CZ-3D vs. Exp II

[cheezinoot]

Which MD would you suggest for finding old coins? Thanks

 

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[grizzly bare]

Need lots more info. what type of soil will you be digging/searching? Do you mind a heavier machine? Are you bothered by a steep learning curve? If you can try each of them for a weekend, you could probably answer your question better than any of us.
Just my opinion, but a Minelab is tough to beat.
grizzly bare

 

[cheezinoot]

Hey Bare. I dig in soil that is black dirt(North Iowa). Heavy does not matter. Rather go hunt than go and read. Thanks!

 

[Sandman]

Sorry, the Grizz is right. You need lots more information from the websites the manufactures have. To listen to a recommendation from one of us could be wrong for your area or your type of hunting. Some people don't like playing with all the features of a good detector and buy the Radio Shack one just cause it's cheaper. It's your choice.....

HH,
Sandman

 

[bk]

The soil in your area is very neutral. (very little mineralization).
I don't know much about either detector, but a lot of guys around here really like the Minelab. I use an older Fisher CZ6. It will go deep, and I can use the sensitivity maxed almost every where, but it's very hot on nails.
Thats just my two cents worth. I also wouldn't rule out a Whites XLT or MXT. There are a couple of multi-line detector dealers in the Minneapolis area. You might want to check with them.

 

[bazinga]

With black loamy soil you are going to get the best results from an Explorer, hands down.

 

[cheezinoot]

Thanks everyone for the info!

 

[rvbvetter]

I dunno about your soil. But I own both of these machines as well as a DFX a Tesoro Tejon a Fisher Excel and a ML Musketeer Advantage and I haven't found a place yet that the EXP II wasn't the deepest of the ones I own.
So I would say if you have the money and the patience to learn it. (It's not really all that difficult to learn). Go with the EXP II It's just flat out the deepest detector I've ever owned.
If you want to save some money and still want a very deep detector. Then go with the CZ 3D. Yes it's hot on deep rusted nails but in a very short time you will be able to tell the difference in sound from a deep nail to a deep coin. A deep coin gives a very abbreviated sharp PAP ! sound where as a deep nail or Iron gives a softer longer paaaap sound. It's really very easy to tell the difference in no time. Plus too the CZ 3D has an old coin mode called
"Enhanced Mode" You can hunt in regular (salt) mode full time or flip the toggle over and hunt in enhanced mode (for those older sites) full time. Your choice. The CZ 3D also has tone ID.
If I had to rate my own detectors in order of #1 thru #6 For over all performance, stability and depth.
It would be;
#1 EXP II
#2 CZ 3D
#3 DFX
#4 ML Musketeer Advantage
#5 Tesoro Tejon
#6 Fisher Excel

I would actually like to make the DFX and ML musketeer a tie. But the musketeer doesn't have a meter or tone ID but it has great depth. The DFX has a meter and Tone ID but can be unstable.
Anyway, that's my two bits plus change on it. HH

 

[Born2Dtect]

One big difference between Minelab (ExplorerII) products and others is the coil.The Explorer II for example has a double D (DD) coil. The pattern is like taking a wiper blade and moving it across the ground. The signal goes down equally so the pattern is still almost as large at its maximum depth. With other concentric coils (CZ-3D, XLT) for example the coil pattern is like a traffic cone turned upside down. As you get deeper the pattern gets smaller. This alone should mean covering more ground at a deeper depth faster. This is my take on coil differences and this is why I use the Explorer II. As I do use it I am not disappointed with any other features or lack of, yet. By the way I see the CZ-3D and XLT used every month by others. Both unit still makes good finds for users. All detectors mentioned above are upper end units in my book. If money were no matter I would own about a dozen detectors, but that is another story.

Ed D.