If the sovereign is

[wpruden]

Discontinued, this detector should should be placed in some type of detecting hall of fame! Its one beast of a machine!
A true legend in its own time.
I'm glad I own one and more importantly know its language! The unique thing is all the differant models are classics, only some with unique features.

 

[Critterhunter]

That's the way I look at it- It is as deep as deep or deeper than any machine on the market. The main difference is features that separate the Sovereign from the Etrac/Explorer. If you like to fine tune/tweak/mess with things or one a particular feature that the GT doesn't offer then I'd by an FBS machine, but if you are the type who doesn't like clutter or fine tune adjustments for very specific situations then the Sovereign is the way to go. Notice that the Whites M6/MXT still offer dials much like the old analog machines. There is a market for that. The Sovereign is in the digital age but with analog controls. That's what is so unique about this machine. It's like a modern computer controlled/fuel injected Mustang motor, but in a 1968 Mustang body.

 

[Bling]

iv owned over 200 detectors in 35 years of hunting and yet to find a detector that overall will perform as well as the Sovereign's...iv bought $1500 to $49.95 detectors and always come back to my Sovereign! when you have a VLF that will hit dimes @ 15" on a salt beach as mine do you better keep it! iv got an old Elite i have turned down an offer of $2,000 cash...and today that still stands.iv owned every Sovereign made and about 12 of them in total. and they were all good,some better than others i guess depending on how they were tuned .i just picked up another GT before the price goes up in a few days...of over 200 detectors iv not found 1 as good as the Sovereign on depth or target tone id! if i were young again and know what i know now i would prob buy 6 of them and put them up.but im 63 and iv got more than enough to last my lifetime.... well i might but 1 more.LOL! .oh i also have to date NEVER had to send one in for repairs! well im off to the beach in 30 min to try out my new GT.good luck to all!

 

[FreeMan08]

I agree, the Sovereign GT is a classic. I've owned other machines and the gold and silver didn't start coming in until I got a Sovereign. I don't know how well they're selling for Minelab, but if it's discontinued, I'll start looking in the used market for another one. I can't imagine being without one. The Sovereign GT is hard to beat on the wet beach. JMHO
regards
Ed

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I have used a lot of detectors and always come back to the Sovereign to get the job done.

 

[dbsmokey]

Have any of you have also tried the etrac? I love the sovereign but have a beef with its switches and dealing with EMI. Any of you encounter the same issues? I will probably keep my Excal (which is my FAVORITE detector of all time) and jettison the Sov for an Etrac when I am able to afford it....

 

[Critterhunter]

Well said!

I look at the price hike this way...The Sovereign (and in particular the GT) has always seemed to hold a high resale value. With the price hike you might start seeing older Sovereigns going for the price of a used GT, and used GT's going for a higher price than they already are now! That's good for any of us who bought our GT's used, as we might be able to sell them down the road for MORE than we bought them for.

As a side note, just curious what the current after market price of a stock GT (with no meter) is going for. What's the DigiSearch meter used going for as well? I haven't kept track since I bought my GT but at the time I know it had a very good re-sale value. It was hard to find one much cheaper than buying it new. It will be interesting to watch the price of the GT with this price increase, so that's why I'd like to hear what the current going used price is. Like I said, haven't looked since I bought mine used.

 

[Bling]

Have any of you have also tried the etrac? I love the sovereign but have a beef with its switches and dealing with EMI. Any of you encounter the same issues? I will probably keep my Excal (which is my FAVORITE detector of all time) and jettison the Sov for an Etrac when I am able to afford it....

i bought a new SE about 1 month ago,it was no better than my GT's or my Elite so i sold it in 2 days and bought another GT! but i am a switch person not a push button person and i have no use for all the bells n whistles .dont need meters i just dig by the tone and iv not found any more accurate than the Sovereign's.i can dig the ring and be gone before the guy with all the bell's is trying to figure out what his detector is telling him!

 

[dbsmokey]

Have any of you have also tried the etrac? I love the sovereign but have a beef with its switches and dealing with EMI. Any of you encounter the same issues? I will probably keep my Excal (which is my FAVORITE detector of all time) and jettison the Sov for an Etrac when I am able to afford it....

i bought a new SE about 1 month ago,it was no better than my GT's or my Elite so i sold it in 2 days and bought another GT! but i am a switch person not a push button person and i have no use for all the bells n whistles .dont need meters i just dig by the tone and iv not found any more accurate than the Sovereign's.i can dig the ring and be gone before the guy with all the bell's is trying to figure out what his detector is telling him!

