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The Big question? Quattro or Exp 2

B

Black Davy

New member
I have been searching for the next detector. It was going to be a Garrett Infinium LS because I do go to Alaska and other states that have gold, but not enough to really warrent the high power P.I. I do hit the beach's more frequent. Since I already have a water detecor and have used my brothers Ecal, I am looking for a great beach detector. The Quattro is said to be more user friendly but the same power as the Exp 2 just not all the bells and wistles.

So the BIG question is for those of you who have them, have you compared them performance and user friendliness againt the Exp 2 and for the extra change in my pocket what is your opinion about these two models.

Your reply will be greatly appreciated.
 
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DAVY...My only reply is if money is a problem you can get a used Explorer 1 or 2 with 2 to 3 extra coils and other costly accessories for the price of a new Quattro from Kelly-co. Check out E-bay and follow the sales of detectors and you must only bid once by using SNIPER for auto bidding. Go to sniper.com to see and learn what I am talking about to win for the least amount possible on E-bay. If you don't find someone who buys on e-bay. You'll be disappointed down the road and wish you spent a little more for those bells and whistles. Good Luck...Visit the Explorer Forum and ask some of the best who have been around for 5 to 20 years what they think.
DiggerBeginner, John... Mich
 
Digger

I am planning on spending the cash to get what I want and already missed out on a good deal listed in the classifieds today on a Exp 2, but hey some more will be around and if not I am prepared the spend the cash for a new unit. The cash is not the problem it is only the issue of what unit to purchase. You have to really consider how many times you will use a unit for a certain area. I travel alot to Nevada, Arizona, Florida and head to Alaska for gold. The Garrett Infinium is the best all around choice for the gold aspect but the amount of times per year or years for that oppertunity and the lack of target identification have made me change my mind to look at the Minelab models. There is never a issue of the learning curve on a machine that will make me stay away from it. Thanks for your feed back.
 
The Quattro and the Explorer are FBS detectors that uses the 28 freq, but yet the Quattro is not made to replace the Explorer or go into competition with it. The Quattro is more user friendly and has less adjustments to do and I feel it has some updated software we may see in the next generation of The Explorer. Minelab is always trying to make a detector better, we all know the Quattro came out long after the Explorer so if there was a newer software or a change the Quattro will have it. We have seen that the Quattro will lock on better to deeper target as the recovery speed is slower which can give a slight problem too for some. With this I found that if it seen a good target then a trash target the trash one will sound the same as the good one, unless the threshold is allowed to return first. This does help locking into the deeper target. My biggest complaint was the tones were not adjustable like the Explorer and many of us that are older can not hear the very high tones of silver with the Quattro, but with the Explorer we can adjust the tone to our hearing we have.
There is several other adjustments the Explorer has than the Quattro, but the Quattro does real well and for the money is the better buy.
Either one you have to remember you have to spend the time to understand it to be good with it.

Rick
 
The Quattro and the Explorer can be compared to a car,one is the standard model(Quattro),the other is is the same car WITH THE SAME ENGINE but with a few extras like leather seats and electric windows and air con lol,but remember they both have the same engine so will perform the same!
 
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James, Some People Like BMW's...Try riding to Michigan to California in a NEON!! The Explorer and Quattro will not perform the same!! The expensive to produce items are things you can't do without...when you get better in 2 to 3 years. The larger processor in the Explorer enables you to detect at a faster walking speed and I'm sure more power for depth. It's a machine made to be passed down from beginner to beginner to young beginners or the wife who goes with her husband only to pacify him or the friend of yours who you want to take hunting and can because you have the Quattro in the closet for a spare. Go to the Explorer site and ask more of the old timers there advice. My opinion is that they should have never came out with this rip off of a machine..sacrificing very important functions for a little cash profit to entice innocent buyers thinking the Explorer went over board in design........Try to detect in the twilight or dark when you have no light on your screen.....a number of times in the summer I hunt til 9,10,11pm, have hunted til 4am! There are 4-5 functions more that Mine Lab may put soon in there Explorer3....your question JAMES you could say is "Why are they putting more in when they should be taking stuff out". DB...MI
 
out there and if they go beep when you pass over a piece of metal then that's about the size of it. Where are you located Mr. Explorer? I have someone who I believe will walk circles around you and that Explorer with her CZ5.If your anywhere around central Florida, look me up or drop me a line, I would love to see it.

