How many Equinox users out there are wondering why the CTX price is so much more.

The CTX does have more features, but it seems that the Equinox competes very well in the area that matters most to users. So how many thought we would see the CTX price fall by now?

I’m not wondering.

CTX does have carbon fiber materials.
Bigger battery.
More raw materials overall.
Bigger and heavier.

I won’t ever own another one. Had 2.

An Etrac that weighs like Nox, even if it only had a 6 hours battery use supply and priced just a tad higher than Nox= whoopee coin detector. Maybe Minelab could use a screen on one a lot like Nox but have the 2numbers ferrous and nonferrous shown with one on top of the other or even have the detector where the ferrous number can be masked if a user wanted. I can think of lots of ways they could,go to Alamo’s a user tomsetup and view the needed data.

Might as welll pony up Goody and get you a Nox.
With small coil attached it feels like a toothpick compared to Etrac and CTX. Deus like wearing elliptical Hf coil. No getting tired using. Refreshing actually.

They could lose the GPS on the CTX I never used it at all lol.
That adds to the cost right there I think it was $300.00 more for that.
But it would still need to be lighter to attract users back to it and maybe a bigger screen.

My guess is that its going to stay that same price and be discontinued in the next year or two with an upgraded Equinox that they will say is Multifrequency 2. It won't cost $2500 either. It will be more like $1200 with maybe a $1500 big brother. It will be nearly the same as the current nox with just more features like gps, removeable battery, etc.

The only advantage that the CTX has right now, for me, are that you can buy good waterproof headphones and it has a 17'' coil. Otherwise I never needed all of the customization as a beach hunter. I am more of a beep and dig person. I just need iron disc'd out and I am good.

_________________________________

Nox600, CTX, CZ21, Excal II and White's DF with 920i stealthscoop...I live and hunt at the beach in Wilm NC

FBS2, Smartfind2, Target trace provide unmatched visual target information.
FE-CO (Ferrous-Conductive) target ID which IMO. provide MUCH better target ID than two number conductive only systems.
EASILY removed/replaced LI-Ion battery.
Onboard GPS which allows the ability to trace your movement, plus record location/type of find. (It's the thing I thought I would use least also, but I have found when searching areas for old homesteads etc. where no building exists, it is very useful in tracking down their location through recording finds. I find it VERY useful on occasion).
A ton of adjustable audio, and search options. Plus waterproof.

It's not hard to see the price differential between the CTX and some other machines.
Whether or not it is justified in the minds of potential buyers at about $1200 more than the Nox is another matter. As long as CTX sales continue at levels which Minelab/Codan feel are profitable, prices probably won't change dramatically? Codan is a large corporation and bottom line profits guide their decisions in the boardroom.

The Nox while not the knockout punch that many expected (IMO), is still a VERY good all around, all domain detector at a competative price. That will certainly effect prices of future models. Once the Genie is out of the bottle, it ain't easy to stuff it back in!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2018 03:02PM by EMField.

EMField Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FBS2, Smartfind2, Target trace provide unmatched v
> isual target information.
> FE-CO (Ferrous-Conductive) target ID which IMO. pr
> ovide MUCH better target ID than two number conduc
> tive only systems.
> EASILY removed/replaced LI-Ion battery.
> Onboard GPS which allows the ability to trace your
> movement, plus record location/type of find. (It'
> s the thing I thought I would use least also, but
> I have found when searching areas for old homestea
> ds etc. where no building exists, it is very usefu
> l in tracking down their location through recordi
> ng finds. I find it VERY useful on occasion).
> A ton of adjustable audio, and search options. Pl
> us waterproof.
>
> It's not hard to see the price differential betwee
> n the CTX and some other machines.
> Whether or not it is justified in the minds of pot
> ential buyers at about $1200 more than the Nox is
> another matter. As long as CTX sales continue at
> levels which Minelab/Codan feel are profitable, pr
> ices probably won't change dramatically? Codan is
> a large corporation and bottom line profits guide
> their decisions in the boardroom.
>
> The Nox while not the knockout punch that many exp
> ected (IMO), is still a VERY good all around, all
> domain detector at a competative price. That will
> certainly effect prices of future models. Once th
> e Genie is out of the bottle, it ain't easy to stu
> ff it back in!

