than enough separation speed in the trashiest parks on Los Angeles. Good luck with your 800 and please show your finds.

 

[saanich2018]

The thread vferrari references, is mine. I went through the same questions you are trying to answer, and have decided on the 800.

I am waiting to see if Santa got my list and hopefully, it will be under the tree on Christmas morning.

If not, I will buy the 800 myself!

Severely disappointed. Looked and looked but the 800 was not under tree yesterday.
Guess Santa did not get my letter and now I will have to buy it myself!

 

[RustyGold]

Severely disappointed. Looked and looked but the 800 was not under tree yesterday.
Guess Santa did not get my letter and now I will have to buy it myself!

Sorry to read Santa lost your letter! He didn’t get my letter asking for the large coil either.

 

[pulltabfelix]

800 no doubt. the extra settings will allow you to really fine tune your 800 according to the type of sites you are hunting. As the other poster said, you will always wonder about the usefulness of those extra settings.
Keep in mind the 800 can be a steep learning curve depending on your level of prior metal detecting knowledge and experience. If you have used in the past a sophisticated digital detector then it is a less steep learning curve for you. I came from 3 years using an AT Pro and the 800 was a pretty steep learning curve for me. I was kind of shocked at the difference in complexity between the two detectors. Thanks to vferrari and other posters and a couple of Clive Clynick books on the Equinox I have learned more in the past 8 months that the past 8 years about metal detecting and your more advanced detectors.

If you like to learn and get the best out of your detector then the 800 is for you. If you are satisfied with a very good detector and wish to just punch up your favorite mode and go and on a tighter budget then the 600 is probably a safe choice.

 

[Rookster]

Gonna wait till mid year. Just in case.

 

[smokeythecat]

Get the 800.

 

[vferrari]

Gonna wait till mid year. Just in case.

Just in case?