Minelab Sovereign GT

NOT worth the $ for Oregon

Dirk in Oregon -
I have detected for 7 years. I bought this machine after using an Excal 800 for a year. I used this machine for parks and schools. It is a fine detector, and MANY love it, but I had several issues such that I sold it and wouldn't ever buy one again:

People claim its wonderful depth and stability. In Oregon, I never was able to get depth and stability with the SOV. I found that I usually had to hunt with sensitivity turned almost as low as it would go. I don't think the SOV was engineered for the high mineralized soils of Oregon.

If one desires an aftermarket meter or Sunray pinpointer, the tangle of cords becomes quite cumbersome. I had cords running from the coil, to the pinpointer switch, to the meter and then the control housing. It was a mess! The cords were always in the way. This worsens if hipmounting is desired.

Aftermarket switch protector's MUST be installed to protect the toggle switches from ruin. It baffles me that one must buy aftermarket protection. Minelab should equip an $1000 detector with such.

EMI: Electromagnetic interference. The Sov GT is equipped with a frequency change switch. However, detect alongside someone using an etrac, and GOOD LUCK. I was unable to hunt within 100 feet of my friend using an etrac, even after he used noise cancel.

Weight: This machine is very heavy and most will want to hipmount it to avoid discomfort. See the above cord issue with that.

Many love this detector. Many have cause. I did not! Perhaps its performance in certain soils outweighs the issues, but not in Oregon soils!

Dec 03, 2011

5 Yes
7 No

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Sovereign Gt

Peter in Hove Actully -
This machine is a good all round machine which is easy to use ideal for the beach and good on pasture.
It does have certain build issues that owners should be aware of, one is that over a period of time the plastic lugs on the battery pack will crack and in some cases break off, so you need to be a bit caring when taking the pack in and out of the machine.

Also the coil connecting plug on the box will not take to much pressure pulling and pushing will eventually cause that plug to invert due to the plastic getting brittle and cracking, basically treat it with a bit of respect, mine is over two years old and goes out in all extremes of weathers, so has had some wear and tear.
If you are going to hip mount it again put a couple loops around the hip mount belt as per the instructions, avoid to much pull on the coil lead connection.
If you do this you will get lots of service from
this brilliant Detector.

Oct 11, 2011

12 Yes
1 No

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Absolute Best Detector - Hands Down

Lloyd in Farmington Hills, MI -
If you are a coin hunter, with the 180 meter, you will not dig any aluminum or zinc pennies. Anything at 180 or slightly above will be a copper or silver coin with the "very occasional" junk item. This detector reigns above all. Get one and dig less junk for sure.

If you are a deep coin hunter you need this detector. If you want gold, then you will need to dig everything. This is the case with all detectors. Gold covers a very broad spectrum, get used to digging pull tabs, etc. Awesome detector hands down!!!!!

Sep 12, 2011

8 Yes
7 No

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Best field machine i have used

Jim from colonial long island in 1640,s southold ny -
2 years ago I brought a sov gt, I still have not found a better machine, well maybe the Excalibur it's big brother. I have used the sov gt in fields mostly plowed or pastures over 200 years old and that machine does not miss anything in iron mask on, fixed, sen's auto, volume max and most of all a good pair of head phones. I use black widow.
The e-trac is a good machine but it does not come close to the depth the sov gt gets the s-12 coil gets me up to 14 inches on a copper coin or a cw button, same with very old silver it screams!!! I love this machine.
Jim

Aug 24, 2011

16 Yes
1 No

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Sovereign GT is awesome!

Michael in New Jersey -
This has got to be one of the absolute best MD's out there! No complicated programming, just a few dials to set and go! It's deep, accurate, and pin-pointing is spot on. With the addition of a small pin-pointer, which you use anyway with all MD's you have everything you'll need.

My settings are: Volume 3 o'clock or higher, sensitivity in auto or adjust to stability, disc and notch to off, setting notch a hair before 3 o'clock will eliminate pull tabs. Disc on and in track mode after ground balancing. I love the silent search mode. Trust me once you spend time with this unit you'll be taking it out all the time. I ran coins and trash in front of the coil to get a fix on the tones but nothing screams like silver. Awesome metal detector!

Aug 22, 2011

12 Yes
1 No

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I, for one, am looking for Iron AND non-ferrous metal.

Cycluran in Gettysburg, PA. -
After hunting with the GT for several months now, having read the reviews and the instructions thoroughly, I have come to the conclusion that it may not have been the best choice. For a relic hunter, something deep and iron could be a good find.

