Garrett Infinium LS
Approximate price: $1000
Number of Reviews: 33
on 4 pages.
Also in this price range:
Minelab Excalibur 1000
Fisher CZ 20
Whites Beach Hunter 300
Fisher CZ 21
Infinium LS
The New Messiah in Malibu -
The Second Best Investment That I Ever Made!
Oct 02, 2011
9 Yes
4 No
Really Surprised
Barry David in Western Australia -I am a minelab freak and to date my GPX4500 for prospecting in the goldfields of Western Australia and my Sovereign GT for the beach were and still are a fantastic combination.
I did however have family coming over for a prospecting trip and wanted another machine that really could be used for prospecting without forking out another $5 grand plus for a GPX.
After doing a lot of research I purchased an infinium with the 8" mono additional with a little trepidation as intentionally or not I would compare it with my GPX4500.
Well, I have to say I am more than pleasantly surprised. Firstly this machine simply blows my sovereign away on the beach with the 8" mono both in depth and sensitivity - I am finding really small hooks and even the back shaft of an ear-ring at a good couple of inches. The depth on rings and small coins is ridiculous and when people talk about 15" plus they are not exaggerating.
On gold (using my small test nuggets) without going into too much detail. It will get you 5" + on a 0.5g nugget freshly buried with the 8 inch mono. The 8" mono will detect as small as 0.3g nugget at 2" depending on shape. The stock DD is less sensitive but for 0.6 gram up performs well.
Yes it is not quite up to the GPX4500 on sensitivity less than 0.5g nugget but as you get further above that the margin gets much less much faster. Value for money this is an outstanding machine and if you only prospect occasionally ie a couple of weeks a year, I would recommend it over the GPX for the price.
Further the discrimination using both tones and rev disc really do work and very well...you just need to play.
The really important thing about the infinium is that Garret compressed a lot of features into a housing that has only three selectors. This makes you think it is a simple turn on and go machine...BIG mistake.
This machine has to be frequency adjusted IF the tone is unstable both due to EMI and/or on hot ground to get an absolutely smooth threshold.
The discrimination is exactly that and just keep it at zero unless using the reverse descrim to ID a target that has a LO/HI tone. Drop descrim less than 1 and you start losing sensitivity to small nuggets.
The gain/power is directly linked to the threshold selector. If using a mono in extremely hot ground and the threshold is slightly falsing drop it to 3-4 anything above 5 is a waste as you lose the ability to note threshold change.
Also - very important. PI's in general and the infinium especially need the coil at least one inch above the ground in really hot soil.
I have used the 8"mono on the hottest ground I can find (above 38% iron ore) and got the threshold smooth as a baby but have to lower my swing speed and keep coil level.
All in all if I had to choose one detector for all
occasions it would be my infinium. Change the shaft (minelab shaft works well just trim the coil attachment on the bottom of shaft)and LEARN the machine and you will be more than pleasantly surprised.
This detector is the most underrated you will find.
Feb 11, 2011
150 Yes
3 No
No Guarantee
Anonymous in Southern Africa -My detector was faulty from the day of delivery. Appears that it has a change of mind each time it is switched on - on some occasions it works, other times it is all over the place
When I reported this to the Garret agent in RSA whilst the unit was under guarantee, I was fobbed off completely (I purchased the unit elsewhere.) Later, when I complained to Garret directly, I was again fobbed off, as they claimed that it was no longer under guarantee! This, even though they admitted that their agent should have repaired the unit when it was first reported.
The detector now no longer works, and lies abandoned in my cupboard. I have never had a single useful days work out of this detector - a complete waste of money, and the Garret backup service is appalling.
Dec 30, 2010
47 Yes
21 No
Not good to find gold
michael in newport, North Carolina -
We held a vile of raw gold approximately 22 carat near coil and it didn't even sense it! Takes a small nugget of about five grams to set it off. As for finding relics it is good but I bought this detector to find gold and for that it is practically worthless.
Dec 18, 2010
14 Yes
24 No
Infinium L/S Great Detector
Steve Fitzpatrick in Pittsburgh, Pa. -Purchased mine about a year ago from Garrett. This is a Detector that takes alot of hours to get use to how it works. Read up on everything about this machine. It takes awhile to get to know the HIGH/LOW and LOW/HIGH tones. Practice with a bunch of items to get use to the tones.
I do a lot of relic hunting in Northern Virginia where the soil is like powered rust and this machine is amazing. The factory shaft is junk, it wobbles and drove me crazy. I Bought a straight shaft from a guy named Reid Bridges, see the video on youtube under Infinium Straight Shaft by SC Digger. Also if you do alot of hunting by the waterproof headphones for this, it is worth it. I went to Cabelas and purchased a neoprene range finder cover I use for a chest harness and it is more stable then the stock harness. This is a great beach machine also. You can't go wrong if you take the time and learn this machine.
