Sovereign GT increase

[CSA GHOST]

Look for a price increase on the Sov GT after January 17th. New List will be $1,199.99 MAP price will be $999.00 Now would be a good time to pick one up. They come with Minelab's 3 year warranty.
Good hunting,
David

 

[goodmore]

I own two, but I will go on record and say that the current model is not worth that price. They are going to kill the sales.

 

[ML]

Goodmore - I also own two, but I agree with you 100%. There's really no way to justify that much of an increase without some type of upgrade to the unit. It certainly won't help new sales, but might help those who want to unload a used one.

 

[Tony in FL]

Are they perhaps including additional accessories as standard like a digital meter, weather cover, alternate size coil, etc.? I also think they will be shooting themselves in the foot if they jump the price that much without any changes in standard accessories.

 

[synthnut]

If Minelabs can't make some good money on these harder to build machines, it will give them all the ammo they need to stop making them ....... People are plunking down the $$ for the Excals !!.....Same technology !!!...Why not almost the same $$$ for the land version ? ..... If people are stupid enough to buy at the new price , Minelab is smart enough to sell to them as many as they want !!..... The old price was fair if you could get the retailer to throw in a couple of goodies .....but $200 more , for a cheaper made machine ? ........Not my money !!.....Jim

 

[Critterhunter]

Synthnut, I don't think the GT is any harder to build than any other metal detector. More simple, in fact, than some. Take it apart and it's a simple flat circuit board with a connector harness going to the face plate where the controls are. It's real basic as a matter of fact. Not much to it, which is why I think it's prime to be put in a waterproof box, stripping off the control box. Would save people a bunch of money over a water unit.

 

[erikk]

Yes and it was not too long ago I was paying .99 gal. for diesel-$3.29 today & and not as good as the old fuel Nothing remains the same Can't compare Sov & Excal either as Excal is pressure tested to 200 feet and requires a lot more attention in manufacturing hence more $$$$

 

[hershey1]

Maybe Minelab woke up to the fact everyone was saying the Soveriegn was the same as the Excal so they are trying to recover some of their lost revenue. If the Soveriegn does'nt sell they may choose to replace it. Hope not I had one and it was a good hunt anywhere machine. You can use whatever coil or headphones you want. New technology and machines are coming out maybe this will be Minelabs new venture since they have answered the gold markets wants and desires. Hope so. Where you at Crazy Man? HH

 

[keppy]

My thoughts on the Sovereign i have one.............. That they could make that big ugly box a little smaller................. And i think that the Garrett AT Pro put a little dent in Minelab's sales this winter..........

 

[synthnut]

I'm putting together a watterproof SE ....different design , but smilar idea as what GraveDiggerMax uses ......It's much easier to waterproof a machine that does not have pots if you want to change parameters on the fly ... Pot's also have a perpensity to get nudged or fudged ....It's great if you are a " Set it , and forget it " kind of guy ....You can load a Sovereign into just about any waterproof box, bag , or anything else to keep the water out .... As far as cost of the machines go , just looking at the work involved , and the materieal used , and the cost of materials and actual labor involved ..... Which machine do you think costs more to build ? ..... An SE or a Soveriegn ? ..... As you have mentioned many times Critter, how much more are these additional features in the manufacturing stage ? ......How much more can be charged in the retail end ? ....... If you raise the price of a Soveriegn , how close is that price to the price of a new SE with the Pro Coil ? ..... What would the average person looking at the features and the price do ? ..... I would be tempted to go back to the Sovereign if all I was going to do was water hunt with it, but since I am building a water/ land machine , and did not want to spend E Trac money to cut up an E Trac , I bought an SE as others have had good luck with it ..... I STILL have my Excal , so I haven't completely left the Excal / Sovereign family ..... I have had better luck with the E Trac , but to be honest to Critter and others , there is NOTHING like the sound of a Sovereign/ Excal ...... There is a LOT less of a chance of Iron becoming much of an issus in the salt so I still keep my Excal .....

Erikk,
Yes, the Excal is set up to go down to 250 ft , but once the product is engineered , how much more does it cost to produce an Excal than it does a Soveriegn ? ..... I STILL think it boils down to how much someone is willing to pay for the extra features , and how many more features can you put into a digital machine that costs the same or less to build, and charge more $$$ for it .... Again, this is my spin on it ..... Minelab is a business and they are surely making a bold business decision here ....A BOLD statement !!!! ....They are not upping the price by $50 .....They are SLAMMING the price pretty hard !!.....Jim

 

[jbow]

I think manufacturing and handling prices have probably increased to the point where they either have to drop it or increase the price. It is a well made machine and noting on it is under engineered... so it is probably something they chould have started several years ago with stepped increases but whatever... it is what it is.

I would LOVE to see ML put the Sovereign platform in an AT type sonfiguration with a built in meter and control pads, with a Pro coil. Make it waterproof to 10 ft and light... with tha, the Excalibur would still be their diving machine and the Sovereign their wading and all terrain machine...and if it were in a lightweight waterproof package... easier headphone options that the AT.. I think it could hit the AT hard.

Just a few changes and some winning older technology could be revamped into a new machine that would garner a lot of attention.

J

 

[dbsmokey]

I can think of 3 things are under-engineered:
Placement of the vclip on the shaft (if present at all: mine came without one)
Heaviness and unbalance
Lacking a method to protect dirt/sand from killing switches (without going aftermarket)

 

[JASONSPAZ1]

When was the last time you heard of a last year model of anything go up in price?

