what is the best detector at any cost

fella

Bronze Member
Oct 24, 2012
1,805
853
Wisc
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
All of em. Because money is no object!
 

Fletch88

Silver Member
Mar 7, 2013
4,841
2,367
Valdosta, GA
Detector(s) used
Garrett ATPro- 8.5x11, 5x8, CORS Fotune 5.5x9.5
Tesoro Silver microMax- 8 donut, 8x11 RSD, 3x18 Cleansweep
Minelab Excalibur ll- 10" Tornado
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Xterra 305
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
CTX 3030 It's the ultimate land and shallow water machine! Careful on the shallow water part! There have been many leak issues posted around the web!
 

Ronzie

Hero Member
May 27, 2009
755
473
Southern Ontario
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Outlaw w/Garrett pinpointer

past machines - Minelab Explorer SE Pro/ Garrett GTI 2500 /Garrett GTAx1000
Still would be a Tesoro for me. I'd put my $550 Outlaw up against my Explorer SE any day. Half the price and a better machine imo.
Can't see spending $2500 on a CTX 3030. But I only know the Explorer SE inside out and a little on the Etrac. It would have to be a completely different much better machine from them.
If I were strickly gold hunting like in Arizona or a place like that, I'd then get a Minelab GPX 4800 or 5000.
 

sparkydog

Jr. Member
Sep 28, 2008
59
19
Boulder Colorado
Detector(s) used
Whites: Surf, Eagle II SL, GMT.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
How about some info on what we are going to hunt for and where? I wouldn't hunt saltwater with a VLF detector and I wouldn't use a diver's pulse detector for coin shooting. One size doesn't fit all in detecting.
 

Peyton Manning

Gold Member
Dec 19, 2012
14,534
18,684
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
MXT-PRO
Sandshark
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
if money did not matter what MD would you own and why

guess that for me it would be a threeway tie between squiggy, coily and bbcamay.
but if money didn't matter I guess I could get all three!!
 

Peyton Manning

Gold Member
Dec 19, 2012
14,534
18,684
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
MXT-PRO
Sandshark
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
ohhh my bad, you meant equipment
 

squiggy

Silver Member
Dec 14, 2012
2,785
934
CA
Detector(s) used
Ace 250..garret pro pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ohhh! Noooo! lol!
As Jack Nicolsen would say..heeees baack!

Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 

Jay In NewKen

Sr. Member
Jun 24, 2012
465
130
New Kensington, Pa
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Ace 250, Pro-Pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
If money didn't matter? Hmm, a crane magnet from a scrap yard and a backhoe. Honestly, the best detector is the the one you know inside and out. Brand doesn't matter, just experience. 2c
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
sandy-shoes, your question is a bit like asking "what is the best motor vehicle that money can buy?" The answer would be: It depends on what you're going to use it for.

For example: If you want to reach 160 mph, perhaps you can consider a corvette. If you want to pull out tree stumps, perhaps you can consider a low-geared big pickup truck? If you want to go off-roading, perhaps you can consider a jeep or humvee? If you want gas economy, perhaps you can consider a mini-cooper?

So too is it for metal detecting: there's a myriad of targets a person might angle for, in a myriad of types soils, locations, junkiness levels, etc.. Some people angle for jewelry, others angle for deep silver coins in turf, others angle in nail-riddled ghost towns and urban demolition tearouts, others ply the nasty mineralized salt wet, etc... etc... etc....

so your question needs to be more refined.
 

RotZorn

Sr. Member
Feb 12, 2013
371
124
Munford, TN
Detector(s) used
F5,F2,MPX,1T-Pilot
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I'd probably buy like 3 if money was no object-


1) V3i
2)F75
3)Cortes
 

U.K. Brian

Bronze Member
Oct 11, 2005
1,629
153
Detector(s) used
XLT, Whites D.F., Treasure Baron, Deepstar, Goldquest, Beachscan, T.D.I., Sovereign, 2x Nautilus, various Arado's, Ixcus Diver, Altek Quadtone, T2, Beach Hunter I.D, GS 5 pulse, Searchman 2 ,V3i
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The one that suites your sites and you can handle (both weight wise and from the point of view of setting it up correctly).
 

