Rick(ND) said:
The Way Critter is bragging up this coil and being I never tried one I just wanted to see for myself if it would be any better then the S-12 or if he is blowing smoke and had a bid of $120 on it when it was pulled Maybe another one will show up and get a chance to try one in the spring.
Rick, I'm not blowing smoke about the 12x10 being a fantastic coil, but I don't believe I ever said the 12x10 was better than the S-12, since I've never used an S-12, but I have of course said that the 12x10 is the best coil I've ever used on any machine, stock or otherwise, thus far.
However, just so happens somebody just offered privately to send me an S-12 as they are curious to see how it compares to the 10" Tornado, 12x10, and 13" Ultimate. I've had more than a few people ask me in the past about the S-12 in comparison to the 12x10. All I've been able to tell them is what little I've heard from a few who cared to voice their opinions having owned both.
One person told me, as a beach hunter, that they used the S-12 for a long time, and then one day they got a 12x10 and ended up finding a gold chain that they said the S-12 wouldn't hit on or not as well when they tested it.
I'm suspicious of that, however, after comparing 4 different coils, big and small, on numerous gold items (chains, earrings, etc).
While I have yet to finish editing the video to watch the results, as I kind of lost track in my head switching coils and such in the process and would let the video remind me what happened, I *think* I didn't see much in the way of difference at all in terms of even the old rule of thumb of a smaller coil hitting harder on fine gold jewelry. Can't say for sure either way since I haven't watched to remind myself what happened yet, but I'm guessing there is no magic bullet in coil selection to have finer gold jewelry sensitivity, at least on the Minelabs, so I would doubt the 12x10 hits any better than one could notice than the S-12 on fine gold chains or such.
There has been a scarcity of any opinions (openly anyway) from those who own both the S-12 or the 12x10 in comparison. I know the S-12 has a stellar reputation and a proven track record, much like the recent 12x10 does, so I wouldn't knock either coil over the other either way.
I can tell people the drag of the 12x10 or 15x12, being squarish in shape, is too much for my tastes in water, and so I'm sure there is good reason why the S-12 seems to be probably the most popular aftermarket coil for Excalibur water hunters, with perhaps the WOT being a very close second in that line up. Again, probably due to them both being round and so not as much drag as the SEFs in the water, and also I'm sure because of the depth ability they have over stock 8 or 10" round coils. Off hand I think the S-12 is either 12.25 or 12.5" in true size (plan to measure it), so I bet it's a nice improvement in both depth and coverage for open land or water areas over the stock 10" coil.
My three biggest curiosity factors for comparing it to the 12x10 are this- 1) Is either one appear to be deeper than the other? 2) Does the SEF's unique shape which seems to compress the width of the DD line give it better or at least more "effortless" left/right separation? 3) Is the old rule of thumb that round coils are more vulnerable to EMI true or not? 4) *In my soil*, might it be a round DD coil of roughly 12 to 13" in size is beyond the point of no return, sucking up too much ground matrix to gain depths on coin/ring sized targets?
As big of a fan as I am of the 12x10, I think I held a pretty unbiased view of it to the 13" Ultimate. I haven't concluded yet that either is deeper, or that either is better at left/right separation, though the Ultimate was for sure harder to work between trash and required me to re-position myself due to the bulk of a larger coil and it's shape. I suspect the Ultimate has strengths that the 12x10 doesn't in some ways just due to the different design shapes of them both, and I'd suspect it's the same way with the S-12 as well. The trick is to decide which traits you want in a coil that work to your particular hunting style's advantage. That's what I would figure, anyway, and I look forward to playing with the S-12 and finally trying out this legendary coil among Sovereign/Excalibur owners.
One other coil I want to try out some day is the 14.25" WOT coil. From what I've read and opinions I've been told, some think it's better than the 15x12, while others say otherwise. I recently watched a video where a guy first hunted around a tree in a yard with a silver killer, and then a guy with a GT and WOT coil followed in his tracks where no signals were heard before. He ended up getting a solid hit on a deep target. I watched with my jaw dropped as this guy dug down either 14 or 18" (can't remember, but it was super deep regardless) and then finally pulled out a shotgun shell. That just blew my mind, but I wonder how mineralized the soil was. In my soil I don't know if any coil that size will punch that deep. Perhaps under ideal wet ground conditions, as that's the only way I dug two 11" coins in my soil one day with the stock 10" Tornado. The conditions were just right.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE >>>>> I received this message last night regarding SEF 10x12 coils heading for Kellyco, 