There are a few ways of looking at this. It may cost more money in today's digital world to produce old school analog devices, or Minelab is going to include the digital meter as standard equipment with the Sovereign GT from this point on. Either way it really does not make sense. Perhaps they are clearing old stock to make way for a new Sovereign. But does that mean a new Sovereign is going to be more expensive? It is all very strange.

Take Care
HH
Jason

 

[Tony in FL]

I agree that a price increase makes no sense (unless they are adding accessories). Particularly when you cosider all the extra's one typicaly purchases with a GT that come as standard, are not needed, or are much cheaper with some of the other expensive models i.e. digial meter, alkaline battery pack, envirmoment cover (much more expensive than the one for E-trac/Explorer), and toggle switch boot covers.

Once you add in all the extras you are paying quite a bit for a GT. For that price I think it is a no brainier - go with the Excal and never worry about getting it wet (at least if you are a beach/water hunter). Then buy a Safari/Explorer/E-trac as a land detector. Both can be leveraged in the wet and dry sand. Now you have the best of both worlds.

 

[erikk]

My thoughts on the Sovereign i have one.............. That they could make that big ugly box a little smaller................. And i think that the Garrett AT Pro put a little dent in Minelab's sales this winter..........

Doubt it as most people who have been seriously hunting know the real deal and that the AT Pro is just a tricked out Ace 2-350

 

[erikk]

I'm putting together a watterproof SE ....different design , but smilar idea as what GraveDiggerMax uses ......It's much easier to waterproof a machine that does not have pots if you want to change parameters on the fly ... Pot's also have a perpensity to get nudged or fudged ....It's great if you are a " Set it , and forget it " kind of guy ....You can load a Sovereign into just about any waterproof box, bag , or anything else to keep the water out .... As far as cost of the machines go , just looking at the work involved , and the materieal used , and the cost of materials and actual labor involved ..... Which machine do you think costs more to build ? ..... An SE or a Soveriegn ? ..... As you have mentioned many times Critter, how much more are these additional features in the manufacturing stage ? ......How much more can be charged in the retail end ? ....... If you raise the price of a Soveriegn , how close is that price to the price of a new SE with the Pro Coil ? ..... What would the average person looking at the features and the price do ? ..... I would be tempted to go back to the Sovereign if all I was going to do was water hunt with it, but since I am building a water/ land machine , and did not want to spend E Trac money to cut up an E Trac , I bought an SE as others have had good luck with it ..... I STILL have my Excal , so I haven't completely left the Excal / Sovereign family ..... I have had better luck with the E Trac , but to be honest to Critter and others , there is NOTHING like the sound of a Sovereign/ Excal ...... There is a LOT less of a chance of Iron becoming much of an issus in the salt so I still keep my Excal .....

Erikk,
Yes, the Excal is set up to go down to 250 ft , but once the product is engineered , how much more does it cost to produce an Excal than it does a Soveriegn ? ..... I STILL think it boils down to how much someone is willing to pay for the extra features , and how many more features can you put into a digital machine that costs the same or less to build, and charge more $$$ for it .... Again, this is my spin on it ..... Minelab is a business and they are surely making a bold business decision here ....A BOLD statement !!!! ....They are not upping the price by $50 .....They are SLAMMING the price pretty hard !!.....Jim

Engineered is one thing, testing every unit to 200 feet is another and no one is forcing a person buy EITHER detector. I do not own a Sov and don't plan to buy one but I do own 3 Excals and a Explorer 2 among many other makes which fit my style of hunting. If the price of excals went up another $500 and I needed one I would buy one in a heartbeat. Yes, Minelab is making a BOLD statement-they are saying we make a dammed good detector and if you want one you will pay the price we are asking as we are in the business to MAKE MONEY

 

[arod777]

ML knows it will take 5 Obama dollars to print 1 Washington dollar in 2011.

 

[erikk]

ML knows it will take 5 Obama dollars to print 1 Washington dollar in 2011.

That is if we R lucky but we can use the detectors to find gold and silver which will offset that for the people who hang on to it until the powers to be regain some sanity

 

[synthnut]

Engineered is one thing, testing every unit to 200 feet is another and no one is forcing a person buy EITHER detector. I do not own a Sov and don't plan to buy one but I do own 3 Excals and a Explorer 2 among many other makes which fit my style of hunting. If the price of excals went up another $500 and I needed one I would buy one in a heartbeat. Yes, Minelab is making a BOLD statement-they are saying we make a dammed good detector and if you want one you will pay the price we are asking as we are in the business to MAKE MONEY


I guess that Minelab is counting on people just like you !!.......They are starting wth the Sovereign ..... Hold tightly to your Excals !!.......I hope for everybody's sake that they are not going to continue this trend with the other models ! ...... Jim

 

[erikk]

Engineered is one thing, testing every unit to 200 feet is another and no one is forcing a person buy EITHER detector. I do not own a Sov and don't plan to buy one but I do own 3 Excals and a Explorer 2 among many other makes which fit my style of hunting. If the price of excals went up another $500 and I needed one I would buy one in a heartbeat. Yes, Minelab is making a BOLD statement-they are saying we make a dammed good detector and if you want one you will pay the price we are asking as we are in the business to MAKE MONEY


I guess that Minelab is counting on people just like you !!.......They are starting wth the Sovereign ..... Hold tightly to your Excals !!.......I hope for everybody's sake that they are not going to continue this trend with the other models ! ...... Jim

They are counting on people who know a good thing and are willing to pay a fair price. Let me see....about 4 average 14K bands & excal paid for and since I do MANY more than that a year I feel is is more than a fair trade-$1300.00 4 an Excal is a no brainer