Rawhide

Silver Member
Nov 17, 2010
3,590
2,185
SouthWestern USA
Detector(s) used
Nox 800, Etrac, F75, AT Pro. Last two for sale.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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Irishgoldhound

Bronze Member
Jul 15, 2013
2,350
2,130
🥇 Banner finds
1
If money was no object I would buy a pail full of ounce silver and gold bullion and plant them on the beaches.. sit back and watch.
 

OP
OP
S

sandy shoes

Sr. Member
Jun 6, 2013
287
65
gloucester mass
Detector(s) used
AT PRO and pro pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
thx for your input guys i would say i would be looking for the best land and sea detector i would be leaning to a ctx3030 but i do hear they have some seal problems some woods hunting and salt water any where in the north east no nugget hunting 'we do have a ghost town 1/4 of a mile from my house i hope i narrowed it down for you thx tom in ca for your thoughts i guess i did not think it threw enough'
 

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Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
reply

thx for your input guys i would say i would be looking for the best land and sea detector i would be leaning to a ctx3030 but i do hear they have some seal problems

Land and sea? You do realize that still encompasses everything, everywhere. I mean, all the surface of the earth is ....... either "land or sea". So you still really haven't told us anything, or refined the question.

Even within those location guidelines (which, as I say, is still basically the entire earth), is still lots of goals and venues. Are you going to want to go for nuggets? Are you going to hunt ghost townsy sites? Are you going to hunt turf? Do you need the ability to hear tinsel fine gold chains on the beach? Do you want to be able to reject nails (or are you willing to put up with nails and hairpins so you don't miss tinsel fine chains?).

Read my post above.
 

christo000

Silver Member
Mar 17, 2013
3,765
812
mass North Attleboro
Detector(s) used
Xp Deus,m-6 pinpointer, technetics t2ltd (had, whites v3i,minelab xterra 705,atpro,prism 4,sunray probe minlabe profind,garret propointer, f75ltd and many more)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
thx for your input guys i would say i would be looking for the best land and sea detector i would be leaning to a ctx3030 but i do hear they have some seal problems

Could always look into a deus forget all wires, fold it to nothing,weightless & does do shallow water but I do beleive they have or are comin out with a deep water kit
 

Fletch88

Silver Member
Mar 7, 2013
4,841
2,367
Valdosta, GA
Detector(s) used
Garrett ATPro- 8.5x11, 5x8, CORS Fotune 5.5x9.5
Tesoro Silver microMax- 8 donut, 8x11 RSD, 3x18 Cleansweep
Minelab Excalibur ll- 10" Tornado
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Xterra 305
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Get 2 machines: Etrac and Excal. Land and Sea covered. Having some kind of alternate plan is always nice IMO!
 

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cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,211
14,519
San Diego
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
CTX 3030 It's the ultimate land and shallow water machine! Careful on the shallow water part! There have been many leak issues posted around the web!
I don't know about "ultimate" but it probably the best all around machine on the market today. It does just about everything well but you can find other machines just as good or better under certain conditions. You can't dive deeper than 10" with it so that doesn't make it suited for those conditions at all. It's not the "ultimate" nugget machine either. Minelab and others make better detectors for that. The seal issue from what I can tell seems to be more a user problem accented by an inferior design. If you take the time and care needed by following the proper procedure, you'll likely not have a problem. I know a couple of people who are still using their original seal and it's working fine. You just have to keep things clean, lubed, and installed correctly.
 

Fletch88

Silver Member
Mar 7, 2013
4,841
2,367
Valdosta, GA
Detector(s) used
Garrett ATPro- 8.5x11, 5x8, CORS Fotune 5.5x9.5
Tesoro Silver microMax- 8 donut, 8x11 RSD, 3x18 Cleansweep
Minelab Excalibur ll- 10" Tornado
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Xterra 305
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yes ultimate may have been a bad choice of words. How about pretty cool detector ( except for leaks). I needed more than 10' depth in water for diving, which is why I choose the Excal and liked the idea of a dedicated land machine with Etrac. Don't really like having all my eggs in one basket!
 

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