Garrett Apex vs Ace 400

LandSeig

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May 16, 2020
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My wife is finally interested in metal detecting with me and I am wanting to get her a decent metal detector, I would like to go with a Garrett as I already have an AT Pro that I use. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with the apex or the ace series and if there is much weight difference in the two or if the apex was worth the extra $100+. Thanks
 

Terry Soloman

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May 28, 2010
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The Apex is a much better machine than the Ace 400, and you may end up giving her your AT Pro after using it a while!:occasion14:
 

billb

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Quality time together indeed ..good luck out there ..I’m also trying to get my wife to go along with me a few times
 

teleprospector

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Jul 8, 2007
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I'd check if the detectors are gonna crosstalk if your searching close together, unless they have solved that issue.
Jon 8-) :cat::occasion14: :headbang:
 

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LandSeig

LandSeig

Sr. Member
May 16, 2020
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Thanks for all the advice. As for as them crosstalking, is that what the different frequency settings are for or are they for different soils or something.
 

Tahts-a-dats-ago

Sr. Member
Apr 30, 2014
254
562
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Legend,
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The Apex can operate on two different multi-frequency modes (MF and MS) in addition to four single frequencies - all of which have offset abilities to avoid cross talking.
 

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LandSeig

LandSeig

Sr. Member
May 16, 2020
385
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Southeast Tx
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, NEL Storm coil
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I noticed that the AT pro had the four different settings for frequencies, would changing them make any difference in detecting depth or anything?
 

ARC

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Aug 19, 2014
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I have no hands on experience of the Apex... but what i have read it seems like a decent little tectar.

Perhaps upgrading my girls ACE 400 is in order at some point if the reviews stay good.

She grew tired of my old Whites IDX she was lugging... now she is spoiled with the "lightweight" thing.

Girls... sheesh.

:P
 

Tahts-a-dats-ago

Sr. Member
Apr 30, 2014
254
562
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Detector(s) used
Legend,
Anfibio multi,
Apex,
ORX,
Deus,
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Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
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I have not owned my Apex for long and I'm still in the midst of really learning it, but I'll speak a bit about my thoughts so far.

Very well made. Very light and easy to swing. It's a simple to use machine, but it has enough adjustments available to successfully hunt in most conditions. Very good in wet salt sand (use the MS mode). The Apex is NOT waterproof, but it is considered weatherproof so hunting in the rain should be fine (don't dunk it under water). The headphones (wireless) are excellent. I can discern no lag and I find the sound to be very good.

The Apex is a fairly "fast" machine - as in it separates quite well. I don't pay a lot of attention to the VDI numbers, but they do seem to bounce around a bit when the target is a bit deeper or there is nearby trash. I do not know how deep the Apex is, but I am fairly certain that it can hit a 10 inch quarter in my soil (fairly mild soil). It may well go deeper than that, as Keith Southern did a video where his Apex was just barely getting a dime at 10 inches (buried) and his soil is almost certainly more of an issue than mine. Thus far the deepest decent target I've dug is a 7-8 inch Ford vehicle key - it gave a great tone.

I have dug good targets with trash (bits of rusty square nails) in the hole.

I generally use zero mode or relic mode. If using zero mode do NOT also use iron audio - it does something akin to moving the iron tone up the scale and mid tones will give iron grunts. Zero mode is hear all anyway, so you'll hear the iron in zero mode (adjust that volume with iron volume).

The iron volume can be adjusted so you hear the iron or not. For me level 2 (iron volume) seems to work best.

I do like the tones, but wish the Apex offered the ability to set the tone breaks as the user wished.

I pay no attention to the depth gauge, so I can't say how it works.

Pin Pointing is very accurate.

The Apex has something like 175 ground balance points (it can be ground balanced pretty precisely).

I have two coils - the Viper (stock) and the Ripper (5X8). I like both, but the smaller coil will be the most used since I mostly hunt in trashy areas.

The Apex (in MF and MS modes) uses multiple frequencies at the same time. Garrett has said that the highest frequency (in multi frequency mode) is much higher than 20mHz, but wouldn't say exactly what that highest frequency is. In single frequency, the highest frequency option is 20mHz.

I like the Apex quite a lot. I think it is a lot of machine for the money, and a very good purchase on my part.

Best of luck with whichever machine you choose.
 

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teleprospector

Silver Member
Jul 8, 2007
3,773
4,125
The Motor City
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
25
Detector(s) used
Extended Sensory Perception, L-rod, Y-rod, pendulum, angle rods, wand.
White's MXT, Garrett Ultra GTA 500, AT Gold, SCUBA Detector Pro Headhunter, Tesoro Sidewinder, Stingray, 2 box-TF900, Fisher TW-6
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I noticed that the AT pro had the four different settings for frequencies, would changing them make any difference in detecting depth or anything?
My understanding is the different freq. are for helping to control electrical interferences from different sources.
Jon 8-) :cat::occasion14: :headbang:
 

DIG5050

Jr. Member
Apr 15, 2021
36
56
Ohio
Detector(s) used
Deus II 9”
Garrett Apex
Fisher 1236-X2
Fisher CZ20
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If you opt for the Apex with the wireless headphones/Z-Lynk, I think she would like the headphone being un-tethered from the detector. I know I do. Later I added the Pro-Pointer with Z-Lynk because you can hear the pinpointer in the headphones as well. The wireless headphones makes it really easy to use in a noisy or windy area.

I have all three coils for the Apex, and I believe I like the Viper coil for most hunting, simply because it's lighter in weight than the Raider coil. One notices the extra weight of the Raider coil after a while of swinging. The Ripper coil is like swinging a bare shaft without a coil. Best of luck and Keep Digging!
 

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