Being the absolute ANTI “dig it all” guy,I concur with EMField...target ID is more important to ME than anything. Not everyone needs a Ferrari!

IDXMonster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> EMField Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > FBS2, Smartfind2, Target trace provide unmatched
> v
> > isual target information.
> > FE-CO (Ferrous-Conductive) target ID which IMO.
> pr
> > ovide MUCH better target ID than two number cond
> uc
> > tive only systems.
> > EASILY removed/replaced LI-Ion battery.
> > Onboard GPS which allows the ability to trace yo
> ur
> > movement, plus record location/type of find. (I
> t'
> > s the thing I thought I would use least also, bu
> t
> > I have found when searching areas for old homest
> ea
> > ds etc. where no building exists, it is very use
> fu
> > l in tracking down their location through recor
> di
> > ng finds. I find it VERY useful on occasion).
> > A ton of adjustable audio, and search options.
> Pl
> > us waterproof.
> >
> > It's not hard to see the price differential betw
> ee
> > n the CTX and some other machines.
> > Whether or not it is justified in the minds of p
> ot
> > ential buyers at about $1200 more than the Nox i
> s
> > another matter. As long as CTX sales continue a
> t
> > levels which Minelab/Codan feel are profitable,
> pr
> > ices probably won't change dramatically? Codan
> is
> > a large corporation and bottom line profits guid
> e
> > their decisions in the boardroom.
> >
> > The Nox while not the knockout punch that many e
> xp
> > ected (IMO), is still a VERY good all around, al
> l
> > domain detector at a competative price. That wi
> ll
> > certainly effect prices of future models. Once
> th
> > e Genie is out of the bottle, it ain't easy to s
> tu
> > ff it back in!
>
> Being the absolute ANTI “dig it all” guy,I concur
> with EMField...target ID is more important to ME t
> han anything. Not everyone needs a Ferrari!


How about a Corvette??----Sorry, I couldn't resist!-------Yeah, accurate target ID (as much as possible) is getting more & more important to me in my old age.----I only got so many "get 'em down & get 'em ups" in me on an outing anymore.

Regardless of the Nox........we all wondered about the crazy price when it came out. Most have found thou a dealer will sell you one in the $1850 range. Now..... are they worth that? Many of us were resistant to buying one....... price was the issue not what they would or wouldnt do. Now..... here we are with the NOx..... again price IMO is making a HUGE difference as does the warranty and i think they are proving to be well worth it over the CTX. BUT.....the Nox is a very raw machine and clearly would benefit from the SmartScreen.

There are some things I did like about the CTX. One of them being something that is rarely mentioned about it; the Xchange 2 program for setting up programs; tone bins, etc. It made is so easy to do whatever you needed to do, then upload it to the machine. I'm not a fan of scrolling thru menus and button pressing in order to do those kind of things. Also, the file sharing and downloading itself.

The GPS was useless to me; heck, with my phone and some of the apps out there, I can see where I am in real time on aerial imagery of the site.

The screen was also useless in sun light but perfect in low light or at night. On the beach or in a field with polarized sun glasses on...you couldn't see anything on the screen until you found some shade or made it with your hand.

With that said, I did like the target SIZING feature of the SmartScreen when I could see it. The Fe/Co numbers didn't matter to me, in my dirt you kiss all that data goodbye, as stuff can and will read all over. I feel sorry for those people that just chase after the 12 line targets and think they are cherry picking all the goodies out of a site.

On the saltwater beach though, it is probably my favorite machine for there. I've not had the Nox there yet but I feel that is one area the CTX shines in.

I don't have any dealer friends to ask anymore, but it would be interesting to know how the sales for new CTX machines are doing...if they are similar to previous years or if there has been a big drop, or even a big rise.

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Regardless of the Nox........we all wondered about
> the crazy price when it came out. Most have foun
> d thou a dealer will sell you one in the $1850 ran
> ge. Now..... are they worth that? Many of us w
> ere resistant to buying one....... price was the i
> ssue not what they would or wouldnt do. Now.....
> here we are with the NOx..... again price IMO is m
> aking a HUGE difference as does the warranty and i
> think they are proving to be well worth it over th
> e CTX. BUT.....the Nox is a very raw machine and
> clearly would benefit from the SmartScreen.

