Minelab Quattro
Street Price $900
Number of Reviews: 32
on 4 pages.
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Also in this price range:
Minelab Quattro
Fisher CZ 70 Pro
FBS technology
Digital target ID
Batteries - 8 aa's
Preset modes - 4
Custom modes - 4
A Costly Mistake
Mad At Minelab in East Coast, USA -
All in all I have to say that the Minelab Quattro has to be the worst unit that I have had the displeasure to use. Contrary to what everyone else thinks, this detector simply does not perform "in any ground conditions".
Where I live we do tend to have some mineralization, but with all my other units that I use, I have never had a problem with depth. However the Quattro was costly mistake to make on my part, as it barely goes beyond 2" in my ground, even with using tips & tricks widely posted on the Web.
Do yourself a favor, and take the money you have saved for the Quattro and put it towards a rear performer like a Fisher, Garrett or Whites.
Sep 19, 2006
19 Yes
34 No
The Quattro
WormtownHunter in Massachusetts -
This is just a short review of this powerful metal detector in the Minelab lineup. Even with the fact that I have only had this unit for a little over a week, I have found that it is perfect for the coinshooting that I do. I have been using the discrimination pattern for "Good US Coins" in Andy Sabisch's book Mastering The Minelab Quattro, and along with the 4 x 7" EXCellerator coil that I bought from KellyCo, I am finding wheat cents and other assorted items much deeper than I ever could with my Fisher 1266-X.
Since I am still new to this machine, I am getting used to the musical tones the Quattro gives over high & low conductivity targets. I have not yet ventured out in the All Metal mode, but I am still finding coins at great depth whether I use the stock coil or the small elliptical. I currently run the Quattro at Auto Sensitivity when using the stock coil & a setting of 16 when using the smaller one. So far the deepest coin I have found was a 1913 wheat cent at 9 1/2" on the factory preset coin mode. I am however still trying to get used to pinpointing with the DD coil, for me it's a big change from the standard concentric coils that most of us have used. My little wizard pinpointer has been a great help in this regard.
I am beginning to realize that the people who either sell off their Quattro's or badmouth it, just do not want to take the time to learn it's language. I honestly feel that this is the best metal detector that I have bought in my 22 years of TH'ing, and I don't regret it for a moment. And to think, I almost bought a DFX...
No, I have not yet found any silver coins with the Quattro, but I feel it's only a matter of time & researching our older sites here in Worcester until I do.
I hope this small review helps other prospective Quattro users.
OK, enough of my ramblings.... Time To Do Some Hunting!
My Best To All,
Barry
Jul 27, 2006
28 Yes
2 No
Another Home Run From Minelab!
Barry in Worcester, MA -After alot of research on the latest metal detectors, I had decided on the Minelab Quattro MP, and I am very glad that I did. This is a completely diferent detector that what you may be familiar with. First, the Quattro is VERY sensitive & goes DEEPER than it's competitor's machines especially the DFX. Until you get used to the Quattro and it's musical language, it's best to run in a preset mode in auto sensitivity.
Yes, I can see why some people may get frustrated with pinpointing with a DD coil, and the multiple tones, but I feel that they just do not want to take the time to really learn the nuances of this great machine. And you can truly believe the depth reports on the Quattro. In a local "Hunted Out" park, I was able to pull a nice 1913 Wheatie at 9".
If you are looking for simplicity & power combined, you can't go wrong with the Quattro MP.
Way To Go Minelab!
Jul 26, 2006
14 Yes
2 No
Not bad, but its not an Explorer.
Digitaltim in Ct, USA -
I assumed the Quattro and Explorer would be exactly the same when identifying metal. I was wrong. They are the same in most respects. The Quattro is a darn good detector, but it locks onto a target and holds the ID straight through the next target if they're too close. Its just noticably slower. Would work fine for open fields or woods where targets can be few and far between, but in trashy areas it might be a nightmare. Overall the detector is better than many. After trying many, I don't have the patience for this one.
