GTI 2500

[19corvette77]

I don't see much about the GTI 2500 and I was trying to make a choice between the GTI 2500 vs the minelab safari. I'm a coin and jewelry hunter mostly and was looking for some opinions.
Thanks Vince

 

[coin hunter]

Hard choice !! There are many features on the 2500 that you won't use. I know I have one. Heavy machine ! Always looked at the safari , maybe someday. The Safari sounds like a noise box. Coins not separated into denomination on screen, unlike like the 2500. No VDI numbers on the 2500 unlike the Safari. Made a comparison with the 2500 to Safari on depth with a dealer when I almost bought a Safari, No Difference. Have a AT PRO as my main detector now, best of both worlds. Good Luck !!!

 

[Justin E]

The only good thing I really love about the GTI, making me want one when I can afford it, is the imaging. I think knowing the approximate size would help one to know whether or not to dig. That's just me.

 

[coin hunter]

That's true but for the most part .Tin cans and other items made of alumina come up as 50 cents or 1.00. They read as a large items on the imaging , not coin size. After digging several of these items you find , yes in dead they are just what the detector said. Now the problem, I have in the past ,several times had a target reading 50 cents or $1.00 reading large can size target just to find out it was 3 or 4 coins spread out in a small area. So in summery you still should dig large targets in the coin area. Just imagine if the target was a cache of coins and you past it by because it read large can size.

 

[coin hunter]

When using any detector after you get good at what you are doing you can tell if the target is large or not by the length of the signal. My son on several occasions had a target reading large target 25 cents on his 250. I tested it with my 2500 and yes it read 25 cents larger than coin. I dug it to find out it was two quarters. The rule of thumb that I use now anything above a nickle no matter what imaging says, I dig it.

 

[19corvette77]

I also thought about the AT Pro and the Fisher F75 and wasn't sure what to do. I had a safari and I liked it a lot and sold it when I had knee surgery but now I want to get back into the hobby. The reason that I'm looking at other options is that I haven't tried any other machine and thought there might be something better. Everyone thinks they have the best, you know
Thanks Vince

 

[MONKOO8]

The GTI 2500 is the only detector that I use and own. I enjoy many features of the machine and I think it is one of the easiest high end (though now aging tech,but is it really?) detectors you can use with a minimal learning curve especially compared to its minelab(all those noises...ugh) counterpart. Its the top line full suspension mountain bike of metal detectors. You can use it in most any terrain or condition in one gear successfully and after again minimal time in the wild you really can start to understand and are able to utilize all aspects of the machine. (personally from what I've researched and seen here as an entry level yet fairly competitve machine the Ace 350 is an ace.)
My favorite feature is the imaging.
Yes sometimes you have discrepencies with sizing and multiple targets but generally the depth is close enough which makes for a clean target retrieval. With time, patience, a slower swing this machine can be very rewarding. With the factory settings coin mode my deepest good find was a silver half dollar at about seven to eight inches in slightly damp white clay. In wet sand this machine can go deep. Found a penny at near a foot. And that wasn't in the all metal mode. Ironically that is one of the strong advertised points of this machine and my least used and understood feature. Maybe if you want to clean an area out of all metal and you have lots of time. To me to learn the all metal mode is a true exercise in patience. Generally the deepest this machine bells coins for me is about six to seven inches in coinish mode.
As far as criticisms go I have few.
The only time the weight has bothered has been when using the big eleven inch coil. That can tire you quick even if you've been gettin' out a lot. The other side of that is that sometimes even the nine inch stock coil can be hard to fit in tighter spaces(flower beds,between curbs, etc.) Not gonna lie that every once in a while the machine might glitch out and you have to do a reset which has always solved that issue. My only real criticism of the 2500...and maybe someone can help me with this...Smashed flat rusty twelve ounce beer bottle caps that almost always bell, size and notch just like coins. All I can think of here is that maybe one of the other models or brands have an edge here...possibly one of the analogs or number readers...AT-Pro??
HH

 

[fongu]

Those beer caps give me a fit with the 2500 and the at/pro. For some reason and it's probably the operator, yours truly, the at/pro's iron audio doesn't pick up certain beer bottle caps and does pick up others. More experience needed I guess. You have to dig trash to find treasure anyway. I'm due for some treasure because I've dug a ton of trash. When I was a young boy and lived on the lake, I went fishing every chance I got and now that I only go dirt fishing, I do the same thing. I never worried if I didn't catch any fish, because I was outside enjoying the great outdoors God provided and I have the same attitude about dirt fishing. Father God provided Mother Nature for our benefit and I try to enjoy it as much as I can.

 

[metalhead]

They're all good machines, man. GTI2500, Safari, AT Pro, F75. They're all great. You can't go wrong with either one.
Best of luck to ya, whichever metal detector you choose.
Happy Hunting!