Oct 14, 2010
36 Yes
0 No
Infinium a great salt water detector
John Cipriano in NJ -I was hesitant on purchasing an Infinium for salt water beach hunting due to reading some articles stating it was not stable. After learning that the newer issued models had the cables upgraded, and the fact that you have to learn how to tune it for the specific area you are hunting, I ended up getting a used one.
I purchased the 10x14 mono coil for it since it was the recommended coil for beach use.
On my first trip out, wanting to dig everything, I found the unit very smooth on the wet sand. In the suds, the threshold did rise and fall as the waves went over the coil, but nothing that would make one not hear a target.
Setting up the detector was easy. After finding the quietest frequency to hunt in, I ground balanced in Slow then Fast mode, and once the unit leveled off, put in in Lock and that was it. Most times I could hunt in 0 discriminate setting, but if the salt water was causing the unit to run a little unstable, I raised it to 1 and every thing was fine.
First time out I found a 14K heart pendant...first gold in a while so I was happy. After an hour or so, I began to hear the differences in the shallow iron like nails vs non-iron targets. The Infinium hits hard on nickels, tabs and aluminum in the wet sand...a very good sign ! All those targets hit as a hi/lo signal, even a depths of 14-16 inches. Elongated nails and shallow wire most times give a double hit signal as well as a drawn out one. Good targets like nickels and gold give a solid, sharp, narrow hi/lo. Quarters and clad along with some iron give a lo/hi tone. Kinda cool and once you get the hang of it, you can learn what the machine is telling you. And...it DON"T MISS MUCH !
The second time out, on the first beach I hunted, I found a big 14K earring. On the next beach I hunted that day, I found my best find ever in my 25+ years of hunting. A 14K gold ring with a 1 carat, super clean princess cut diamond in it that was appraised at 6K-7K.
Awesome machine in my book ! The only negative I have is that the stock configuration is not that well balanced so I had to buy an after market straight shaft. That and the fact that you can only use Garrett headphones due to the propriatory headphone connector. I still give it a 5 and would give it a 10 if I could.
Oct 07, 2010
41 Yes
0 No
Water, Land, Prospecting, Relics, Coins, Gold...FUN!!!
Turnhimloosebill in Iowa -Got the Infinium L/S last year. Found 53 rings and 3 necklaces. Third time out and found a 3/4 Diamond ring, 14 caret band, appraised at $5300!
Deep seeking at 730 pluses per second on 32 separate channels, read the specs, this machine makes detecting in mineralized soils child's play. If you want to find it all including necklaces in the water get one, talk to the Minelab boys and you will find out the Excal can't come close to the Infinium. Do your homework before getting on here or a forum telling folks lies about something that works for a change. $5300 ring?
Apr 10, 2010
40 Yes
8 No
Infinium is designed for GOLD PROSPECTING!
Bearkat in Medford, Oregon -The infinium was designed for GOLD PROSPECTING. Many people buy it for beach and surf work and find it unstable. It is VERY sensitive machine compared to regular beach PI's. It can be just fine in the surf if you know what your doing. If your not going to go nugget hunting get the Garrett Sea Huter Mark II so Garrett doesnt have to hear you compalin about it not working great in the surf as it is a NUGGET HUNTER with DIVING as secondary function.
I have paid for my Infinium with gold nuggets in its first three months of use in the goldfields of California. It ignors all the nasty mineralization that a VLF detectors might go crazy on. The smallest nugget I have found is at .4 grams using the 8" mono coil.
It is not as sensitive as a $5000 Minelab machine but I wouldnt have paid for the Minelab in 3 months either. Very happy with my Infinium and hope they add some updates to it soon for more sensitivity to smaller gold.
Feb 07, 2010
64 Yes
2 No
Mis named, Not L&S , it is not for the Sea
Mike in Hawaii -
Will not work in sea with waves. It simply goes crazy in salt water with the slightest wave action. Un-usable in the surf zone. Mine is brand new and i will try to return it. It works satisfactory on land but the tone is maddening. I would much prefer a mono tone machine. It's called a discriminating machine but you will soon learn HiLo or the LoHi signal could be anything . I feel like I just trashed my allowance and have purchased a machine mis represented by it's manufacture. I will call Garrett tomorrow to see if something can be done. I purchased it mainly for surf hunting and mine will not function at all there.
Aug 16, 2009
44 Yes
41 No
Infinium LS finds the gold and silver!
Sandmagnet in USA -I bought my unit used with the 8" and 10"x14" coils. It was falsing so badly and driving me crazy and I'm a very experienced MDer. I finally sent it to Garrett and they were great. The unit had a bad EMF filter, needed mode E and, new o-rings and they replaced the coil all under warranty.Now the unit is very quite and I haven't had to change anything on it in salt water. I hunt neck deep in water and it doesn't have any problems at all. It's a great unit and I wouldn't get ride of it for any other unit. I have found 9 rings in the last four trips! So, if you have trouble with your unit send it to Garrett and have them check it out. It will be worth the wait!
Jun 24, 2009
61 Yes
0 No
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