Troy Shadow X5 revisited

I'm still waiting on my NEL coil for it so no info on the whole reason I bought the X5 in the first place. I wanted to see what it could do with a larger DD coil.

The X5 I bought is one of the first 300 models. A brief history lesson here...the first 300 were extremely erratic and noisy in iron. Troy sort of "recalled" the models that were already out in user hands and modified them to help with the iron noise. The models after 300 serial number all left the factory with the mod. If the mod is done, there will be a sticker in the battery compartment with an H on it. Mine has had the mod. At around serial number 700, Troy stopped putting the external GB control on the machines due to a discovery that if it wasn't set perfect, a user could see quite a loss in performance. So there ya go. Mine was bought used from a listing here and came with stock 9 inch concentric coil and 5x10 DD coil. The 5x10 has cable shielding cracks on it...but that was common with the earlier release 5x10s.

My particular unit wont let me set the sensitivity past a setting of 8 without going bonkers. It goes to 10 but 8 is plenty of power on this machine.

Base line info...with disc set to reject a nail, it air tests phenomenal for a machine with a 9 inch coil.

.58 minie ball = 15 inches
Nickel = 16 inches
Dime = 14.5 inches

In ground, it also passes my test garden with flying colors. It is making me rethink buying the 12x13 Tornado coil for it as probably over kill. Probably should have gotten a 8x11 DD first, and then added a small coil later. If I decide to keep the unit I will do just that.

Hunting in my yard...well not too happy with it there but that is to be expected. These machines are very finicky with ground balance control and I'm also out of practice using a single tone machine. Everything sounds the same to me on it right now. My yard is also iron hell...having multiple structures spanning the mid 1800s to 1980s and then all being torn down and spread with a dozer. The X5 is NOT a good machine in iron. It was built for depth and not for unmasking. VERY reminiscent of the Blisstool detector. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if there is Shadow X5 DNA inside the Blisstools.

Will update when I get the larger DD coil.

I always had issues with the X5 I had with the Ground Balance it was a pain in the butt to get it set just right.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2018 10:09AM by 88junior.

88 - I wholeheartedly agree! That's part of the reason I feel people went in favor of the Tejon and Vaquero. They were much easier to get set correctly, at half the price of what the X5s were selling for. They lacked the umph of a X5 when it was set correctly though.

A Deeptech Warrior is on my radar to try as well, to see where it falls in the mix.

Interesting post Daniel---I was aware of most of what you said as to the progression of the X-5 except for the fact that I didn't know Troy eliminated the external g.b. after certain S/N's.-----My wife & each purchased a couple of Troys detectors new back in the day (me the X-5 & her the X-3).-----I can't remember the S/N on my X-5 but it had the external g.b.-----It was a nice detector but as Morgan said--hard to g.b.----What I didn't like about it was it falsed excessively when the coil was bumped on anything--didn't seem like whatever I did would help that situation.---The first thing my wife did with her X-3 (with pre-set g.b.) was find a gold ring.---I talked to Troy quite a bit back then & told him of her (right away) ring find.----I remember he appeared to be about as happy about it as we were.----A really nice guy & a perfectionist in the true sense of the word (IMO).---------Del

Daniel and gang, this is a good recollection of the history of the X5. It was getting a LOT of hype and fanfair (after the success and fans of the x2, etc...). A local buddy of mine here got one of those early x5's. He and I took it out to "pit against each other" on flagged targets. I found the machine to be too squirrelly , too many one-way chirps, etc....

I posted my negative review on some forums, and GOT MY HEAD RIPPED OFF . By guys who claimed I didn't know what I was talking about. Didn't use it long enough to comment, blah blah blah. But within a few weeks, the news broke : "Recall". Say it isn't so !! haha

I bought a brand new Troy X5 here in the UK about 12 years ago with both the stock coil and the elliptical one,it was a very expensive machine back then nearly £1000 sterling,had it for about 18 months and spent 100s of hours trying to mater it,but it loved iron and on alot of my sites that is not a enjoyable machine too use.Had been on the phone to Troy Galloway a few times at great expense on phone calls,even checking that it was the models that had either been modified or one of the decent problem rectified ones,which it was.

