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Field Test Report 

New XP Goldmaxx Power

by Norfolk Wolf   

When asked if I would like to test the new Goldmaxx Power from XP, I was a little blasé about it. In the past manufacturers’ had added a bell here and a whistle there on an existing detector, given it a paint job and a new catchy name and bingo; it’s the all singing and dancing new model. Would XP be going down that same road? After all how could they make that many improvements to the current Goldmaxx to warrant the expense to the detectorist of part exchanging it for the new model? I had been chosen as the messenger and let’s face it; quite a few of them have been shot in the past! The parcel arrived Christmas eve, so I knew I would be opening at least one present on the following day; but what the heck I set it up there and then. Who was going to know?

This new model has different controls and other attributes from the previous Goldmaxx so I will start with the controls and the box; the most noticeable difference on the Power is the discrimination system. Unlike the previous model that used the discrimination mode separately from tone I.D., it is now used in conjunction with the tone I.D. and called Iron Threshold which is graduated from 1 to 20. With the Iron Threshold pot turned fully anti-clockwise it is in Auto. and this is the clever bit which most previous Goldmaxx and all new users are really going to appreciate.

AUTO. Iron Threshold:

When in this position, “coke” and large iron (up to a six inch coach bolt) are ignored whilst still retaining the ability to signal a cut quarter! The detector doesn’t null out over the signal, it just isn’t heard. However, there are those (myself included) that like to hear everything that is going on under the coil. This is where the Iron Volume control comes into use. Turn up the Iron Volume and the “coke” and any iron will give the unmistakeable buzz associated with this control, whilst leaving all wanted targets free of it to give a sweet higher toned signal.

Click out of Auto and the Iron Threshold progressively discriminates against small pieces through to larger sizes of iron. Once again this can be used in conjunction with the iron Volume not only to signal (a deep buzz) those pieces that have been discriminated, but also the larger deeper sizes that normally fool most detectors. No longer need you be fooled by the bane of all detectorists, rusty washers; this machine eats them for breakfast! The iron threshold when out of auto does just that, it only discriminates against iron not coke or foil or anything of a higher conductivity.

So what are the advantages of this apparent two tier discrimination?:

Supposing your fields are inundated with “coke” and /or large iron, Auto would be the obvious setting. However if the area being detected is reasonably free of coke, anything from small ferrous upwards can be handled with the remaining sections of Iron Threshold. I would advocate the use of the iron volume to be used more with this new machine especially in the initial learning stages, it makes understanding the new Power so much easier to begin with.

Sensitivity control:

This now has an expanded range making it a very Sensitive and deep machine, when the conditions allow. In actual fact it is now so sensitive, I feel that the pre-set mark needs to be moved from the 3 o’clock position to nearer the 12 for those who have newly purchased the machine. (More of this later).

Silencer:

When out of auto in the Iron threshold and used in conjunction with the Silencer, the difference in recovery is more apparent, it now becomes super fast. However as mentioned before, this is at a cost, coke is now heard and the discrimination of the Iron Threshold doesn’t go high enough to eradicate it by the normal means. As on the previous model the Silencer gives the fastest speed when flicked into “0” but has only a small effect on the discrimination. In position “1” slightly slower speed but with an increase in effect on Disc. In position”2” it is slightly slower still, but with more of an effect on Disc. Tonal quality will be improved using position “1”, even more so on ”2”.

One other use made of the Silencer, is the new way of changing tones. The default setting is three tone, to change to two tone the Silencer switch needs to be flicked from position”1” to “2” twice within two seconds. To change back to three tones the detector must be switched off then on again. If changing to two tones a word of caution, working out of Auto (Iron threshold) will give a medium single tone on all non discriminated targets, (this is why I advocate the use of the iron volume more on this model. As iron will give the deep buzz).

Two channel frequency switch:

The other new feature on the Power is the two channel, two frequency use of the headphone switch. This switch has been designed for all normal, the previous single channel and the new two channel headphones; thus allowing users to work in close proximity to another detectorist on a different channel. The original corded back-phones are supplied as standard. It is up to the individual on whether they want to avail themselves of the new 2 channel cordless ones.

