Minelab Explorer XS - SE Pro

For those that have used them, is there a drastic difference between them in performance? I see some people saying the XS is deeper but with the SE Pro having a faster processor, would it be the better choice in trashier places where depth isn't really important? I've only had an Explorer II and eTrac...and to me, I liked the sound of the Explorer better but liked the faster speed of the eTrac. I liked the CTX better than both but that is out of my price range. I'm looking to pick up a unit for under $400 or so. If I wait a bit I might could swing a used eTrac but if these others are just as good, then I will save some $. Only looking to have it for a coin hunting machine...basically a silver and copper cherry picker.

I have seen an e-trac see coins the minelab se pro couldn't, both fitted with the stock coils. This was shown to me at two different locations. Both users had probably a few hundred hours under their belt, so they knew what they were doing (one even put out a metal detecting magazine at one time). One was an indian head cent and the other was a dime.
For the most part they see the same targets, but once in awhile you might miss something. I have owned both, but not at the same time, so I could not do my own comparisons.

The Explorer XS or 11 is a little slower but as deep or deeper than the units that followed however I really don't know if Minelab will work on them and remember a small coil can work wonders in a trashy area....

Processor is more about the screen than the audio on the explorers. The audio on the earlier models will still blend pretty good. Alot of what people are going off is experience running the earlier models prior to getting more modern, tighter coils like the SEF, pro coil, and ultimate designs.

Daniel,

I prototyped both. I was the only tester for the creation of the "Explorer"
It was brilliant.
A few years later I developed the "SE" but in the meantime changes were made to the FBS
coils and the SE never captured the true spirit of the original.
The coils were below par and despite improvements elsewhere it was good but not as good
as it should have been.
I'd have to check back through my log books for the 'real skinny' but that's straight from the
horses mouth!

Des D

I went ahead and bought the Explorer XS from Artie that was on Treasure Classifieds. I will grab a smaller coil for it andI should be covered for picking silver coins with the Explorer and then relic hunting with the Racer.

Des D Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Daniel,
>
> I prototyped both. I was the only tester for the
> creation of the "Explorer"
> It was brilliant.
> A few years later I developed the "SE" but in the
> meantime changes were made to the FBS
> coils and the SE never captured the true spirit of
> the original.
> The coils were below par and despite improvements
> elsewhere it was good but not as good
> as it should have been.
> I'd have to check back through my log books for
> the 'real skinny' but that's straight from the
> horses mouth!
>
> Des D

Hey Des,

Wow, like meeting a celebrity. So, the 4 year window for another release from Minelab will be upon us next year, in the scope of Explorer, E-Trac, CTX and then ???
I wonder if they are going light and ergonomic. Looks like the Go Find might be somewhat of a test platform for them. Ideas?

Best,
Albert

Daniel, the guy,Sergie, at Metal Detecting World.com has some excellent search programs for the explorer xs. He has detected the world over and the explorer was his go to machine.Good luck.

By Keith's past suggestions, I have found and bought a used 4.5x7 Excelerator coil for the XS. That should have me covered for the trashy sites. I will get a different coil for primary searching though. The best I can remember, those factory Explorer coils were HEAVY. I may get a used Sunray 8" coil or maybe an NEL Hunter for primary search. I cant wait to get it and give it a spin with the small Excelerator coil.

Glad you got the 4.5x7 Daniel..

You'll see the FBS platform in a whole new light with that coil..

It will speed up the machine in terms of recovery,and will see items on edge very well especially Thin Silver coins...

and you'll also be impressed with the depth it obtains..Its very deep for size...deeper than a Sunray 5 and closing in on a Sunray 8 for depth...

In my opinion its a must have for heavy trash site work..

play around with with coin's in the crack on the nail deck test...you'll find the on edge coins sounding off like a GOOD VLF does..


Its Uncanny for the Explorer to hear those target's!!

It kills Nickles!!

Keith

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2015 03:46AM by Keith Southern.

Love the 4.5x7 excelerator DD coils,

If they'd make one for the CTX I'd have another in a heartbeat!

I had one for my Etrac and it stayed on 90% of the time -- the depth is impressive to say the least for such a small coil and like Keith said = uncanny in trash/iron.

