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Minelab Sovereign GT

Price: $1000
Avg. Score: 5 stars! 4.61
Based on 36 reviews

Avg. Durability: 5 stars!5.00
Avg. Ease of use: 5 stars!4.75
Maximum detection depth
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Sovereign GT is awesome!

August 22, 2011
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!

Overall Rating 5 stars!

192

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

August 06, 2011
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.

Overall Rating 3 stars

1213

Minelab sovereign g.t. swiss army knife

November 30, 2010
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,,

Overall Rating 5 stars!

577

Sovereirgn GT - Soild, reliable, 5 stars!

November 23, 2010
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!

Overall Rating 5 stars!

163

Best machine I own

October 13, 2010
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.

Overall Rating 4 stars

78

The good and The Bad

September 17, 2010
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

Overall Rating 4 stars

445

I've paid it of in 1 summer digging rings

March 29, 2010
Its a great machine 17 frequencies, I paid it off in ring and diamond rings in 1 summer, same with the minelab elite.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

214

Dave Taylor

March 11, 2010
Being deeply into the hobby of metal detecting, I did my homework before buying the Minelab Sovereign GT and it didn't let me down.
At the time, I didn't just buy one, I ended up buying two, one for my brother and one for myself (two people searching feels less lonely than one and in this day and age, is more safety sensible too).

We mentally digested the instruction manual (its very advisable to do that before you go hunting with this machine), then we started out to test what the detector could really do.

On beaches the depth it detects too is awesome (even using the standard 10" coil).
We were digging small non ferrous objects,(as tiny as ear studs),from as deep as 12 inches and larger coin sized objects to a depth of 14 to almost 18 inches.

Aluminum littered sites are a real pain, but all detectors have some trouble notching out beer cans, ring pulls, foil and other general aluminum objects anyway, but the Sovereign GT feels better at doing this than many other detectors I've have seen, used or heard of.

There's no getting away from it, the Sovereign GT does take a bit of getting used to at first, which will involve a bit of patience to get to know it properly.

It nulls out small "and" large ferrous objects(with iron mask on),with ease.
On both beach and land the iron mask is excellent, but again it will take a bit of getting used too before you will fully master what the detector is telling you, as its a bit different to most other detectors.

On large ferrous objects,(and when in silent mode), the detector often sends out a quick pop or crack sound to tell you its found a large iron object.
At first this is difficult to understand, for with the second pass of the coil over the iron object(whilst in silent mode), the detector makes every attempt to stay completely silent to verify that its found iron.

The Sovereign GT uses broad band signal technology (using 17 search frequencies simultaneously), something a lot of other detectors can't even come close too matching for performance.

Overall the Sovereign GT is worth its weight in gold (pun intended).
To me, I've never come across a better machine for all round excellence.
I'm so confident with this detector that I feel that I won't ever need to buy another.
The Minelab Sovereign GT is an excellent deep seeking all rounder of detectors and it doesn't take much time to learn what its telling you when your out hunting, as the Sovereign GT almost talks to its operator.
The Sovereign GT is solidly built, so it is heavier than most other detectors, but this is not a down side, as you get used to it.

For those in fear of anything I've written above, the Sovereign GT has a (Switch on and go mode) built into it (designed for the beginner) and the depth of finds in that mode, will still be excellent.
With this detector, you can have fun from the very start and mark my words, this detector is a serious treasure hunter.

All the best and I hope this review helps
"Happy Hunting".

Overall Rating 5 stars!

902

The Proffessionals Choice

January 07, 2010
No Modes, no cr*p, no fuss and all positive signals. I do this 6-7 Days a week, 5 - 8 hours a day, the GT is the pro choice. Every detector at the high end is good but the Sov GT has the edge. Hip mount it so your swinging nothing, volume- max, notch & discrim - 0, iron mask on, silent search - on,tracking switch to fixed, sens - max, then adjust the threshold just so you can hear it(very important).
Prior to this adjust the GB: Switch on the GT keep the coil in the air(10s), Go to All Metal and Trac GB, lower the Sens to 3 O'Clock pump the coil until you hear no fluctuation in the Threshold, then switch to discrim and fixed GB and then raise the sens.
If your on the Beach or Pasture you should get it max without falsing, if the GT keeps on nulling then lower the sens(if a lot of iron present or hotrocks or coke), if you get past 2 o'Clock on Sens then switch to Auto(trust the machine, you will get good depth). If the threshold is very steady then switch to "Silent Search" ( only if the land you are searching is relatively target free) in this mode you can swing faster and the machine is more sensitive.
If you keep getting false signals then either lower the sens or switch back to threshold search( in this mode you must swing slower).

Now the most important advice I can give: Sweep over a target from both directions, listen to the threshold if at any point this starts to null, walk away you have just found iron(well done). LISTEN very carefully on deep targets: Sometimes- Threshold-Null-Signal-Null-Threshold. Walk away its iron. Especially when it pin points in two different places. The Threshold is the Key with the Sov GT, all Non Ferrous objects(goodies) will be a continuous elevation in sound from the threshold. Every time you receive a signal check the surrounding area for iron, the threshold will tell you.
I could tell you more about this detector but then you'll be the same as me, I don't what competition thanks. Enjoy this great machine, or buy one get frustrated and sell it for half price and make me happy.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

698

Best allrounder ever??

December 27, 2009
This is my third review of a metal detector the other two being the T2 and the Matrix M6. I described the T2 as probably my all time favorite and the M6 as near detecting perfection due to it's performance and great value price. So where does the sovereign gt fit in?

I originally purchased a gt a while back for detecting the beaches...a use for which it is virtually unbeatable...but then sold it again due to lack of beach use. I had never really rated the gt for inland use due to it's slow recovery speed....I thought I would be better off with a faster recovering machine....that's why I purchased the t2. However, reading lots of information on sovereign forums sparked my interest again so I bought another GT.

I've been using the machine for a couple of months and I am learning to get the most out of the machine. I've found that the GT can be used in amongst the trash if you work slowly and learn what to listen for...it will even keep up with faster recovering machines in the right hands.
I've also found that even the most difficult soil conditions won't stop the GT from finding the goodies....it seems to be deep wherever I take it and I've used it on some pretty bad soil.
Some of the objects I have recovered have been really small, proving the machines sensitivity....some of the objects have been hard to find due to their small size.
The machine is so versatile you can detect a field and walk straight onto the wet sand on the beach without changing any settings which can't really be done with any machine other than another minelab multi frequency detector.

So if I had to choose only one detector to use from now on I think I would have to choose the GT over all my others. The fact you can use it equally well on the beach and inland is a real plus and in the right hands it's performance is hard to beat. This combination, in my opinion, makes this detector one of the best allrounders ever.....maybe even the best.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

401

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