May 06, 2006
17 Yes
9 No
Minelab Quattro A great Detector ????
mtdoramike in central Florida -Well, I got my Minelab Quattro about a week ago and have put about 10 or so hours on it. This is my first venture into the Minelab line of detectors. When I put the Quattro together and turned it on for the first time and passed a few targets under the coil, I thought what the hell is up with this flute music. Sounded like a very bad high school band practice. I started having regrets about the Quattro.
BUT, once I dug my first couple of targets in a heavily hunted area and recovered a couple of wheat pennies and a gold ear ring and saw the depth capability of this machine, I started feeling more assured of my decision on the Quattro.
Pro's = well so far I've only logged about 10 hours on it, but the depth is awsome and I feel is deeper then the Fisher CZ's. I love the noise cancel feature. The display & graphic are excellent and easy to read. It truely is a turn on and go machine even down to the sensitivity, which can be set at auto for the detector to decide. Easily ajustable armcuff. I love the bar graph pinpoint feature, this is very unique.
Con's = Weight, it's a might heavy at about 4lbs and it's not hip mountable. The standard DD coil, which is great for ground coverage, is a little tough to use in trashy areas + it's a little difficult to pinpoint with. I opted to get the 8" concentric coil, which is better in trash and easier to pinpoint with. I heard that the Qauttro has a slow target recovery time, which I noticed right off. To me, It's not that big of a problem because I'm used to swingin a detector very slow since I've mainly used CZ's and if you want those deep targets, you have to go low & slow. The battery life is only about 15 ours on 8 AA's, which isn't a lot of hunt time for that amount of batteries, but I guess with all the electronics, it needs the juice to operate.
But so far, I think the Quattro is a very good machine.
Feb 17, 2006
30 Yes
2 No
QUATTRO - Highly recommended!!!
Polestar in USA -I recently became interested in metal detecting again after many years away from the hobby and hours of researching what machines are available these days, I decided on purchasing a Quattro. In Minnesota right now, most places to detect are frozen, however I was able to do some beach hunting with my new Quattro.
There is a learning curve to the Quattro. You have probably heard it already but if you are in the market for a Quattro be sure to get Andy Sabisch's book and read it a couple times. It should be included with the manual. My only "complaint" is that the Quattro is a little heavy for me but I will still rate it 5 stars because if I did not have chronic pain conditions, the weight would not be an issue for me.
This machine has outstanding depth on the beach and I cannot wait til spring to try the "hunted out" sites to see how it does.
The Quattro has given me a new confidence that I never had before. Love the accept/reject feature to notch out certain trash items.
I would recommend the Quattro to any of my friends or family. It is as good as they say!
Feb 08, 2006
19 Yes
1 No
Quattro and the goldfields
Angela Grant in Victoria, Australia -I bought the quattro back in April 2005 after some consideration as to what relic/coin detector to purchase. I haven't looked back since. This machine is dynamite in trashy ground. Using All Metal mode, I've found a lot of fantastic relics and old coins on the goldfields where I live. The detector is truly amazing on the beaches also. It copes very well with sand and sea water. I've pulled out sinkers at 2 1/2 feet depth! With regular use, it's fairly easy to pick up. But get Andy Sabisch's book, it's better than the manual. If I haven't convinced you, take a look at the albums link in Aussie Treasure Hunters forum under my album. Everything in it was found with my quattro!
Cheers Angela
Jan 17, 2006
28 Yes
0 No
quattro loves old coins
Derek in miami, FL USA -First let me say that I was a little skeptic about buying it. People were always saying that they were finding coins at 9-11 inches. But this is the same thing they said about the mxt which is why I bought it. I have had it for two years and decided to purchase the quattro because all the sites around here are hunted out and I couldn't seem to find anything past five-seven inches.
The quattro was easy to assemble and isn't as heavy as some people might lead you to believe. Took it to an old one room school house were I have never found any coins in the past (It has been hit so hard in the last few years). Boy was I suprised with its performance. I kept it slow and came out with three silvers from the late 1800's. I was suprised when I got a fairly good hit at ten inches. I thought oh probably a pipe or something because I never find anything good here, but I was wrong, it was my first of the three silver coins and to add icing to the cake it was a barber quarter(no visible date)but still exciting. If you want a good machine get the quattro. It is such an amazing detector. If you by it I guaranty a big boost in finds!!