I don't know anything about the Explorer, but if it's like the Quattro then it's got it's own set of problems as well as benefits. Some folk can't afford or justify spending over $1000.00 on a detector to hunt for pocket change, hobby or not. I see people all the time pushing their favorite brand or machine, but you definately take the cake.
 
Check out this review by Gary in the UK,this guy has used every detector you can name,he is spot on with this review,let me quote you my favourite bit...

"Is the Quattro a simpler version of the Explorer ?
No I think it is a completely different machine altogether, in fact I like the Quattro package better I felt more in control with this machine, the performance was no less than the Explorer, agreed less features but it's a metal detector not a play station game."

So very very true!

When you said the you are sure the Explorer had "MORE POWER" than the Quattro that's where you lost the agrument,how could it have more power?,all the parts and power supply are the same,like I said it's the same ENGINE in both detectors,

p.s I detect 80% at night and all you need is a good headtorch,not to see the meter as I know the tones by now,just for the final recovery.
 
mainly hunt by tone. Use a CZ5 or 3d all the time at the beach which don't have a back light.But no, I don't believe for a second that the Explorer has more raw power then the Quattro. But then, I'm no expert like DiggerBEGINNER is!
 
Mike I appreciate your reply. I by far am no expert but have been detecting since 1974 with big gaps in between and have had marketing jobs and have talked to Mine Lab reps and watched other forums. This is my opinion and I think Mine Lab is taking advantage for money. This has nothing personal to do with you unless you are related to or work for Minelab.Some people there agree but the higher ups make the decisions in Australia, Europe and East Coast USA. If you have a Quattro I'm sure it is a fine machine, no doubt!
Nice to meet you Mike. No hard fellings ok? John
 
matter of fact, I'm more a Fisher guy myself, but had an itch to scratch with Minelab and had never tried one and had the opportunity to trade a Fisher for a Minelab Quattro. Now, I'm not sayin that the Quattro is as good as the Explorer, I wouldn't know since I've never used a Explorer and have only used the Minelab for a few hours. It seems to be a capable machine, great depth, good target seperation, but does have a slight lag time from target to target, which requires a slower swing speed. But the main problem I'm having with the Quattro is the pinpointing with the DD coil.

The jury is still out on whether I like it or not or whether I will keep it or not.
 
Mike, i always wanted to make a cardboard test garden but never did. I was told to take a refridgerator box and cut it open and glue various items all over it and draw the picture of that item directly over it on the other side. Pin pointing can be accurate enough on the ten inch stk and under (not nearly as good as White's but ok as long as you have an X1 probe). It's the 15 inch WOT that really gives me nightmares. For good pin pointing Ideas try www.detectorgear.com great stuff in there for Mine Labs machines. The Explorer is a great machine and it just seemed they slipped backwards comming out with an inferior machine to the Explorer. Again in my opinion they schould even charge less for it than they do. Since ther are no upgrades to bring these machines up to parr as you grow. Make sure you Noise cancel the machine and use the X method to pinpoint to start. It is more accurate and a stronger signal in the middle of the coil and will give a truer depth reading. Again nice to meet you Mike ..Take Care. If ever in Michigan look me up. If ever going to the Esat Coast to hunt 1715 stuff stop in to the McLarty 1715 Treas. Museum in Sebastion and talk to my good friend Ed Perry who is the Museum Curator and a State forest Ranger. He might show you the best areas after work..4pm that have been producing, he uses a Mine Lab Ex-calliber1000. I also have two Ex-calliber1000's. HH John
 
