A lot of mixed reviews of the Quattro, What is your real opinion?

[Neil in West Jersey]

I just got an opportunity to pick up a "like new" Quattro for a great price ($450). I have never read as much controversial info about a metal detector. There are many people who say it was the worst detector they have ever owned, and there are those that swear by it saying it is by far the best, once you master it.

I have used Garretts, White's, and Fisher detectors in the past, but have yet to operate a machine like this one. What is your opinion?

 

[Wirechief]

Hi Neil, well the Quattro gets a bad wrap from many detectorists. I hate to see this. But yes it is a very slow recovery machine. But if you will just work the machine slowly and methodically it will key into those deeper treasures you seek. I use the Quattro with the Coiltek Platypus coil. It is a great combo and pinpointing is nice with this coil. I have a lot of magnetite in my soil and must swing very slow. This combo is amazingly sensitive even to very small items. I have dug targets from ground I had covered with other machines. But give it a chance and when I use the Quattro it is to seek out those deep targets that I know I'm missing with other machines. Confidence is high when I have the Quattro in hand! Ok God Bless and let us hear about what you find with it.

John Tomlinson,CET P=VI
John's Detectors

 

[JohnA]

Very good price. I got mine used for 465.00. Slow recovery but deep. Very close to being a turn and go machine. A little heavy but built like a tank. Wide choice of coils available. I use the 8" Minelab in the trash, which lightens machine considerably. Also use the 10x14 Excelerator on the beach and parks that makes the machine heavier, needing a bungie cord harness. Don't use the std coil. I won't be getting rid of mine. You can't got wrong at that price.

 

[Ratman]

Well the other two posts basically said it all . If you buy a Quattro remember to give yourself the chance to learn it . It takes a little patience and plenty of use before you start to see how great of a machine it is . Just remember it is not a Explorer . I have made some great finds this year with my Quattro and am planing on posting them up at the years end .

 

[arma]

Its a great machine and needs some time to get used to and understand, once this is achieved yu can find anything most other detectors can including the explorer.

Heres some pics of the stuff i have found with mine....

I have found quite a few roman brooches

Celtic stater this is my best find to date !

hammered coins quite a few of these have fallen to the quattro

even tiny cut quater hammered fall to this machine when used properly.

and many many other wonderfull and interesting things.

Most people who slagg the quattro off have basically not had it long enough to learn it properly, a common gripe is its signalls can be confusing and a bit of an overload of sounds. The way i look at it is that its giving so many sounds out as a way of telling you whats there and for you to make an informed choice as to dig it or not.
Remember these basic bits and you will do just fine with it...

1. Run it in all metal ( the recovery speed is very slow ) unless you happen to be in a very clean bit of the field in which case if you start to hear the machine nulling over iron in the ground and it start to happen every other sweep or so then revert back to all metal. This will help to ensure you miss as little as possible.

2. Dig everything that signalls as far down the display numbers as -4 ( these can be small hammered silver coins ) Yes you will also dig silver paper and ring pulls using these settings but thats a small price to pay if you manage to hold a beutifull hammered silver coin in you hands for the effort.

3. Probably the most important thing to remember is GO SLOW keep the coil close to the ground.

4. In highly iron infested areas drop the sensitivity down ! ( sometimes even as low as 10 - 12 ) you will not loose much depth and the advantage is your quattro will not be blinded by the iron and you will get some more finds.

5. Noise cancell regularly ( the ground can and will change in different parts of your sites )

6. If you get an occasional iffy signall ( listen for the clipped sound at the end of the tone, or alternate high low tones ) try approaching it from different angles, if you are still unsure dig a spit of dirt out and go over the target again ( if its now a more consistant tone then dig it if its -4 or above. )

7. Pinpointing you will probably develop your own technique, i use a mix of waggle and pinpoint button


I hope this helps you decide but ultimately the choice is yours.

Arma

 

[backslyder]

Well, Neil, I just had to put my "two cents" in on your post also. I can't say enough about the ability and experience that I believe I read on this forum about the Quatro. I've had my Quatro for a couple of years or more and have read and re-read Andy Sabisch's book Mastering the Quatro, which I very highly recommend, and they're all right, in what they've said in these responses as far as I'm concerned. I know of successful Explorer owners who have nothing but good to say about the Quatro. All I can say is I'd put my Quatro up against any Whites, or Garrett, or any other machine in the world, except the Explorer, and I'll bet it would beat them for depth, and usability, accuracy, and a whole bunch of other areas. I know that's a bold statement, but I think the users on this forum can back that up in most cases. You just need to spend "quiet, thoughtful, time" with this machine, and learn what it's trying to tell you about burried targets. I was going nuts for the first 2 weeks I owned it, but it finally started to come together and now you'd have to pry this machine from my cold dead fingers, in order to get it away from me. Marc Trainor.