I also had it's cousin = the 10x14" DD excelerator and man what a beast for depth - - I dug a Big penny at a good 15" in a farm field with that sucker!

The XS is really quit capable at finding deep silver. Ive hunted with people who could kill it with the XS. I mean they knew that machine. I hear you about the ET, but ive never had anyone ive hunted with find something i couldnt hear with the SE. BUT......ive heard that deep tinkle sound with the SE they couldnt. Now originally...... the SE slimline was a noisy coil and the Exp II had the winner coil that everyone paid the money for. Then the SEFs and Pro coils came out and no one wanted the 10" coils any longer. A lot depends on whose using any of those machines because you have to put the time in with them ...... not so much with the ET it lessened that curve.

Dew

Hope you like the coil Daniel.....somehow ..I ended up with three.............


Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> By Keith's past suggestions, I have found and
> bought a used 4.5x7 Excelerator coil for the XS.
> That should have me covered for the trashy sites.
> I will get a different coil for primary searching
> though. The best I can remember, those factory
> Explorer coils were HEAVY. I may get a used Sunray
> 8" coil or maybe an NEL Hunter for primary search.
> I cant wait to get it and give it a spin with the
> small Excelerator coil.

Have another one you would part with?



mascard1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hope you like the coil Daniel.....somehow ..I
> ended up with three.............
>
>
> Daniel Tn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > By Keith's past suggestions, I have found and
> > bought a used 4.5x7 Excelerator coil for the XS.
>
> > That should have me covered for the trashy
> sites.
> > I will get a different coil for primary
> searching
> > though. The best I can remember, those factory
> > Explorer coils were HEAVY. I may get a used
> Sunray
> > 8" coil or maybe an NEL Hunter for primary
> search.
> > I cant wait to get it and give it a spin with
> the
> > small Excelerator coil.

From Experience. Several thousands of hours.

The Explorer XS is the deepest availabe detector to date on silver with some mass. We are talking US 10 cent and heavier mass coins.

The XS has a beautiful tendency to look below small trash as its " setup " or FBS freq "works " looks through small bits and shard s of aluminium and steel.

One of my favorite detectors and best used with its original heavy coil or a Sunray.

Things have a tendency to go bad when people complain and thats what happened with Explorers. People wanted better sensitivity towards gold ( small gold ) and hammered coinage that was better found with detectors costinge half or third as munch as tesoros or the first gen XP detectors. Many US detectors found better in the lower range conductivity range but they could not get as deep " massy" silver and not in heavy trash. Despite its slow recovery the XS can find a dollar below masses of small undecetable shards of " @#$%& ". Not many others can do.

The Explorer XS or XS 2 is in a way the best ever detector for picking deep massy silver and in the opposite range of a Deus that finds the smallest targets close together at shallow depths.

And... lol.. none of the two ( XS or Deus )has perfect GB cancelling software... They both work in a company propriatory way that " most " of us dont know what is.

Get an XS but be aware its downfalls and use it where it is unbeatable.

Tony.

.

Where can you get an XS worked on (repaired) these days?

Bruce Candy!! A true GENIUS!! i agree an orig xs with camlock crack repair/upgrade truly the best in the explorer series the exp ll and the se/se pro were not great advancements as a matter of fact they were far lesser than the xs/ s were HEY anybody know where Dick Shultz is????? HH c t

Bruce Candy!! A true GENIUS!! i agree an orig xs with camlock crack repair/upgrade truly the best in the explorer series the exp ll and the se/se pro were not great advancements as a matter of fact they were far lesser than the xs/ s were great HEY anybody know where Dick Shultz is????? HH c

There are a couple places that do repairs on the older Explorers. Minelab wont service them anymore though. I'm not real concerned with that part of it...it either works or it doesn't. I'll use it until it quits working. The one I got is in GREAT shape though...extremely well taken care of. They aren't like the First Texas machines that you gotta have the repair center on speed dial and know the extension and first name basis with the repair people. LOL But boy it didn't take me long to remember what I didn't like about the Explorers....those suckers are badly unbalanced. 3.8 lbs is not heavy but when the balance is bad...it feels more like 7 or 8 lbs. I will say, they got the balance right when they made the CTX 3030. Even though it's heavier...it feels a lot lighter.