I'm sorry, what I meant by more power is that it need's more power and a larger processer that is different than the Quattro and less expensive to supply in the Explorer. They admit at MineLab these are different and I take for granted that the extra capacity it is capable of using for the Items they eliminated in the Quattro might give it an extra power boost. Why can't you then walk and detect as fast as an Explorer? Call Ralph at SunRay also He is very on top of these machines. Davy did not imply he only had enough to get a Quattro, he implied he wanted the best one and the Explorer is the best one. That's all. John
 
You are right this machine sucks on gold. There are other machines much better than an explorer for that. But I never got used to Audio 1,2 or3. Your supposed to be able to find nuggets and chains with those settings. Never need those response settings here. I would like to purchase just a gold machine and go back over all my sites that have been hunted out. No one I know out here has a gold machine and I wonder how many rings and gold coin could be found by using a gold detector in Michigan!! Good luck..Ebay last month had some fabulous deals on Explorer packages. John...DiggerBeginner..MI
 
Hello james1969,
I believe you hit the nail on the head when you brought out that interesting quote from Gary in the UK. As for detecting at night, I also do what you do, I use a torch to help me dig, but other than that, if anyone's apt enough to go by sounds alone, then the back light on the Explorer is just a little advantage for those who would have it easier. I go detecting at night with my husband who has the Explorer 2, but he still needs a torch to see where he's digging.
Cheers Angela:):minelab:QUATTRO
 
I can't resists putting in my two cents.... My son and I have been detecting for a couple years. Started with the basic Whites Classic III. Great machine but we hunt where lots of other men have gone before so I purchased a DFX. At first there was not a big improvement in finds but after 6 months and some custom tweaking the detector(or the user) started excelling. Unfourtunately this was my 16 year old son. I was stuck with the cheapo classic.... that was until just a couple months ago I purchased the Quattro. I was bidding on Explorers on ebay and Quattros. I got outbid on an explorer or two and a quattro but ending up with a winning bid of $600 for the Quattro. Might have been able to get an explorer for a little more but read good reviews on the Quattro. Now, after a couple months of use did I wish I would have gotten the Explorer II? Maybe. One thing though...my son is not finding better finds than I am anymore! I actually am one up on him in the silver dept. I find I can pinpoint just as accurately with the Quattro as with the DFX. As for being able to go as fast as with the DFX...I think it might be nice to be able to tweak the settings of the quattro to be able to cover ground more quickly but the bottom line is any detector you just have to learn how to use it. I think the Quattro will serve me well and don't regret purchasing it. If I had the extra cash it would have liked to get the Explorer II. Maybe when the kids are out of college.....
 
Guys,

Thanks for all the replies. I may or may not choose either one of the machines as I am still undecided as to what my next machine will be.
 
Whew!!!! This is on of the hottest debates I've ever read on this forum. Diggerbigenner, you and I need to go to war a little here (in a friendly way). Before I even challenge digger, I just want to remind us all again: What a great thing this forum is gang. Just think about it. Where else can WE DETECTORISTS talk to each other about someting very important to us as treasure hunters. This really is a wondorful opportunity to not only express our opinions about detectors and stuff but also read what others are saying on the same subject. Where else but maybe a metal detector store can you even come close to finding and sharing info on this subject?
All right Digger!!!! In your post where you say "it's a maching that can be passed down from beginner to beginner" I'd like to hear you tell that to "Mike" from Virginia beach, and probably a few other guys who have owned both machines. I really think your "cutting down" the Quatro a little too much on this one. The reason I'm saying that is I know Mike owned a Quatro, and now has an Explorer II, and I don't think he'd agree with you on that. Mike, if I'm wrong, please step in here, but what I believe I've read from numerous posts from Mike is that the Quatro is a great beach machine, has tremendous depth and in some cases even goes deeper than the Explorer on the beach. I will testify that it goes extremely deep and accurate, because I own a Quatro, and I've never had a quieter, more accurate, depth oriented machine in my life, and you can't beat multi frequencies for keeping down the static on ground mineralization at the beach, I don't believe, unless maybe a pulse induction unit, but even there I think the Quatro is hard to beat. One more thing, Digger, about the Quatro not finding gold. Check back on some of Mike's posts when he owned the Quatro, and see if this thing can't find gold. (continue to next post)
 
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