Understood, but have you tried hunting with EMI issues? My friend's etrac drives the Sov nuts!! He was able to cancel EMI from the powerlines and my SOV didn't bother him, yet hunting became impossible for me. I don't disagree with your desire to have simplicity. It is why I bought the SOV too. I love it, save for the weight, switches for which one must buy aftermarket protection, and EMI issues.

 

[Bling]

Have any of you have also tried the etrac? I love the sovereign but have a beef with its switches and dealing with EMI. Any of you encounter the same issues? I will probably keep my Excal (which is my FAVORITE detector of all time) and jettison the Sov for an Etrac when I am able to afford it....

i bought a new SE about 1 month ago,it was no better than my GT's or my Elite so i sold it in 2 days and bought another GT! but i am a switch person not a push button person and i have no use for all the bells n whistles .dont need meters i just dig by the tone and iv not found any more accurate than the Sovereign's.i can dig the ring and be gone before the guy with all the bell's is trying to figure out what his detector is telling him!

Understood, but have you tried hunting with EMI issues? My friend's etrac drives the Sov nuts!! He was able to cancel EMI from the powerlines and my SOV didn't bother him, yet hunting became impossible for me. I don't disagree with your desire to have simplicity. It is why I bought the SOV too. I love it, save for the weight, switches for which one must buy aftermarket protection, and EMI issues.

well i guess iv been lucky.there has been only 1 beach i could not hunt for about 100 yards with my GT's and the only thing i could do is switch freq or turn down the sensitivity or both. but when a F16 fly's over head its all over for about 20 sec. i do know guys that say they can totally get rid of it with there SE and Etrack's and i guess thats a good thing as long as it doesnt come with a depth loss. i hunt 3 diff beach's for a total of 35 miles and never had any problem other than the F16's..over 35 years of hunting iv found there is NO magic do all detector.there are some that come closer than others but none do it all without a draw back of some sort.i dont have problems from other Minelabs as long as i stay about 30-40 feet apart.and most of that can be taken care of with the freq shift switch.i can and have bought any detector i want and try them but always return to the Sovereign when i want the GOLD! bottom line is if you find a detector you LOVE not just like,then you will most likely do good with it.

 

[Neil]

Agree, you have to keep good distance between yourself and other minelab users but all in all the sov is very good around EMI. Only a couple of places Ive had problems myself, sometimes lowering the sens helps. Ive not found a situation yet where the noiseband helped but again, just not many spots I run into problems with it. the auto noise cancel feature on the etrac/explorer is great, wish my F75 had that feature but it at least it can be done manually.

 

[Rick(ND)]

"Once you spend the time to know the Sovereigns well and see what they are capable of you will always come back to them or have one in reserve"
The only detector I may start using more is my E-Trac as it has been very impressive, much more than the Explorers I have used. Even using a E-Trac i plan on always have a Sovereign as they are great for those that get to know them well, not made for the person that tries one for a day or 2 and feels this is the best they will do as the more you use them the more you will learn and the better and deeper targets you will find.

Rick

 

[UtahRich]

I've owned over 200 detectors in 35 years of hunting and . . . . . . .

Are you serious? Over 200?





Bling Bling

Rich

 

[Bling]

took my new GT to the beach yesterday and found SS, .925 and 14k all in a small 50' area. good way to start 2011.

 

[HaroldILL.]

I don't understand if they plan on discontinuing the sovereign why would they increase the price ? It seems to me they would leave it the same to sell off remaining stock faster. I think that would be bad business to raise the price and sell of the remaining stock then discontinue the machine ! I own an E-trac but have always been curious about a sovereign as a second detector,But I don't like being pressured into buying a machine because of a price increase !

 

[synthnut]

I'll keep my Excal ....Same family as the Sovereign ...... I don't concern myself with iron at the beach, and that's where I will be using it ....My land machine will probably remain an E Trac ..... The AT Pro is fun , but falses too much , and it has to go thru a rebuild to make it a solid comfortable machine .....It can find targets though ....They don't want you saying anything negative about the AT Pro over at the Garrett forum .....You yell too loud and they banish you from the forum and take away your movies and all the information that you posted .....Don't ask me how I know ..... ........uke: Jim