The XS is a monster funding coins amongst modern trash. In terms of raw depth for coins, it did not beat the Troy X5.

I did some playing today between the Racer with the 5x10 coil and Explorer with the 4.5x7 coil. I didn't have a 5x10 for the Explorer to try. It still wouldn't have mattered though. I took a silver dime and cut a nice deep plug, and just slid the dime into the side of the plug in one inch increments, then would place the plug back into the ground, and then fire the detectors up. In my soil...the Racer could hit the dime but the ID was way off. It would give a repeatable signal down to about 6 inches, but the ID after about 4 inches...was no greater than 14. Yes. 14. That was kind of a surprise to be honest with you. Over the next couple weeks I will have to do some playing and see what they do in some different soil types. The soil where I am moving to, is vastly different than where I live now. In a good way. The Explorer also got the dime down to around 6 inches. The difference was...it maintained the correct tone and crosshair location. When the ID goes away, there is no audio signal either. This holds true for the other FBS machines I have used here. Uncanny ID down to fringe depth on coins, even though 6 inches is not deep for most of you guys...that is considered deep here.

This still makes me shake my head. The Explorer is what...15+ yrs old now, and still can ID better than the modern machines. The Whites 5900 is even older than that, and it is a great ID machine as well. Technology sure hasn't caught up to the times for metal detectors. The CTX is better in balance than the Explorers, and is probably better overall in iron and trash...but the depth isn't any better than this Explorer XS.

You will like the 4.5x7 I had one on my etrac It never came off much. It will do a fine job. I used it often in some of my ghost town sites. I pulled some real nice finds using it, but then I would run my F75 with the 5 coil behind it and pulled out many more sweet finds

I like my second or 3rd handed XS. A real screamer on the silver. Got mine mostly for a souvenir but it does hunt. I use it for site specific hunting. Maybe the reason Minlab quit servicing the Xs ad others is so folks would buy new vs get their old machines fixed.

I mean a good used XS can be had for less than the cost of the 17" coil for CTX!!!!!

Love the tones on the XS. Why didn't minelab keep it on the CTX---actually Etrac too. Neither of those has the distinct ring of silver like the XS. Etrac is close, CTX no where close.

When it comes to engineering/making detectors-----I believe a manufacturer would be smart to stick with the features that are outstanding from the older generation units and just add to their future units----NOT change the great to good or worse. Sounds too easy, Right??? Go figure......

tnsharpshooter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like my second or 3rd handed XS. A real
> screamer on the silver. Got mine mostly for a
> souvenir but it does hunt. I use it for site
> specific hunting. Maybe the reason Minlab quit
> servicing the Xs ad others is so folks would buy
> new vs get their old machines fixed.
>
> I mean a good used XS can be had for less than the
> cost of the 17" coil for CTX!!!!!
>
> Love the tones on the XS. Why didn't minelab keep
> it on the CTX---actually Etrac too. Neither of
> those has the distinct ring of silver like the XS.
> Etrac is close, CTX no where close.
>
> When it comes to engineering/making
> detectors-----I believe a manufacturer would be
> smart to stick with the features that are
> outstanding from the older generation units and
> just add to their future units----NOT change the
> great to good or worse. Sounds too easy, Right???
> Go figure......

I asked that question before, about why didn't Minelab keep those tones and the response, perhaps here, was something like "The sound of the tones is a function of the electronics and the tones change as the machine changes." I'm
not sure if that is completely true but it is probably the reason you can't have another machine give you E-Trac like tones as the underlying tech that creates the tones is just plain different.
Who knows, maybe Minelab betters there tones with that more analogue feel once they release a truly light FBS machine.

I don't understand why they haven't produced a lighter machine with the same circuit board inside. Since the XS came out, that has been pretty much the #1 request of users for the machine. They have brought out at least a half dozen machines since then on the same platform (Ex 2, Quattro, Safari, SE, SE Pro, eTrac) but the only thing they really changed was the grip angle and they put a lighter weight coil on them. You'd think it would be easy for a fab shop person to come up with a lighter design. Or even just modify their already existing X-Terra chassis to accommodate the Explorer display and circuit board. I'm not meaning to dig on Minelab but had this been Nokta or Makro, it probably would have gotten done on the very next machine and in short order too.