Home > Reviews > Minelab

Minelab Excalibur II

Price: $1200
Avg. Score: 4 stars 3.8
Based on 25 reviews

Avg. Durability: 3 stars2.78
Avg. Ease of use: 3 stars3.11
Maximum detection depth
Submit your review for Minelab Excalibur II

Big Problems!!!!!

December 29, 2011
The excalibur 2 has a big problem with the knobs!!!! Why don't they fix it !!! To have it serviced or fixed is also way too expensive!!!!
The machine is twice as much as others and the knobs fall off after a week ???

Overall Rating 1 star

4960

Better than the 1000, not better than the original

May 07, 2011
I've had the great fortune to own seven different Minelab detectors over the years. They include: Explorer XS, Sovereign XS and GT, Musketeer, and three different Excaliburs. By far the best was Gary Storm's original Excalibur with the red headphones. Mine is at least ten years old and still hanging in there. What an awesome machine! Even with shortcoming of ill fitting headphones, the detector is unmatched.

Sensitivity is incredible with a super solid threshold in salt water. My Sovereign GT might detect a little deeper, but it's not quite as stable. The Excalibur 1000 that I owned was just plain awful. Even sending it back to Minelab for repairs including a new coil and circuit board, it never lived up to its reputation. It was unstable and I continually had problems with the headphones.

That brings me to the Excalibur 2. It's an excellent machine. The depth and sensitivity in salt water is excellent. Headphones are so much more comfortable than the original and 1000 headphones. I only have two complaints. Just like everyone else,
I had problems with the control knobs. I don't understand why Minelab can't get this issue straightened out. Even my 1000 had control knob issues. My only other complaint is the muffled sound from the headphones.
My original Excalibur has such a sharp, clear sound that you can hear any change in tone. Not so in the Excalibur 2. They just don't have that clear sound which I expect from quality headphones.

One last thing. If you plan on getting the Excalibur, plan on buying a straight shaft. The "s" shaped shaft is almost impossible to swing unless you have an arm like Popeye. I remember having to switch arms because both my arms wore out.

All in all, if you are planning to detect in salt water, the excalibur is the best choice.

Overall Rating 4 stars

11039

Excalibur ll

January 17, 2011
The excalibur ll i just love it its great

Overall Rating 5 stars!

5350

Metal detector junkie

October 22, 2010
After my first minelab excalibur I brought second hand packed up {I was told sea water had got inside and it was going to cost more to fix than what it was worth}. I was gutted this detector would find threepence silver coins at over 14 " deep which in my books is amazing I have used garrett whites and tesoro detectors in the past and honestly they don't compare in depth or the fact they don't handle the ground conditions here in southland New Zealand.

I was so impressed with my first excalibur that I had to replace it with another one I am very glad I did. I take this thing hunting everywhere it is a killer in old parks dig those nice smooth sweet tones for the real deep goodies. At the beach and the old river estuarys amazing what the excalibur will find here in southland it rains alot no problem with this waterproof machine. The best learning curve I have found with the excalibur is once you learn the tones you can cherry pick trashy areas and do really well watch your silver coin count explode.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

8913

Working great now

October 15, 2010
After getting my excal 2 back and using it I was very happy with it.Went out and found 3 rings and a bunch of coins. To day I'm going to Streeters to buy another one. Going on a trip pretty soon and want the best.

Thanks Mine Lab

Paul

Overall Rating 5 stars!

4131

Battery charger

July 31, 2010
The other day I was charging my new minelab excal 2 when I smelt something burning. It was the charger, it burned up the battery pod and did something to the elect pod. Minelab tells me they have been having trouble with this and have a big back log of repairs. It worked great the first time I used it now this, they will have it for 6 to 8 weeks. Buyer beware.

Overall Rating 2 stars

4950

Perfect

May 15, 2010
To keep a long story short,

I have a minelab xterra 705 and surfmaster dualfield and last week i bought a minelab excalibur II for metal detecting.

The surfmaster gave me lots of rings but its difficult to pinpoint and no discrimination, so I enjoyed my first days with excalibur, it was easy to use as I am not new to detecting, I found most targets much easier than with surfmaster and could at least discriminate some trash.

I guess together with surfmaster which I can use to dig special places or very deep, and xterra 705 for land, the excalibur is great to clear one beach in one day, found lots of australian 2 dollars and 1 ring even if beaches are empty since 2 months in Melbourne.

I used pinpoint mode to find objects, then changed to discrimination mode to see if I can discriminate, even if nice tone I used my experience with surfmaster to "size" object and see how deep I could be .... 5 stars!

erwin
www.treasureseeker.info

Overall Rating 5 stars!

