So Why Did You Buy A Sovereign?

[Critterhunter]

...When other machines are advertised more heavily and you don't have to do things like hunt down a meter and figure out how to mount it, etc. What was the "A-Ha!" moment for you that made you decide this was the machine you wanted. For me I was planning on it just being a stepping stone from my Explorers and my QXT Pro to an Etrac. I figured that if I bought one used I could get my money back out of it once I saved the rest I needed for an Etrac. Not only has the Sovereign got deeper for me than any other machine I've ever owned in my soil, but I like it more than what exposure I've had to an Etrac thus far, so I am staying put. I may still ad an At Pro, F75ltd, or T2se to my line up, but having owned or used almost everything else out there I have no where else to go. An SE Pro can be had used at a reasonable price so I might go there too, but by far the GT is the best I've used in most ways to date.

So what made you fight the trend and try a Sovereign?

 

[matthias]

I bought a Sovereign because of all the options available, especially choice of coils. HH Matt

 

[ML]

I bought one (actually two) because of its reputation as a great wet sand/beach machine. It certainly hasn't disappointed and has paid for itself many times over.

 

[gear box]

I got it for the simplicity of operation and the much talked about depth. I'm not much into menus and sub-menus and it just seemed to fit what I was looking for. So far I'm not disappointed. Although I wouldn't mind trying a E-trac. But then here we go with all the button pushing and menu's again.
HH Gary.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

i was looking for something to take me to the next step up from my whites 5900...... the 5900 treated me well but i knew there were deeper targets being missed by it..... so i did alot of online reseach .... weighing the pros and cons of several different machines.....for the money i dont know if there is a deeper machine with as good discrimination.... my main hunting sites are colonial sites and i needed something that would allow me to dug up everything except the nails and hot rocks...... for the most part the gt has done just that.... no one machine does it all ....... but ever since i saw a guy at the beach digging over a foot deep for targets both in and out of the water i knew this was something i had to find out more about....... besides that when the weekend warriors see you digging target after target and they cant seem to get a target to chase with a lesser machine j i realize i made a very good choice.....

 

[dfxone]

I needed a light detector, so I chest mounted the Sovereign GT with a straight shaft. It is light for me to detect with, it is deeper than the Whites DFX I use to have. BTW at 84 years old It is perfect for me, and I do not need anything else unless Minelab builds a Sovereign that Critter was talking about on the forum this past April Fools day. Cheers, GH, Don

 

[UncleTom]

For the GOLD! I have found more gold with the GT and Xcal than all my other detectors.

 

[Elton]

and I have wondered what a pipe hanger looks like.I did a search on forum with no results. I am looking for the best way to install a meter.

Anyone having a pic I would appreciate seeing how it looks attached to the meter on a GT.

 

[Jiminsandiego]

Hey Elton I just velcroed my meter to the outside of the hip mount bag. Works pretty good
Jim

 

[Rick(ND)]

Been detecting since 1973 and used many different detectors and had just got a GTA 1000 PM and a XLT and was doing OK, but not like those on some of the forums using a Sovereign. There was not many around back then and none up here at all in ND, but i wanted to try one. At that time the only place that can mail order them was Kellyco as other dealer were not allowed too, so i called them and no one could give me any answers to my questions back then and no dealer within 500 miles I just had to have a Sovereign to try. I became the dealer for ND just to get a Sovereign as it just sounded so good. Other dealers told me to become a Sun Ray dealer too as the DTI meter made the Sovereign extra special, so I did that too. My first impression wasn't that good with all the different tones and looked too basic. First week out i wondered what did i get myself into, but with the help we had on this forum telling me to keep using it got me over the learning curve and seen it was actually a easy detector to use once you understood it. I learned more each and every time out with it and was impressing everyone what this detector could do in worked out area, or everyone thought they were worked out.
I have used other detectors too like the Explorers and now the E-Trac, but don't understand them like I do the Sovereign, but the E-Trac has been impressing me each time out with it and could become a detector I would use more then the Sovereign, but at this time the Sovereign is the detector I trust more for IDing as I understand it so much more.
I have said it many times that those that understand the Sovereign will always have one as they see what they can do, they may try others and may use others, but always seem to have a Sovereign around somewhere.

Rick

 

[Lightstryder]

For me I wanted a PI water machine and was looking heavily into either a Garrett Sea Hunter or Infinium LS. I already had the Garrett GTI 2500 and was just getting to know it well, I figured I could keep the GTI for parks and land, and get the water machine for beach, then I would have it covered. But in all my reading and research, I noticed the GT and was intrigued by it. The simplicity of design, the options for mounting, the FBS system, the ability to hunt wet sand as well as anywhere else, but it had to be one or the other. I saved up the money I needed for the PI unit and was going to purchase it within the week and then low and behold I logged on to this forum one afternoon and there was my GT in the classifieds for a great price and in that instant, I made the decision to put the water unit off for a while and get the GT and just "try it". I am glad I did. I gave my GTI to a friend who needed a better unit, and have the GT and my one and only detector now. I figure I only want one for a while, that way I can focus on becoming one with it, and not have to worry about anything else. The more I use it, the more I like it and would do it all over again. I am still learning the GT, the depth at the beach is insane, I couldn't be happier. Even without a meter, I love this machine.