It's nice to see someone bring up the actual real world price of the CTX in a comparison.
In a couple of years when Equinox owners are looking at having no warranty behind a non serviceable detector the real value of it will be established.
An $1850 CTX will still have a resale value of $1400 or better after warranty because repairs , although expensive , are at least possible , not so on the Equinox unless you consider a $500 or $600 new control handle to be a reasonable cost for a failing "on button" or fading screen.

Another good question is, at what point, if not already, will the Nox prices be reduced with the usual dealer discounts?

Obviously anyone who just had to have one early on, and got on the "pre-order" list was paying full MSRP. Once the market saturates with them, the normal dealer discouts begin.

I got my CTX in 2013 about a yr after introduction, they were still a hot item, but pretty deep discounts could be had, around $2100. As DT said, they can now be had new in the $1850 range.

EMField Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another good question is, at what point, if not al
> ready, will the Nox prices be reduced with the usu
> al dealer discounts?
>
> Obviously anyone who just had to have one early on
> , and got on the "pre-order" list was paying full
> MSRP. Once the market saturates with them, the no
> rmal dealer discouts begin.
>
> I got my CTX in 2013 about a yr after introduction
> , they were still a hot item, but pretty deep disc
> ounts could be had, around $2100. As DT said, th
> ey can now be had new in the $1850 range.

I would imagine you already can get a discount if you call around. Especially on the 600 since its been in stock for 2-3 months already. I paid msrp for mine but also got it in early April. Was it worth $650? Already found two nice gold rings and bunch of silver in those few months. I bought my CTX 2016 model with 17'' coil and GG headphones for $2300 total. Sold it 2 yrs later for $1900 when I bought my Nox. As of now I've just got extra detecting money laying around because of that sale! Hoping it covers Fishers new machine. I will never pay that much for a machine again though. I would of been just as well with my Excal/CZ as I was with that CTX. It wasn't worth it for me. I can see why it would be for other hunters though but on the beach I just didn't need the features it had.

_________________________________

Nox600, CTX, CZ21, Excal II and White's DF with 920i stealthscoop...I live and hunt at the beach in Wilm NC



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2018 07:47PM by adamBomb.

EMField & Shoveler -- The pre-order prices depended on the dealer. Some did charge MAP for them but depending on who you went through, the Nox 800s could be found in the $700 range, and some of those even offered military discounts on top of that. My local hunting buddy received his Nox 800 a week after mine came and he paid $650 for his after whatever the military discount is, and the dealer pricing off from the MAP. His was a pre-order/wait on the list thing too. But I get what you are saying...a lot of people got bit by the "gotta have it right now" thing.

I think the Excal only has a 2 yr warranty and there for a while, there wasn't anybody available to repair them and the repair wait time was months in waiting. It was the same with the CTX...I bought one had brand new back in the fall of 2016 for $1850, and it was basically dead out of the box. It would power up as far as the Minelab logo and freeze. I had to send to to Minelab in Illinois and they didn't fix mine...the lady I spoke with told me to send mine in and they would look it over. Instead of repairing the bad one, they sent me a new one as soon as they had received the broken one. GPXs aren't cheap either and they cost so much to repair after warranty (IF they can even be repaired) that most people are dumping them before the warranty expires and then buying a new unit.

im really not sure what you are asking. If you asking why so much more money for the CTX vs the Nox, could be many reasons not even apparent to us.

If I had to choose only one, the Nox hands down. My CTXs' were really good, but their tech is dated, they are cumbersome(not heavy for me), and lacking when it comes to separation. However, the color screen and multi-target read as well as the depth in inches are what I really miss in the Nox.

Over the yrs, I've changed my thoughts on shelling out $$$ just to have the latest/greatest detector. I could afford most any, but it's not about the money. I look for a machine that I feel will best fit my desires within my world of detecting.

I bought my CTX as a pre-retirement gift a couple yrs before retirement. At that time I thought it would be my last detector purchase until IT died, or I did. Since then, I've bought three detectors, 2 new, 1 used. ALL were long existing, proven models with a more specific purpose in mind.

