bigtim, the ML Vanquish 540 with 12" coil is superior to the XTerra.
Testing showed the Vanquish has trouble finding deep (16") high-conductive coin away from iron, med-deep (8") med-conductive coins with iron above it or around it. The Vanquish max depth on a high conductive coin (half-dollar sized) away from iron interference is 13". Dime-sized low conductive coin depth is 12" (no iron). Very small and very low conductive target is 7" (no iron interference).
Testing showed the ML X-Terra 50 with 10.5" coil at set freq (7.5 or 18.75 kHz) has the same troubles as Vanquish plus could not detect nickel-sized coin (6") surrounded by iron nails or silver penny-coin at 2" with large iron below it. The X-Terra depth for the same targets listed above is 12", 10", and 4" which indicates it lacks the depth of the Vanquish. So, iron is more likely to cause the X-Terra to miss non-ferrous targets and it is more likely not to find deeper targets.
In the testing, the true performance winners are Anfibio with 13x12" coil, Racer2 with same coil, Whites MX Sport with 13" coil, Impact with 15x13" coil, Deeptech Warrior with 14" coil, Deus with 13x11" coil or 9" HF coil. The Equinox is similar depth-wise to the Warrior, Racer2, and MX Sport but the Equinox couldn't find a thin gold chain at 2" deep in harsh soil where the others could. The Anfibio, Impact, and Racer2 get slightly better depth (about 1") and they hit all tested targets, unlike the Equinox.
Hope that helps,
Jackalope