HH
Derek
Nov 19, 2005
35 Yes
2 No
Quattro vs Garrett 1500
Mark in Minnesota -Bottom line: Garrett's target imaging (sizing) proved more useful than Quattro's ferrous content/conductivity (target ID) system in areas with any significant trash.
Comparison was made in coin hunting in non-mineralized central Minnesota soil. The eight different search sites included trashy local parks, beaches, graveyard, edges of soccer field, abandoned farm homes and two old one room school houses.
The Quattro generally had 5X as many non-productive holes as the Garrett. In trashy environments it almost became unusable, even with the "high trash" setting activated. Custom menus using the cross save feature documented in Andy Sabisch's book were created in an attempt to discriminate out the trash and get an audio ferrous content to assist in the discrimination, with limited success. It is not that the Quattro didn't hint at the possibility of trash, it did; but it also suggested it could be a coin. The Minelab Explorer may be more useful because it gives an actual ferrous content number and conductivity number. On the Quattro there is no easy way to learn the ferrous content tones (no number is given) other than memorizing them from a test plot.
Pinpointing with the Quattro wasn't difficult, actually the graphic display isn't necessary, the audio works fine. But you can't beat a Garrett with GTI for pinpointing and getting an accurate depth. One Garrett tip suggested elsewhere that works: after removing the plug, if the target size is bigger, and it is still in the hole: its trash. If it bigger but still in the plug it could still be a coin. Both units would misidentify small pieces of highly corroded metal, particularly if deep.
In terms of depth, in this environment, the Garrett actually proved more sensitive to deep coins in the "coin" mode. The all metal mode on the Quattro would pick these 10 inch deep coins on the test plot but the "coin" mode missed them all. The Garret was somewhat erratic at detecting them, not giving a strong consistent hit, but it did generally give a signal with seveal sweeps. We don't have salt water beaches here so the reverse may well be true near the ocean.
This was an interesting and fun comparison to run. On the test plot the Quattro showed real promise. The Quattro target ID made multiple suggestions for each target, one of which was usually right on (with one or two exceptions), but it didn't exclude the others. It was these other possibilities suggested (pull tab but it could be a ring or coin) that proved its undoing in the real world and had you digging lots of holes. The Garrett seemed more vague (possible coin) but when you sized it and it was bigger or smaller than a coin you moved on. You have to dig a lot of "C" sized targets for a while to believe the imaging but in the real world it works with few exceptions.
Conclusions: On the high end, the machines try to give you something extra to help eliminate trash targets. In the real world, Garrett's target imaging (sizing) proves more useful than the Quattro's combination of enhanced conductivity with ferrous content.
Nov 14, 2005
42 Yes
5 No
A great beach machine...
Jim in Bklyn in Brooklyn, NY -Purchased this machine approximately 2 months ago and haven't put it down since. The thing that tickles me about this machine is finding targets that others have walked over. I am finding more nickels than ever, nickels equates to gold as well. In one stretch found 8 rings in 8 days. I found another one today that I know was missed by others. I hunt in all-metal mode and use the accept/reject button to notch out unwanted targets. For instance, the ferrous numbers are minus numbers and I reject those. Pull tabs come in around 16 but so does nickels and gold so that one I dig. So my settings are mainly 13 14 15 16 and 33 to 40, all others are rejected.
Mind you this is on the beach only, I've yet to relic hunt with the Quattro but will be heading to England in November and hope to do as well over there. I had a weight issue in the beginning, however I've over come that. Getting a lot better with pinpointing but it does take some getting used to. The battery compartment is easy to unload and load. The cable is hidden in the shaft and adjusting the shaft is a snap, literally. One note to point out: While detecting I received a 37 (dime), and intermittenly 16 (pull tab). Well it dug it and sure enough inside my scoop was a dime and a pull-tab. Since I dig 16s and 37s, in this instance the machine was right on. Think I'll be using this machine for a long time to come. Thanks for reading.
Sep 24, 2005
70 Yes
1 No