Iron volume:

When in use, this control will denote a low buzz to all discriminated signals; it doesn’t effect depth capabilities and should be used to begin with,(in my opinion) on higher settings than the previous model.

Ground reject:

Set at the preset mark (12o’clock) and this will alleviate the problem of magnetic hot-rocks and mineralised pottery (terracotta etc.). On less trashy ground, turn back to the left (about 11 o’clock) to give an increase in depth. Hot rocks will then give off an unmistakable high pitched double beep.

Other improvements that have been incorporated into the new power:

Recovery Speed:

Another improvement that has been made to the Goldmaxx Power has been the Recovery Speed. The original model had the fastest recovery rate of any detector that I have tested; this has now been further increased to make it 33% faster. This looks good with the written word but it is all relative. If the older model was slow to recover the effect would be more noticeable, however because it was so fast in the first instance; the extra speed of recovery will take awhile to discern.

Coils:

All the new coils are made of a different material making them lighter than ever. The scuff covers have also been beefed up to a greater thickness; this will also be of help to those who like to continually take them off.

Battery life: Because of the extra power this has now dropped from 70 to 50 hours.

Finally a new easy to clean control-box bag, which can be used either for stem installation or hip-mounting.

So it isn’t just a bell, a whistle and a lick of paint after all; so how does it perform?

Trying it out in the house I have already mentioned the qualities when in Auto iron threshold, but the 9 ½ inches depth on a hammered cut half certainly raised the eyebrows. Whereas the previous model only lost 1 inch on a hammered penny when the Sensitivity is turned down from preset to just on. This one loses 4 inches and at about half Sens. it loses two inches, Sounds a lot? Well even just switched on it has only slightly less depth than the previous model at the preset mark. The sensitivity really has been expanded; it will be interesting to see what happens out in the field.

Out in the fields and the “real world”:

The first field I took it to had been rough ploughed with the turned in stubble just a few inches below the surface, not the best conditions to say the least. For those who are waiting for a long list of incredible finds proving how good the new Power performed, sorry to disappoint you; not that sort of field, not that sort of tester. Setting it up with the controls at preset and the iron threshold in Auto, on this land (medium to heavy mineralisation) it was immediately apparent that the detector was unstable. It was no good adjusting the ground reject, the problem was the sensitivity; it was too sensitive! Dropping it from preset (3 o’clock) back to 12 o’clock made the detector stable. With it being in Auto Iron Threshold meant that I was missing the fact that I wasn’t hearing the discriminated iron and coke signals, I found that having the Iron volume turned to 12 o’clock gave me a deep buzz on all of these targets thereby dictating my sweep speed.

Using the default setting of triple tones, it was noticeable that the clarity between them had also been improved making the difference more easily discernible. On certain parts of the field I found that I could increase the sensitivity slightly and also “grab” a little more with the ground reject turn a tad to the left, other parts I had to go back to my original stable settings. This is why I advocate having the Goldmaxx Power hip-mounted to get the best out of it with the ever changing ground conditions, rather than the fiddly and time-consuming job when the control box is situated under the arm-cup.

Although finds were just the run of the mill buttons, broken buckles, cartridges and the odd Georgian coppers; over a time though, it became patently obvious that the capabilities of the new machine surpassed that of the previous model and anyone moving from it to the newer model were going to be delighted.

The next time I went out was in the wild and woolly lands of a Newcastle club’s site, members were coming up “is that the new Goldmaxx, what’s it like, how is it different from mine?” “I’m not saying a word, judge for yourself, it’s all set up, have a go for ¼ of an hour or so and tell me what you think of it ” The unanimous reply was “ When is it coming into the country? I want one.” It certainly created a very favourable impression without me having to say a word; I only wished that I’d had the foresight to own shares in the company!

I took it on to one of my more mineralised and ferrous ridden sites in Norfolk, not only would it show me how it performed under these conditions but there was always the chance of finding something out of the ordinary.

Working with it out of Auto, it behaves very similar to the older model where virtually everything is heard (including coke). The Iron threshold is graduated from 0 to 20, however I find it far easier to use the clock system, (2 o’clock etc.)