623

Sd2200 thru gp3500 excalibur fisher whites dfx explorer

April 26, 2010
First of all I've used the underwater fisher which was a great machine but I feel it needs help in the battery dept. It takes batteries which I don't like and the compartment where you put the batteries is very cheep.
When putting the batteries in you can bend the battery tabs, plus its not the easiest to put batteries in. But this is #7 on my 1-10 the explorer takes awhile to get use to and I really don't care for a coin meter which can get wet as well as the box. It was hard seeing the screen and if I hear something in the ground, I'm digging it and not taking the time of seeing what the screen says.

The excalibur I had I feel is a very well made machine, easy to understand, great depth, can get wet and can be used during storms when the beaches get torn up.
They improved the coil so its light, you have a rechargeable battery, it goes as deep if not deeper than most machines, and the excalibur is made well so as its doesn't break. If it does break, you have to send in the whole machine. The head phones don't detach, which I don't like but I give this machine a 9.

The balance needs help of a anderson bal shaft. I feel minelab has the best machines made as far as depth, number of machines to pick from that are made well. The service dept is great, but the heads of the company stink. They don't seems to care about or think of their customers. As you know, their loyal customers have been waiting months like 4-6 months for a machine, they have done other things in the past also which makes me think they are not thinking of the small people which got them started.
Maybe its the government contracts that their worried about. Now the gold machines. Every new machine that comes out, minelab says its new and improved beyond belief. I feel their not much difference between machines until you get to the gp 3000 and the gp 3500.the gp 3500 is alot quieter than the gp 3000 but b4 that their wasn't much change that was worth going from one machine to the next, but if your digging gold, then it might be worth trading in the gp 3000 for a up grade.

I notice a big difference the first time I turned it on with the noise reduction. I used mine on the salt water beach. Nothing could touch it. I was digging hair pins at over three feet deep and could cover a 1/8 mile beach in two hours and get everything with a med size coil. The smaller coin machines couldn't touch it.
The sand seems to get into the ground bal. button, plus the salt air. i give the gp3000 #8 gp3500#10 but this machine takes about one year to learn the curve and even then you cant dig a target. Thats a lot of three foot holes. I feel minelab is the all around winner as far as built tuff, rechargeable batteries, the depth is as good as the others if not better, the gps are hard to use in the woods and aren't the pick up and go detectors like the coin machines are. They are heavy even with the bungee cords. Hope this helps. Love this hobby.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

3230

Can't beat the Excalibur II for beach hunting

February 04, 2010
I have owned the Excalibur 800 blue version just prior to the newest Excalibur II and now own the Excalibur II 1000.

The Excalibur II 1000 is one awesome beach machine.

I really like the coverage of the 10 inch coil and the new electronics in the II's. The newest version seems to be more stable than the older versions. I also like the design of the new coil as the new 10 inch coil is as easy or easier to pull through the water as the old 8 inch. It is lighter for sure and also is slimmer which aids in the movement through the water.

Pin pointing is a snap with the Excalibur II. It does take practice but the pin pointing will come to be natural after a very short while.

I like to run in all metal all the time and use the discrimination mode to check to see if the target is iron or something of value.
All metal mode does seem to be deeper in most instances.


I would highly recommend getting a straight shaft for the Excalibur as the ergonomics of the Excalibur's factory shaft is really uncomfortable.
The older versions of the Excalibur had the older headphones which were uncomfortable and not really all that good. The new Koss yellow headphones are a marked improvement over the older blue headphones. Not having to change the headphones to after market headphones will save you around $175.

I would also recommend getting an extra battery pod for the Excalibur as you will be spending lots of time on the beach with this machine.

Don't sell the Excalibur II 1000 short for land detecting. I use mine for land detecting and it is as deep as the Sovereign which is the land only version of the Excalibur which is to say that it is very very deep. 17 frequencies running all at the same time allows for most targets to be detected even in some pretty bad conditions like black sand.

Don't forget that you will need a good sturdy sand scoop if you are using the Excalibur on the beaches. Hit those beaches at low tide and watch what you will find. Amazing!

If you are looking for a great amphibious detector then the Excalibur II 1000 is a very good choice.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

1192

Good beach MD.

July 25, 2009
I wrote about Fisher CZ-21. Fisher leaked after 2 weeks of use, and I bought a Excalibur. Both of them do not see the little gold ornaments, but the Excalibur have better discrimination of trash and Fisher have tonal identification. 8 battery of Excalibur is better for charging, Fisher have four 9.6 volt battery, in Russia AA battery I can find in all shop or fuel station.

Overall Rating 4 stars

5810

Submit your review for Minelab Excalibur II