But as it was the worst machine that i have owned and also the only one i have sold as well,someone was asking had anyone for sale,i got in contact with the guy and we made a deal on the X5,this is the good thing about it,these had been reasonably rare detectors for the UK,so i got paid and lost £20 sterling after 18 months,which was amazing as most detectors either then or since take a massive loss after a 18 month time period.So very pleased with the financial outcome from the say,but with it became the tag of being the worst and only machine that i have owned and sold on.

These days i also have a Trident11 Extreme which is a Vaquero that has been hotted up and running at 18khz,it is far superior than the X5 and cost me brand new and cost me a third of the price of the Troy,as the Extreme was bought by someone who never used it and i bought it for a rock bottom price.

One of the best deep silver units I ever ran..

Troy was a genius on making the 19khz have the ability to hit the high silver so well..


I always just ground balanced in Disc mode ...If you ground balance in all metal then flip to disc there's an offset...Ground balance to disc and then set your discrimination to cancel a nail after ground balanced...The discrimination points likes to move as you change ground balance.

You can make a X5 run buttery smooth or on the jagged edge of insanity..


I always thought the X5 was deeper on all conductors Vs the Tejon But the Tejon had better nail disc resolution and that translated to better unmasking in thick nails for the lower conductors..Not that the X5 was bad at unmasking but you had to dig more cut nails to get a non ferrous target that Vs the Tejon ratio..


Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

I had one for a short time. I did find a 10" Indian head penny with it but like said above the GB was tricky. In pre-set GB lost its edge in depth. Always thought Maybe something was wrong with mine? I will admit not a Big fan of 10 turn GB detectors to begin with. I know they are more precise but to Me a pain.
I was wondering didn't Dave Johnson help design this Detector?

Yes, Mr Johnson played a big part in engineering while Troy insisted only the highest quality components went into it.

I can't remember the exact year the X5 hit the market. I know I bought my first one just after I graduated high school, which would be around 2001. The one I first bought was used, so it had been on the market a little while prior to me getting one.

Even still, that means the one I have now is probably close to 18 years old and despite a little wear from use, still runs like the day it rolled off the line.

Keith -- I had forgotten about balancing in disc mode. It has been so long since I have used a manual GB machine, a lot of that stuff has slipped my mind. I will give that a go the next time I'm out.

Tom - I never recalled the X5 having too big of a following. Most of the talk about it was on Troy's own forum, in which there were a handful of guys and gals that posted over there a lot. There was a cult like following for it. There was a nasty detector war about it between the Tejon guys and the X5 guys. It wasn't so much about the detectors as it was a war between the people behind them. There was a lot of business that was better off to have been left behind the scenes and out of the public eye that got drug onto the forums...people that felt they had been wronged on both sides, quickly took to forums to lash out. The rest of the people just got caught up in the whirlwind.

There was far fetched hype on both sides of the Tejon vs X5 wars. I ended up with both and testing them against one another. And have, over the years, had multiple units to revisit and test again. I had lay the thing to rest until I discovered NEL making coils for the X5 and had to give that a try which is what I am doing now, or will be doing when it gets here.

The current modified X5 still is squirrelly in iron. Lots of one way hits. I can put a coin on my porch/deck between the nail heads and it is non existent to the X5 with it set to reject a nail. But it never was claimed to be good at separating. Just crazy depth. I still can't believe a 9 inch coil can test like that.

I did this revisit with the Tejon a couple years ago. The newer black models look sharp. I had to try one with the newer DD coil and some other coils to see how it handled compared to the others I have had. I wasn't impressed even though I was optimistic about it.

"My introduction to Troy Shadow X5 was at an event in Germany many years ago.
I used it in 'time trial' competitions and thought it the best detector to handle I had ever come across.
In Europe they run a lot of organised seeded token hunts v the clock. X5 was tops at this.