This machine will cancel out the iron signal in favor of anything non-ferrous. If you hunt in all-metal mode, you'll get a bouncy signal that never stops. All-metal pinpoint mode will allow for any deep metal to sound off, but, in this mode, the machine easily loses ground balance and depth and the varying tones are gone, leaving just one. I regret having bought this machine and should have just replaced my Whites when it went down.

Aug 06, 2011

11 Yes
7 No

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Minelab sovereign g.t. swiss army knife

les short in northumbria, england -
Have detected on and off since 1977 and used some great machines from all the main players, bought the g.t.around 4 years ago and sold it after a year thinking I didn't need it, as I had an xp. adx 250 a terrific machine and very fast/deep,, but its not in the same league for bad ground and salt wet/black sand.
After missing the performance of the g.t. in these areas, I just had to buy another one, and I am so glad I did.

People may say from time to time that the x or y machine has an edge over the g.t. in certain circumstances, and if that is true (I certainly wont believe it) then it will only be a slight edge,,,and as soon as the ground changes or difficult operating conditions come in to play, then the g.t. will out perform them always, there is absolutely NOTHING out there as good all round as the sov. gt. Its the best at all jobs and you just need to give yourself a little more time to learn what its got under the hood.

I will not part with my g.t. again,(and after selling and buying back the same xp adx 250, will not part with that either, as it has its own rare qualities also),,because once you are aware that the build quality and the performance of the sov,g.t. matches anything in the world on a vast array of sites then you will buy one and will not be disappointed, just do it, and do your self a big favour, the g.t.has to be the best all purpose machine ever built... PERIOD,,

Nov 30, 2010

42 Yes
4 No

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Sovereirgn GT - Soild, reliable, 5 stars!

Mike in New Jersey -
First day out with my GT was cut a bit short due to rain. In the 1.5 hours I ran the GT, I found it to be much lighter then I though it might be with no arm fatigue. I spent the time “getting to know her”. Unlike my Vaquero, the GT has a broad tone as you pass over your target, so you spend a little more time pin pointing.

I did notice the tone had a bit of a change on the front end when I passed over a coin, this “change” helped me identify coins as opposed to trash. Although I do not plan on using this for coin shooting, I did find 22 coins, $2.45 in total. Over-all I like what I've seen today. A solid, well balanced, reliable MD, with a language all its own. Looking forward to some relic hunting and hitting the beaches. Clearly an excellent beep and dig MD.

Good Hunting!

Nov 23, 2010

13 Yes
1 No

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Best machine i own

howard in colorado usa -
Bought a gt several years ago and it is the best machine I own. (I own 7). I love the fact it eliminates nails and wire. Easy to use. The only cons are

1. straight shaft makes it heavy

2. doesn't eliminate aluminum or tin cans



I would recommend buying a s shaft, don't know if available in the usa yet. Far better than my garretts gti2500 and about $400.00 cheaper and easier to use. With the money saved I can buy accessories for my detector.

Oct 13, 2010

5 Yes
3 No

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The good and The Bad

Rob from Ca, in Ca, USA -
Owning The GT for several years, with Hundreds of hours of use, I conclude the following, with my hunting style and ground mineralization

Pro's
The best VLF Beach Comber (non Submerge type) on The Market, Hands down

The deepest VLF detector I have ever used, and I have used them all since 1987

Very Stable, with PI type depth In wet Salt sand Condition's, compared to other Detectors

Loves Deep Silver, compared to other Detectors

Very easy,Turn and go dials, Very Easy to set up and start digging targets at 12+ inch's

Very well Built

Stock search coils are Very High Performance, with the best Depth, Compared to other detectors

Large selection of After-market coils and accessory's available

Medium priced & Affordable, with high Performance


Con's
Heaver than most other detectors, but Hip Mounting is a option

Additional cost for a meter

Although Easy turn and go dials, New users need to spend more time and Patience to learn the GT's Hunting Language, compared to other detectors

Low Recovery speed

Best to hunt with targets that are spaced out from each other, like the Beach, sports fields, plowed fields

Requires a slow sweep speed, compared to other detectors

Hunting near Kids swing sets, monkey bars, jungle gems, cause's a more unstable detector, compared to other detectors

Pinpointing takes a Lot more time and Patiences to master, especially in well groomed parks & schools, compared to other Detectors

Loud piecing, electric guitar type threshold, which can be annoying to the first time user, takes time to get use to, Although you have the silent search option to

Cheap headphone's / Ear buds, Don't work well, your ear drum will be blasted though your other ear drum, Must use High end headphones, with a limiter switch and segmented volume control

Hunting in Iron infested sites, causes Prolong Threshold Nulling, compared to other Detectors

Not a very good Discrimination featured detector, compared to other detectors

Sep 17, 2010

29 Yes
3 No

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