Although people are jumping for joy and proclaiming they are finding items at greater depth than before; this increase in power is without doubt a two edged sword for the unwary. On mineralised and naily ground, working with the Sensitivity too high will result in the loss of good items; especially so in Auto iron threshold. Let’s face it, it is only another word for discrimination and with the sensitivity set too high for the ground conditions; the first thing to suffer is discrimination, which means quality of signals. So the correct settings for normal conditions, will be too high, resulting in what would have been a fine sweet tone for a hammered becoming a broken signal and being left in the ground. The new model also enjoys the same benefit as the older version of providing additional information regarding the Iron Volume, on more mineralised soil when over a good target this could give a slight buzz then a good signal. When swept over in the opposite direction, a slight buzz then a good signal. If it was a nail and a coin you would get the buzz first only in one direction, in the other direction the coin would sound first followed by the buzz from the nail.

I did find that in normal iron threshold with a settings between 11 and 1o’clock it was handling the amount of iron quite comfortably. As with the previous model, the less discrimination used, the faster the recovery speed; having the silencer on “0” also increased the effect. The odd big iron would come through, but the iron volume took care of this in the majority of cases. It was necessary at times to drop the Sensitivity right the way back to as low as 9o’clock, but I was safe in the knowledge of doing so I wasn’t sacrificing any loss of depth that the prevailing conditions would allow. The ability to cruise slowly amongst the nails and pulling the odd find here and there would only have been bettered if I was using the smaller elliptical in the very worst places. The Goldmaxx Power continued to live up to the manufacturer’s claim of increased recovery speed; using the barest minimum of Disc settings and working slowly, the results were very gratifying as more and more finds were teased out from between the iron and nails.

Another advantage gained by the increase in recovery speed, is that away from the nails and iron area, it is now possible to employ a slightly faster sweep rate without any loss of targets. That’s not to say that you have licence to charge across the field and still expect to find the same amount, far from it; you won’t and the amount of signals received will negate these impulses!

Throughout my testing of this machine I have been fortunate enough to have had invites to detect in different parts of the country, this has enabled me to observe the performance when used over far differing ground conditions to those I am used to in my home county. For example the detecting that I did around Arundel and Yapton transformed the performance of the concentric coil. I have never been able to get the results I require from it on my own ground, but on this type of soil it’s capabilities were a different kettle of fish altogether. As was the larger 11 inch widescan, where I would I would get the signal beginning to break up at near ultimate detection depth on the 9inch; the larger coil “cleaned up” the response into a definite dig me signal with the added bonus of the slight increase in ground coverage.

Beaches:

Unless you just intend to work the dry sand only, forget it. There are far superior detectors out there to do this job. This is a land machine pure and simple. Do not waste your time and effort, take the dog for a walk instead!

Conclusions:

I have really enjoyed using the Goldmaxx Power, and not only because of my affinity with the previous French model; however if it was the case that it turned out to be a “poodle” I would say so.

The XP machines have been on the British scene for only a short while and in that time their brand has produced quite a zealous following. Rather than resting on his laurels, he as a manufacturer listened intently on what the detecting fraternity had to say about improving the Goldmaxx. These improvements and more have all been incorporated into the new power, even to the extent that only the British version rather than the European model as a whole has the ability to discriminate “coke”.

I can honestly say that it is a more sensitive, therefore a “deeper” machine; it also has a faster recovery speed and that it is definitely more “user friendly”. However throughout my evaluating of it, I have been well aware that this significant increase in power can be it’s undoing in the less experienced hands. The outstanding feature of the previous model was its unsurpassed finds-rate, allied to its recovery speed; this will drop alarmingly if people do not resist the urge to “wind it up” in the hope of gaining depth where it just isn’t possible. It has now evolved from  being a thoroughbred to an absolute race-winner, as long as the right jockey is riding it.

I see that others have used my wording on the previous Goldmaxx as regards being a benchmark and the raising of the bar.

'Well folks, I’ve got to say Monsieur Loubet has only gone and done it again!'

'Norfolk Wolf'

© Reproduced by kind permission of 'Treasure Hunting Magazine'

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