Later, the hunting went natural and again the X5 was far superior to the existing offerings.

I took one back to trial it on my sites and I swear it was THE best unit to run at the busy summer beaches that year!
I used high DISC and ran the length of beach digging all the Euros and then reduced the Disc and came back in the other way and found all the low cond stuff missed!

I used it in Woodland and loved it.

To this day I still don't think I have held such a perfect ergonomic do everything detector chassis as in the Shadow X5

Note: if the X5 was reintroduced with Variable Tone and a screen display 0-90 I'd have one in a heartbeat!"

Another review of detector here.
[www.detectorprospector.com]

A video
[m.youtube.com]

Field test
[www.treasurehunting.co.uk]

Some blast from the past.
[www.dankowskidetectors.com]
[www.dankowskidetectors.com]
[www.dankowskidetectors.com]
[www.dankowskidetectors.com]
[www.dankowskidetectors.com]



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 03:00AM by tnsharpshooter.

Hey TNS - thanks for listing of these gems - it’s all great stuff and each link leads to really good Troy info. Here are some thoughts after checking each of them out - again, all well chosen “nuggets”.

[www.detectorprospector.com] This is a review Steve Herschbach wrote back in 2002 and posted to his DetectorProspector forum in March this year - mostly focusing on it as a nugget hunter

[m.youtube.com] - Not just any video but one by our own Keith Southern. Besides that, the first comment says that Keith Wills in TX (the only guy who fixes orphan detectors) says that the X5 is still the best relic detector!

[www.treasurehunting.co.uk] - //this British Test Report isn’t just any review - but one by the legendary John Castle - the guy writes very well and has a standard test routine he used on all detectors he tested - I’d love to know what he is up to now!

[www.dankowskidetectors.com] - A thread about the X5 generally including a really good summary by Keith S.

[www.dankowskidetectors.com] - This thread was started by Keith southern and talks about how this 19kNz detector is also hot in deep silver - other high points include that Fisher still (in 2011) repairs them and an interesting post by Tom about the development of the X%

[www.dankowskidetectors.com] - A schematic of theX5 is posted and discussed

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,32988,33015#msg-33015 - Some back-and-forth about the X5 vs. more recent relic machines

[www.dankowskidetectors.com] - Harold,IL started this one about X5 depth and folks comment on the rich audio even though it isn’t multitone - Tom D posted this - When the chief design engineer is an avid hunter himself............. it heavily reflects upon the design platform (and intent) of the unit.
When folks complain that the unit does not have a meter............does not have tone ID........... does not have this//does not have that................. there may be a reason!

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 12:10PM by lytle78.

So in todays world how does the X-5 stack up to some modern beep and digs?
Would it be better for some one to buy a current DeepTech unit or buy a vintage X-5?
Thinking back to 2006, bought a X-5 while living in Georgia, since I saw all these other relich hunters using and loving them.
Sold the X-5 after two or three weeks, it just wasn't working for me. Doubt now that I was tuning it correctly. Had I known about ground balancing in disc mode and about the disc iron resolution and fine adjustment,
I may have had a different attitude towards it, and kept it. Had I known and met up with Keith Southern at the time, that could have changed my perspective as well. Think about 6 months afterwards, met Keith and sold him a Minelab Sterling or I bought one from him. Should have taken him up on a Civil war hunting trip......................

The X-5 looks pretty cool, always liked the looks, just not sure I would ever buy one again. I would lean towards a DeepTech, just don't like the big control box.

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

Rick--great synopsis on the links!!

Since you are now retired and on a loooooong vacation you have the time to continue this valuable service to the forum. Looking forward to your Next installment.

Thanks –I like synopsis better than Cliff’s Notes

On the other hand summing it up it’s probably easier than finding in the first place props to TNS for that

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Sven -- That's one of the reasons why I like to revisit older model machines from time to time, just to see how they stack up. Often times my memory of a machine, over time, can cause me to remember it being a good bit better than what it actually was. In the case of the X5, for me now, it is more of me just wanting to see how the newer coils make it react. You never know when you can attach a certain coil to a machine, and the magic happen.