One interesting thing. Of all my most significant finds as in, oldest coin which is also the smallest in physical size, most valuable jewelry, and most treasured find, ALL could easily have been found with ANY of my detectors from least expensive to most expensive. I would exclude my GMT as I wouldn't have been using that one for general detecting.

The latest/greatest and most expensive aren't necessary. I firmly believe that VLF detectors have reached their limit in performance for the most part. It's all about what gimmicks or magic you can come up with in signal analysis within the software that MAY MARGINALLY get you a few extra goodies. IF a land based PI machine with a reasonably good discriminator/ID comes around in my lifetime, THAT ONE would get my attention.

To answer your question....... the Xcals did have a 2 year warranty...... oh and were about $300 less price tag. ML raised the price ...... the dollar was down and reduced the warranty to 1 year. Which for many is like buying a lawn mower up North with 1 year warranty.

See now i dont think the VLF have hit the wall...... i believe there is small gold in that salt setting not very deep. We have been focusing on depth and sensitivity to LARGE gold .... and that may well be what we have become to expect.

I went from the Xcal to the CTX........ BUT i was an explorer user and loved the machines. I had to wait until a buddy sold one to me at a good price...... i just couldnt let go of $1800 and justify that for water hunting. It swings like a dead horse out there, slow recovery.... but for the most part its not trashy. At the time id also say it was THE do it all machine and thats why people finally was buying them. Its not better than the Xcal in the hands of someone who knows how to use it and did the PP mod with a great pair of speakers. I just like the screen...... always have and that was the big seller to me.

Beyonder-Pa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> im really not sure what you are asking. If you ask
> ing why so much more money for the CTX vs the Nox,
> could be many reasons not even apparent to us.
>
> If I had to choose only one, the Nox hands down. M
> y CTXs' were really good, but their tech is dated,
> they are cumbersome(not heavy for me), and lacking
> when it comes to separation. However, the color sc
> reen and multi-target read as well as the depth in
> inches are what I really miss in the Nox.

Just curious about the marketing angle. I wanted to give the Nox people plenty of time.to use them so they would have an opinion. This sort of happened before with Garrett. The 2500 top of the line detector was unseated by a much cheaper AT Pro. The 2500 faded away in the line up. The CTX which I had two of is indeed a nice detector. Is it worth a grand more? That is the question.

I think the whole dynamic of features and subsequent cost has changed dramatically in the last several yrs. Purchasers are getting more bang for their buck.

In another thread some time ago lytle78 touched on it. There is much more competition among metal detector manufacturers. In a more competitive market you're seeing some pretty good feature laden detectors being sold for much less.

At the time the CTX was put to market, there wasn't much that could compete with it at the time in terms of features/ability, or enormous price. Minelab has never in the past been one to be shy about charging top dollar for it's products. Had the Nox been there at the same time as the CTX, let's say by a competitor, you can rest assured that the sales numbers of the CTX would have been waaaaaay less!

Fast forward to today. Whether or not the CTX justifies the cost differential in todays market, that can only be determined by the person shelling out the loot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2018 12:49AM by EMField.

Knowing what I know.
I would have have Etrac and stock coil, and a Equinox 600 with stock and small coil. Cost about wat CTX does. And a person has more detector/detecting capability overall. A spare too in case one breaks.

Or instead of 600unit, put the 800 unit in its place.

Granted a person can only use one detector at a time.

At least when one gets tired of swinging the Etrac boat anchor they can go to Nox.

Btw, I have one of those Etrac boat anchors. Don’t have a boat for it yet though. Lol



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2018 03:02AM by tnsharpshooter.

Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are some things I did like about the CTX. O
> ne of them being something that is rarely mentione
> d about it; the Xchange 2 program for setting up p
> rograms; tone bins, etc. It made is so easy to do
> whatever you needed to do, then upload it to the m
> achine. I'm not a fan of scrolling thru menus and
> button pressing in order to do those kind of thing
> s. Also, the file sharing and downloading itself.
>
> The GPS was useless to me; heck, with my phone and
> some of the apps out there, I can see where I am i
> n real time on aerial imagery of the site.
>
> The screen was also useless in sun light but perfe
> ct in low light or at night. On the beach or in a
> field with polarized sun glasses on...you couldn't
> see anything on the screen until you found some sh
> ade or made it with your hand.
>
> With that said, I did like the target SIZING featu
> re of the SmartScreen when I could see it. The Fe
> /Co numbers didn't matter to me, in my dirt you ki
> ss all that data goodbye, as stuff can and will re
> ad all over. I feel sorry for those people that j
> ust chase after the 12 line targets and think they
> are cherry picking all the goodies out of a site.
>
> On the saltwater beach though, it is probably my f
> avorite machine for there. I've not had the Nox t
> here yet but I feel that is one area the CTX shine
> s in.
>
> I don't have any dealer friends to ask anymore, bu
> t it would be interesting to know how the sales fo
> r new CTX machines are doing...if they are similar
> to previous years or if there has been a big drop,
> or even a big rise.

“Just chase after the 12 line targets”....No Ferrous/coin here,the 12 line means nothing,to me anyway. How well a target repeats,if it appears to stay in one place,etc. are far more important IMO. The target has to do a few things right before the numbers are considered. I rely heavily on data,but my soil also allows this. When in a place with ludicrous trash or horribly contaminated iron flecked soil,or even worse...EMI that can’t be canceled out...sometimes things get sketchy. I never considered having mostly good soil a luxury!

goodmore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Beyonder-Pa Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > im really not sure what you are asking. If you a
> sk
> > ing why so much more money for the CTX vs the No
> x,
> > could be many reasons not even apparent to us.
> >
> > If I had to choose only one, the Nox hands down.
> M
> > y CTXs' were really good, but their tech is date
> d,
> > they are cumbersome(not heavy for me), and lacki
> ng
> > when it comes to separation. However, the color
> sc
> > reen and multi-target read as well as the depth
> in
> > inches are what I really miss in the Nox.
>
> Just curious about the marketing angle. I wanted t
> o give the Nox people plenty of time.to use them s
> o they would have an opinion. This sort of happene
> d before with Garrett. The 2500 top of the line de
> tector was unseated by a much cheaper AT Pro. The
> 2500 faded away in the line up. The CTX which I ha
> d two of is indeed a nice detector. Is it worth a
> grand more? That is the question.

At that time, yes. Now NO!

If I were a relic hunter, I doubt I would pay anything more for the CTX (over the Nox). However, I hunt high-conductive coins mainly, and do think my Etrac is better at that in most places (not in places with a lot of old iron nails and stuff--there the Nox shines). So, I would pay more for the CTX. But, I haven't bought one yet, so I guess I'm not willing to pay that much more

Once minelab comes out with a firmware fix, on the Nox"s target I'd issue's..... then the ctx will be a paper weight (a heavy paper weight..... LOL)

Rob in (ca) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Once minelab comes out with a firmware fix, on th
> e Nox"s target I'd issue's..... then the ctx will
> be a paper weight (a heavy paper weight..... LOL)

It's still not going to be comparable to the CTX. CTX uses two numbers. EQX just one. Minelab needs to extend the numbers on the Nox. Having said all of that we are never seeing an update that fixes this kind of problem.

_________________________________

Nox600, CTX, CZ21, Excal II and White's DF with 920i stealthscoop...I live and hunt at the beach in Wilm NC

I always seem to post negative things lately. But Minelab has a bad record when it comes to updating the CTX. If they are not going to do updates then the added costs to their customers was not justified. Maybe the CTX was perfect in their opinion. I hope they listen to the users that put the Nox through some serious detecting time. They sure sold a bunch of them.

One thing the ctx has going on is the rock solid target I'D ....... even at depth ......no other VLF detector can touch it.

Rob in (ca) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One thing the ctx has going on is the rock solid
> target I'D ....... even at depth ......no other
> VLF detector can touch it.


I run 2etracs and 2 CTXs.
Etrac was better IDer of coins higher conductive for me in my soil.
I knew when a wheathead was a coming out of the ground using Etrac high percentage of time.
Not so with CTX.
Silver dimes, again I knew high percentage of time before dug.
CTX not as good.

Maybe CTX is seeing the coins too good vs Etrac, picking up on wear, etc.
Don’t know.
But this is my story and I’m sticking to it.
I did run 10x12 self coil loads on etrac (aftermarket) to be honest here. Did it make the difference ? Can’t say.