600 or 800 ?

[mrcolin2u]

This has probably been asked a million times before, but I'm thinking of getting a new EQUINOX and I'm leaning towards the 800. Don't think I'll be doing any gold nugget hunting but perhaps there's some other useful custom modes that are worth the extra coin ?
Anyone here got a 600 and wished they had an 800 instead ?

Thanks in advance

CD

 

[azdigger]

I got an 800 right off the line and have not been sorry at all . The 20 and 40 KHZ lets you hunt gold...any gold and small too.
Just my opinion.

 

[Pondmn]

I have the 800 and love it. Also have the small coil for real trashy areas.........

 

[goodmore]

I have the 600.....I gave up the dirt hunting, but I still love detecting the beach. The 600 is all I need for that. I spent some money on waterproof headphones and I feel I have quite the wet sand hunting unit. I don't need the tone adjustments or the gold frequency. Being that I came from the Sovereign....I don't even need the meter on a beach.

 

[REVIER]

I have the 800 and among others I use the Gold 1 and Gold 2 modes to hunt in my mineralized dirt in public sites...and it works well.
I could have bought either but I opted for the 800 because I had no idea exactly what would work here in my area of the country so I wanted to have access to everything possible.
I would rather have something and not need it then need it and not have it.

Knowing what I know now I would have regretted getting the 600.

 

[ramairnut]

This has probably been asked a million times before, but I'm thinking of getting a new EQUINOX and I'm leaning towards the 800. Don't think I'll be doing any gold nugget hunting but perhaps there's some other useful custom modes that are worth the extra coin ?
Anyone here got a 600 and wished they had an 800 instead ?

Thanks in advance

CD

I have the 600 and not looking back. I also don't nugget hunt. The 600 hunts in all 5 frequencies just like the 800 when in multi-frequency mode. I haven't used an 800 so maybe it's just a case that I don't know what I am missing Regardless, they are both very good detectors; just comes down to dollars and cents. I don't feel like I missed out on anything better by getting the 600; what I do know is that I saved myself $200 and really enjoy hunting with it. It's your $$, spend it wisely. Good luck with whatever model you decide on.

 

[bik-il]

No regrets here on the 600. I was fortunate to get a 6in coil right off the bat and haven't taken it off and have not even tried the stock coil. Couldn't be happier. Also picked up a set of aftermarket wireless headphones and haven't looked back. I only use my 600 setup in parks and heavier trash and it suits my hunting style perfectly.
I also rarely deviate from the stock settings so it truly has been turn on and go right out of the box here in Illinois mild soil.
I don't think Ill be missing anything compared to the 800 until my skill outpaces the capabilities of the 600, which I don't see happening for quite a long time, if ever

 

[RayinAlaska]

This has probably been asked a million times before, but I'm thinking of getting a new EQUINOX and I'm leaning towards the 800. Don't think I'll be doing any gold nugget hunting but perhaps there's some other useful custom modes that are worth the extra coin ?
Anyone here got a 600 and wished they had an 800 instead ?

Thanks in advance

CD

All depends on what you want to do with it. The 800 has a few features not available on the 600, such as two more frequencies for gold-nugget detecting in the highly mineralized soil that is often found in gold fields. But you still can use these two other frequencies for coin and relic hunting. The thing about the Gold 1 and 2 modes of the 800 is that these frequencies allow the 800 to get signals form very small target close to the surface (just watch some of the "youtube" videos of nugget hunters in AU). At the same time, the same frequencies can detect large targets that are very deep in the ground. Also, the number of tones on the 800 is greater than the 600. Otherwise both machines are equally good for detecting.

I chose the 800 because I can nugget hunt during the summer, but some folks in the UK are using the Gold modes for coin and relic detecting (the person in the following video sometimes uses the 800's Gold modes for coin detecting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fClylwxSpNM

 

[Daniel Tn]

Sold the 800 and kept the 600.

The Park, Field, and Beach modes are identical on the 600 and 800. The 800 does allow you the option of running single freq 20 and 40 khz but my experience is that the Multi freq out performs every stand alone single freq. To me, the single frequencies are useless. I've yet to run into a situation where I favored the single freq over the Multi.