A good example of the above is the Whites MXT. I had one when they first came out but really didn't like it all that much. The stock coil on it was the 950 concentric coil. I just couldn't get any depth out of the thing in the ground. Some suggested going to the 5.3 Eclipse coil for it, and I did give that a try but for depth, that really didn't do anything for me either. I sold it and moved on down the line a few years. It was then that a friend of my uncle had an MXT and was wearing the relics out with it. He had an odd shaped coil on it that I had never seen...turned out to be a 10x12 SEF DD coil. He was getting better signals that I was with the machine I had at the time. So I had to give that combo a try. Sure enough...just like magic, the 10x12 turned that machine into one deep son of a gun. In fact, to this date, there are 3 coils I deep necessary for the MXT....they are the 6x8 SEF, the 10x12, and the 13 Ultimate.

So back to the X5...it's kinda like the CZ platform is to me now. I always wanted a DD coil for the CZ platform, or a variant of that technology that is DD coil capable. Troy gave everybody a little snippet of what the X5 could do with a DD coil and that was the 5x10. But that's where things left off.

Now, why NEL would want to reboot a coil line up for a machine that has not been in production for over a decade is beyond me. But I wanted to give one a try ever since I discovered they had started making them.

I think they made the NEL coils for the X5..as they are basically the same coils that fit the say gold bug or f19..more or less.just a different connector..or so I've been told.

I've heard the biaxial works well on a X5 with connector swap..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Tornado coil came today after being stuck a week in customs. Plugged into the machine and nada. Completely dead. Works fine with the other coils I have. So much for that.

Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tornado coil came today after being stuck a week i
> n customs. Plugged into the machine and nada. Co
> mpletely dead. Works fine with the other coils I h
> ave. So much for that.

Well that sucks Daniel to wait that long then it be D.O.A. I was looking forward to your report so it sucks for the forum members to. Sorry Bud

Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm still waiting on my NEL coil for it so no info
> on the whole reason I bought the X5 in the first p
> lace. I wanted to see what it could do with a larg
> er DD coil.
>
> The X5 I bought is one of the first 300 models. A
> brief history lesson here...the first 300 were ext
> remely erratic and noisy in iron. Troy sort of "r
> ecalled" the models that were already out in user
> hands and modified them to help with the iron nois
> e. The models after 300 serial number all left the
> factory with the mod. If the mod is done, there w
> ill be a sticker in the battery compartment with a
> n H on it. Mine has had the mod. At around seria
> l number 700, Troy stopped putting the external GB
> control on the machines due to a discovery that if
> it wasn't set perfect, a user could see quite a lo
> ss in performance. So there ya go. Mine was bough
> t used from a listing here and came with stock 9 i
> nch concentric coil and 5x10 DD coil. The 5x10 has
> cable shielding cracks on it...but that was common
> with the earlier release 5x10s.
>
> My particular unit wont let me set the sensitivity
> past a setting of 8 without going bonkers. It goe
> s to 10 but 8 is plenty of power on this machine.
>
> Base line info...with disc set to reject a nail, i
> t air tests phenomenal for a machine with a 9 inch
> coil.
>
> .58 minie ball = 15 inches
> Nickel = 16 inches
> Dime = 14.5 inches
>
> In ground, it also passes my test garden with flyi
> ng colors. It is making me rethink buying the 12x
> 13 Tornado coil for it as probably over kill. Prob
> ably should have gotten a 8x11 DD first, and then
> added a small coil later. If I decide to keep the
> unit I will do just that.
>
> Hunting in my yard...well not too happy with it th
> ere but that is to be expected. These machines ar
> e very finicky with ground balance control and I'm
> also out of practice using a single tone machine.
> Everything sounds the same to me on it right now.
> My yard is also iron hell...having multiple struct
> ures spanning the mid 1800s to 1980s and then all
> being torn down and spread with a dozer. The X5
> is NOT a good machine in iron. It was built for de
> pth and not for unmasking. VERY reminiscent of th
> e Blisstool detector. Actually I wouldn't be surp
> rised if there is Shadow X5 DNA inside the Blissto
> ols.
>
> Will update when I get the larger DD coil.