 

[Critterhunter]

My A-Ha moment was one day when a guy was hunting with us who had a Sovereign. We were taking a break by an old camp fire that looked like it hadn't been used in years. He turned his machine back on and swept over the old burnt ground and cinders and dug up two mercs. Anybody who has tried hunting over an old fire site like that with lessor machines knows of the bad signals and ground interference they'll get. I also always drooled over the coils it had available and would read stories of real deep coins or ones being pulled out of iron with it. Still, it took me years to buy one as I tried numerous other machines over time. I mainly just wanted to check off it as yet another machine I tried on my way to an Etrac or an SE Pro, and I wasn't in a hurry to get to those because I remembered what things I didn't like on my prior Explorers and it worried me that I'd find the same dislikes on the Etrac or SE Pro that I had with my Explorers.

People tend to go for flash, or the latest thing in technology, or assume that whatever is the most expensive item must be the best. Not always true.

 

[Elton]

Thanks Jim................

 

[bootyhoundpa]

just for the record when i mentioned using the gt in water i was talking about knee deep as they are not water proof control boxes, lest anyone get the wrong idea.....

 

[Jiminsandiego]

I got one because I had a cheaper detector that just would not work on the beach. A quick search on google for "best detector for beach" and it was all about the gt. Now I've got a 12x15 sef, pro golds headphones, a digisearch meter and a diamond head scoop. I believe this is the best set up one could have for detecting Southern California beaches. I could be wrong though... Not much more for an E-track, maybe a cz21 waterproof. All I know is I've had a blast with this detector since I opened the box. The San Diego back country is calling me, and I feel that the gt is able to find some cool stuff there as well as it does at the beach.
Jim

 

[treasuresalvor]

I got a Sovereign because I already had an Excal II and wanted a "land detector" but didnt want to have to relearn a new machine. At one time I thought I wanted an Etrac but not anymore... why downgrade?

 

[synthnut]

I originally got into the Sovereign because of the depth that I heard it could get , and it was also good in wet salt sand which Single frequency machines just don't cut it ...... There were plenty of used ones to choose from too as there were a lot of guys who couldn't deal with the tones of the Sovereign , which has my favorite tones of ANY detector !!......I've owned a few Sovereigns , and still own one , and also an Excal ( same basic principle ) but have spent more and more time with the E Trac , as I have had the luxury of having a parder who hunts with an E Trac , and I can compare targets and scenario's with him ..... There were too many eye openning experiences to deny between the Soveriegn and the E Trac ......I still love my Soveriegn and Excal on the beach , but when it comes to dry land , the E Trac wins hands down ...... I'm also very impressed with the AT Pro in some circumstances, especially for the $$$...... Jim

 

[old lobo]

I was just a dry sand hunter on the beaches here in Southern California, and my Ace 250 and White's M6 worked fine. I almost always used the Ace because I really liked that machine ( over $625. just in quarters and 6 gold rings with it). The two detectors I saw more people using than any other model were the Excaliber and Sovereign models, by far, so when late morning came and detectorists were leaving, I would talk with the people with those models and ask why they liked them so much. Depth, stability in both wet black as well as dry sand, simplicity of knobs instead of having to go through menus, and in the case of the Sovereign, being buttet proof. There were to many complaints, both from people I talked to, and the forums, about Excalibers needing frequent repairs and taking forever for owners to get them back after repair, plus we have pretty big waves here, and undertow, and I don't swim well, so the Sovereign was the better choice for me. Excaliber owners, don't get upset because I didn't say your machines were bad, but if you read the forums, you know how many of those machines (no, not all) need to go in for checkups or repair compaired to the GT. I'm on s/s so that certainly was a factor for me.
lobo

 

[calibil]

I had read of the great uses and finds of the GT, so I had to get one . My 1st hunt with the GT, was at a trashy picnic park , (washers-nails bobby pins, six kinds of pull tabs, slaw-bottle tops ect) found lots of clad and no iron with the tornado coil,-very impressive because I had previously hunted the same area with a V-3 / Vaqureo / MXT and HH land pro. my trash to coin ratio is lots lower with the GT (lower trash) this was some what a rudimentary finding because I had Maxed out discriminated all machines to thier max settings, but even so the GT used last still had a 70% more coin find @ max disc and sounded well on all targets.
Just sorry I waited so long to get a GT

 

[GunnarMN]

[size=x-large]I bought a GT because i have suffered under many other brands that clamed to go deep and did not i will not name them minelabe is the only detector that lives up to its claims and the GT is one of the top 5 detectors in the known world just take the Iron mask and what it can do , look at the low frequincys 1.5- 3.0- 4.5- up to 25.5 amazing this thing is the race car that will win the race , the pie that wins the bake sale . [/size] well to sum it up THE CATS MEOW and the cows mooo and the beavers chew and its new. eww