Now, when you get into the advanced menu items...there are some of those I wish the 600 had. Particularly the tone bin volume. On the 800 you can adjust them all. Say you were gold hunting and wanted to raise the volume of the low to mid conductors...you can do that. Or if you thought the low tone volume was a bit soft...you can raise it to your preference. On the 600, the only one you can do that with is the iron volume. I personally think the low tone volume IS soft and would like to be able to raise it, but I cant.

The other two items are recovery speed and iron bias. The 800 gives you more control over those...more settings. The 600 only has 3 speed setting...with 3 being the equiv to 6 on the 800. So the 800 gives you two faster speeds.

The 800 has the wireless module...which is useless unless you use headphones with a 1/8 male adapter, or until you purchase a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter for it. Most all popular detector headphones have a 1/4 male plug, meaning a purchase is immediately required to use them.

The 800 has adjustable brightness on the backlight. The 600 is full bore all the time. My buddy and i got on a good site just before dark and opted to stay a little after dark. I couldnt even hunt with my light on the 600 cause it was blinding me. If you beach hunt at night, I would invest in a small red filter head lamp if you go with the 600.

The 800 comes with cheaper wireless headphones. They are Miccus brand SR71s. Can find them anywhere for about $40. What I done was buy a pair of those and a good pair of waterproof phones, and I have been good to go.

At some point down the road I may pick up a used 800 for those extra settings. Or maybe by then they will have an Equinox 1000. Until then, I am content with the 600.

 

[nuff coils]

Couldn't agree more or said it better.. It's not if one is better than the other. The main thing is find your needs and fill them. For myself I have 2 gold machines and don't need that from the 800. The 600 addresses the beach and wading hunting I like to do. It also is great in parks and soccer fields. I don't use headphones unless I'm wading in the lake, which I purchased waterproof headphones. Glad the 800 option is available but for me it's the 600.

 

[Ted S]

I have the 600 and am doing quite well with it. The only thing I am going to need is a quality set of headphones.

 

[dewcon4414]

The cost seems to just be the WM...... if that was part of the 800 package MOST would be swinging the 800. If you water hunt very deep obviously you will have to upgrade your phones on both machines. YOu could of course buy the 800, because i do feel there are some tone advantages...... and sell the WM. Some like the WM because they have several pairs of high quality phones and just dont want to be connected. MLs cable dont work with all phones either.

 

[hunt2day]

I bought the 600 and I have been very happy. I use it to hunt for coins and small jewelry and to beach hunt. It does everything I want and to be honest its as complicated as I want. I bought a good set of blue tooth headphones and have not looked back. I can tell you with the 6" coil I can pick coins out of a trash filled field with good success !!

 

[Coinnoisseur]

Being able to change the tone bins, and their pitch, is a win/win for any coinshooter.

 

[metalhead24]

I had both and I sold the 800 kept the 600 I was more comfortable with the 600.

 

[5900_XL-1]

I wanted an 800, but the wait was unknown, so I jumped on a 600. The experience has been just as hoped...finding coins where I and others had quit detecting, with silver. I'm proud of my 600.

The only real reason I wanted an 800 was for adjusting conductive tones. The low loss bluetooth HPs available out there for $40-$60 eliminate the need for the factory adapter and headphones(except for the waterproof ones of course.)

I seriously doubt that there is really a sizable percentage of detectorists who hunt for gold nuggets, so 20 and 40Khz independent, single frequency abilities, is moot. The 600 at about 2/3rds the cost of the 800, just makes sense to me as a C&J hunter. Conductive tone adjustments does keep me wanting to run an 800 though. I can see owning one, if a deal evolves as a second owner. Owning two Nox units is likely in my future anyway, each with a different coil and in the car at the beginning of hunts. There, is a good excuse for me to buy and try an 800. It is only the tones feature though, so another 600 is more likely ;-)

 

[greenmeanie]

I have the 800 but could of just bought the 600 and would of been fine with it.

 

[RayinAlaska]

Top the OP: first decide if the grounds you detect at is mineralized. If that's the case, buy the 800 since you still can use the Gold Modes to relic and coins hunt in highly mineralized grounds. If you don't detect in grounds that are mineralized, then you have the choice to skip the 800 and buy a 600. It's as simple as that.

Check with other detectorists in your area and see if the grounds around your area are mineralized.