Everything did sound the same to me to. That's the reason I stopped using it. Nice report.

I had a few of them and I loved the machine. I remember one day when I was relic hunting a very hunted out Grant camp site I got a great zinc penny signal. Minnieballs came in t zinc penny on the X5. The guy who was hunting with us was a White's dealer and was a well known DFX expert, which is what he was using. The ground was rock hard. He went over my target every direction he could and adjusted his discrimination and all he could figure was that my perfect signal was a large nail. So I chiseled the ground ad the first thing that appeared was a nail. The White's guy was smirking as it validated his machine saying it was a nail. So I passed the coil over the hole and I still got a great zinc penny signal. Dug a bit more and it turned out to be a .58 minnie.

Previous to that hunt during a coin hunt in Orlando, I was detecting an obvious spot for coins so it was hard hit. I got a nice coin signal and after removing 5 small nails from the hole, I retrieved a silver dime. I very frequently dug good items under iron.

So yes, I thought it was a great machine in iron. It was great at unmasking. It's a question of learning it.


If anyone need help with a X5 feel free to message me. I love to talk about it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2018 06:46AM by Detectorist.

Daniel,

What's the Troy situation with you now?

I called in a favor and one of my good friends reminded me of what I said about the "Troy Shadow X5" back in 2003.
Here are my early comments about it below:

"But, in the "turn on and go", segment, it is clearly streets ahead - only for its price - much too expensive @ UK£950.00.
It has its limitations. But, its discrimination scale is fantastic. Briefly tried it on a very irony contaminated site & a beach.
On the beach it has to be set up exactly - threshold has to be set carefully otherwise it over reacts from the salt. Depth was about 40% less on average than Explorer - but this was a fast look - raining .

LIKE

Weight
Very fast to use/zippy response
One battery
Weatherproof;
Fantastic discrimination; it gets the gold while losing foil ; it gets the Euro copper coins.
Target Check switch: very novel idea (seen previously on first Troy Tesoro some years back) Instantly switches to one of 2 pre-set disc levels so you can check without turning rotary knob.
Plug for headphone socket to prevent dirt, moisture going in (mounted underneath)

DISLIKE

Very bad iron disc; ID's too many pieces both large & small as positive
Pin pointing could be sharper - have to keep pressing VCO
False signals from my footwear
So light it actually falls over on slight inclines and rolls away.
Loves foil at its pre set disc mark.
Optimum operation is acheived with manual ground balancing - this is sometimes a long procedure.
Performance suffers if not GB'd properly.
Cannot GB over salt wet sand - have to work in Fixed + Beach Disc setting.
Headphone cable inclined to flop about all over the place and gets entangled in the housing. The socket is underneath the face plate at top left side.

The aspect of a true 0 = Zero discrimination setting is vital for getting small, thin items. Troy has this ability and at a 19Khz frequency would have natural abilities at finding very low conductive items. The other positive thing in its favour is, it has addressed some of the issues associated with the likes & dislikes of detectorists, such as weatherproof ability, weight, battery/power (cheap to run) requirements, and able to find small - low conductive items"

Des - I just now saw your post. I didnt mean to "high hat" you.

I sent the NEL coil back for a refund. I actually ended up selling the X5 to help buy back a Multi Kruzer I had sold to a hunting buddy.

No worries Daniel...

What really surprised me when I re-read my 'Notes' from 2004 was and I Quote from someone at the time and I can't remember who said it (possibly a dealer?)

"Now, they are being dumped wholesale from owners who have got plain fed up with the Troy's love affair with iron.
The X3 is also being ' dumped ' by the dealer's! "Can't give 'em away for love nor money!" Andy Sabish says: "Don't know how long more Troy will be around?"

Wow...I had forgotten all of this?

I almost bought one once.
Glad i didn’t now.

They still have a cult following. I think there was some bad ones in the first run.