Etrac or Spectra V3?

[michigan michael]

Sorry to bring this old tired question to the boards again. I know everyone has their own favorite and beliefs about a certain brand and I am hoping to make a decision off everyone experiences. I know that once you become partial to a brand you tend to swing in that direction. IE: When I buy Tennis shoes I buy New Balance because I know they last forever! Am I missing a cheaper better deal with another brand? I guess that is where I am at with my next detector purchase. I want to buy a Minelab Etrac because I know it has SERIOUS DEPTH and lets face it. Its a Mine lab. I know Whites are a great brand as well but am not convinced over the etrac. My whites interest is of the new Spectra V3. I like the triple id system and the wireless headphones. I have not read much on actual recovery depths though.

Please tell me what your purchase would be and why. If your favorite is of another brand please tell me what I might be missing. Thanks for everyone opinion. The last time I did this I was just starting out and I was lead to buy my ACE 250. Very good decision! Thanks everyone.

 

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[Digger]

I have been contemplating the same decision myself. After searching and asking questions my answer was to buy the both, so I did. It was hard to really get a straight answer, and it could be because there isn't one, so I decided to test them myself.

I've had my E-Trac for about 2 months, and I just got my V3, so my experience is very limited. What I can tell you is I've been a White's user for the last 24 years, but that E-Trac is a mighty good detector. I'm still adjusting to the V3, but It has pulled some goodies out of my hard hit parks.

At this point either one looks to be a huge improvement over most of the others around. My last detectors were the DFX and the Minelab SE.

If I had to give up one which one would it be? I just don't know yet.

 

[michigan michael]

Hey digger, Keep me posted. I am definitely interested in what kind of a decision you come to. Your favorite I mean....
Thanks

 

[The-Bone]

don't think your beating a dead horse here...i've been wondering which is better myself...i really haven't seen a lot of posts that show finds being recovered from Spectra users(in all fairness though the V3 has only been out a few months)...would love to see an objective head to head comparison from experienced users on these 2 units

 

[michigan michael]

I would love to see that as well. I met a guy at a local park that I noticed he had the spectra. It was really close to launch so, I asked him what he replaced with the V3. He said he had an SE Pro that has now became his back up unit. He gave me a small demo of his new toy. I was hooked right away. It was new to him so the depth history was not there. I know different soil and minerals play a part but, I just want to know it will punch through in general.
Thanks`MM

 

[Old California]

Bypass the V-3 & eTrac and get a used Explorer SE with pro coil instead, You'll save a bundle.

Any of the explorer models will give you better information over the V3 for deep coins from hunted out parks, If deep coins is what you're seeking get the SE model.

I've owned the V3, Used an eTtrac and have owned two SE models and find the SE with a Pro coil fares just as well as an eTrac on depth. Sure, The V3 is no slouch on depth but the Explorer models pull ahead on Iding deep coins from pounded parks.

Paul (Ca)

 

[Digger]

I've been swing a detector for 30 years. The DFX has been my main detector for the last 6 years. I bought a SE 3 years ago and while It did seem to have a very slight depth advantage on silver, the DFX had the better overall performance. I tested them both(DFX and SE) head to head and neither found anything the other wouldn't. The DFX did far better on gold. Now I will say the ground here in Kansas is pretty mild so I get great depth on any detector I use.

I find the ID'ing on the V3 to be more accurate than on the E-Trac just as I found the DFX to be more accurate than the SE. I do find the V3's ID'ing to be a bit jumpy compared to the DFX's. Now by accurate, I'm talking about being precise. The E-Trac is very good at telling you that there is a good target very deep, but it isn't that accurate at telling you what the target is. You have better odds at telling a penny from a dime on the E-Series. Of course that ability isn't all that important to everyone, it just happens to be to me.

I didn't have the Pro coil on my SE, but I am surprised to see reports that the older Explorer's get deeper than the E-Trac for some. I sold my SE because I didn't see any gain in depth over my DFX, but from day one my E-Trac made my DFX obsolete for all but tot lot hunting. I took my E-Trac to the spot I test all my new detectors and started pulling very deep coins right away. The same spot hard hit by both my DFX and SE. For me, I see no comparison in depth between the SE and the E-Trac. The E-Trac just plain kicks the butt of what I've owned so far when it comes to depth. I've only had my V3 about a week, but it did find a few in that same spot missed by the others including the E-Trac. Once I feel comfortable with the V3 I will put them head to head, on video, to compare ability.

Before I bought the V3 I honestly felt there was little chance the V3 could compete with the E-Trac on depth. The depth of the E-Trac is simply amazing. I am finding the V3 is pretty amazing in its own right. At this point I'd say I would choose my E-Trac when hunting hard hit parks with extremely deep coins, and the V3 for everything else. Pretty much that same results I got when comparing the DFX vs the SE. If I find that the V3 can match the E-Trac on depth It will be a very tough choice of which one goes, but one will eventually go. I will say the V3 seems to be more sensitive to small targets than the E-Trac. Oddly enough though, I find the E-Trac easier on the back than the V3 over a long hunt.

 

[jeff741972]

I was wondering the same thing, but went with the v3, my reasoning was kinda simple.

Coming from using the xlt and getting pretty decent with its workings, I figured the v3 would be somewhat the same, in my mind the etrac was different with only a handful of tones and I love tone ID.
I was used to the xlt and the v3 wasnt too far of a change to leave my with too steep of a learning curve, but the v3 has got like 100x more things to monkey with than the xlt.