 

[Golden]

Unfortunately it has been said that the Quattro is a pick up and go machine, and the truth couldn't be further from it. The Quattro does have a considerable learning curve that comes with it, and it takes TIME, PATIENCE and LOTS OF PRACTICE to learn how to use it properly. If an individual doesn't have either of these factors, then the detector is not for them. The first two weeks of owing the detector, I thought the machine was broken! Persistence definitely pays off! Learning how to use the different functions and settings according to ground conditions is a must. Also if one is used to a certain type of detector/s, they'll find the Quattro very different to those, and it calls for a certain readjustment in thinking and expectation. a call for relearning a new machine and all of its nuances. My hubby found it to be the case from coming from using gold detectors all his life to a relic/coin machine. The sounds, signals, numerical readings, tones all different and meant different things. All I can say in conclusion is that anyone who's given the Quattro a fair all round go, and given themselves the time and practice to learn it, has not been disappointed. The treasures found with the Quattro is testiment in itself. Somebody is doing something right.
HH Golden

 

[backslyder]

You tell em Tiger. I call her Tiger, because I really see her that way, and I truly believe she has the experience and expertise to back it up. I had to laugh, a bit "through my tears" when she said she thought it was broken the first two weeks she owned it. I did too. I heard so many noises, I thought something was wrong, but it's just giving you information. "LOTS OF INFORMATION" , so like she says, I believe, we need to learn what it's trying to tell us and spend enough time to do all that, and then, for some mysterious reason, and I swear this happened to me, it all started to make more sense. Not that it can't still get "scary" from time to time, but it just seem to start to come together to me and make sense, and then it becomes a "monster machine", that you'd put up against almost any machine on the planet, in my opinion. Marc Trainor.

 

[Golden]

Yep, as you said, it learning to read the signals and what they mean. Is it trash or a keeper? Is it iron or aluminium? Is it a coin or a pull tab? I must admit the coin/pull tab bit does sometimes have me guessing. When you think about the fact that there are possibly hundreds of kinds of pull tabs, some with titanium in them, it can drive you nuts trying to decipher everything. So the best thing to do here is just DIG IT!!! As some of the gold rings also fall into these readings too.
Golden

 

[backslyder]

Golden is right. Those darn pull tabs can come in at many different readings. I've found them at 15, 18, 21, 29 and God knows what other numbers. I've also read some gold rings at 19, 7, and some nuggets at other numbers. I'd have to agree with Golden, that if your really "looking" for gold, you might just want to dig everything in the positive number category, otherwise, use discrimination. That's my take on it at least. Marc.

 

[backslyder]

As kind of an adjunct, and also in response to "what's your guys opinion on the Quatro" sort of the original question on this thread. I wanted to say, that even though the pull tabs are different numbers, I've heard that there are people who can discern the difference between a number 15 "nickel" reading and a #15 pull tab. I tried to do it my self on a nickel and a pull tab and it was a tough call, for me, but I kind of thought, there was a difference, depending on what audio setting you were using, either ferrous or conductive. To me the ferrous, has the most distinct difference, but for Pete's sake, try your own settings, and see if you can't tell the difference in the tone or any little nuances of the audio, of different targets, Even though the numeric readings might be the same number. This is all info that of course I got out of Andy Sabisches book, but I just wanted to re-iterate it here, because it seems so important, when it comes down to possibly not having to dig so much trash or not, but as Golden and Andy would say too: When in doubt, dig it up!!!!, and I'd add, to that, especially if your looking for gold of any kind. Marc Trainor.

 

[backslyder]

One last little "sales point", I wanted to add, to any newcomers, or in response to the original question on this thread----What about the noise factor of Quatro versus other detectors. I know this may not even be too much of an "issue" these days with the increase in technology, but one of the "other" detectors I used to own, and I'm talking about an older model detector, but this may still be an issue, and that is mineralization, noise, electrical influence, etc. I had a detector that was one of the top of the line detectors of it's day, but if you got anywhere near salt water or black mineralized ground, you were in deep doo-doo, to say the least. Even with the advent of the newer technology that probably takes care of that, we ALL, can experience some of those problems to some degree, some of the time, and I believe, and have experienced the difference myself, that with the 28 frequencies, and the Ground Balance feature of the Quatro, I hardly EVER, have these problems any more. I can virtually glide over salt water and mineralized ground, (for the most part) without any noise at all. I sometimes get a few "spurious" signals, but "usually", by ground balancing or cleaning the wet salty sand off my coil, I'm pretty much good to go. I haven't used any of these "other" detectors for many years, so I don't know for sure how the competition compares in this area, but I for one, am THRILLED, to not have to re-balance or re set my detector, "umpteen" times to try and deal with ground mineralization. That alone, makes the Quatro, stand out on my "hot list", and when you add the amount of depth and notch-ability of discrimination----Hey, what more can I say here. This is truly a "bad boy" detector. Marc Trainor.

 

[backslyder]

n/t

 

[Black Davy]

This is a great unit. It does need to be worked slow, but how much of a hurry are you really in? My two cents are if you have used as many units as you have listed you wont have any issues. I picked up mine used I was the third owned and do not regret it. It works great on land, the beach and in the water. I was working a local public swimming hole and took out a bunch of coins in the water.

 

[xwyokid]

I presently own an MXT and won't be parting with anytime soon. However, the first part of January I will be purchasing a Quattro. My detecting buddy has one and he has been, "training" me on it and I think it is a heck of a machine. It is heavier than my MXT but that's OK, I have a swingy thingy. Even with my limited experience on the Quattro I think it goes deeper than my MXT. I can honestly say that I have never found anything deeper than 6" to 8" with my MXT. We will see what the Quattro will do.