Having owned the 800 and 900 and using the Manticore for several months now with many hours operating all three of them, I'm sure happy that I have the latter. If someone offered me the cost difference and the 900 for my Manticore, I would definitely say no way.
I started the hobby over five years ago with a White's Spectra V3i. Loved it and it found many nice objects and coins. But the chassis was clunky and not being water sealed were disappointing. Great electronics in an outdated platform. I did like the target pinpointing toggle switch at the thumb of the handle.
The 800 was a great step up and I found so much with it. I bought Steve's carbon fiber rods and all three coils over time. I fell for the Manticore hype and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I put down the full deposit and waited in the pre-order line. For months. I actually became a bit sour with Minelab and the Manticore roll out. It felt like the Microsoft vaporware software updates I used to wait for decades ago. Then they rolled out the 900 while we were still waiting for Manticore back orders to get filled! I thought this was bad business. I still liked the company products, but I lost patience, and cancelled my order for the Manticore and bought the 900, happy to pocket some of my cash back.
The 900 was a noticeable step up from the 800. Not only sens, but also EMI rejection. It was much quieter and more stable around power lines and cell phone towers. And I could use my 800 coils. Really no gripes with the unit.
Although I am foremost a audio signal detectorist, I still wanted the Manticore target screen. I guess being around musicians for so long, being a serious audiophile, and a live music photographer for a dozen years, has made me sensitive to pitch and tone. I hunt sparse early colonial sites as I live in the oldest English settlement in New York State. I'm not adverse to iron, I don't have to pick through nail beds and modern trash. In fact, I welcome deep iron signals, as early nails often key me into former home sites where no visible indications remain on the forest floor. Early settlers must have reused their nails or melted them back down since I usually find broken frags of nails or very small whole finish nails and tacks. When I get close to old home sites, I can hear the deep weak hits of these iron pieces and know what they are without digging them up. It's like the machine wakes up and stirs a little to let me know they were there. How can I be so confident that I am not missing targets by passes over these weak signals? By trial and error having dug up numerous ones.
The Manticore boasts the ability to put more power to the head and I take full advantage of that by running with the sens pushed to 28. In the forest without power lines or heavily mineralized soil, 28 runs stable for me. Sometimes I push to 30. I like the screen centerline for valuable metals and target size. Sure, larger iron targets at depth do false from time to time. I see the software update addresses this by providing the red visual, but I haven't downloaded it yet. The things that annoy me most are pre-1960 paper shotgun shell bases that have rotted off the paper. Depending on the size of the brass base, can range from a target ID of 15-40. That covers a wide range of potential targets, but I've learned the audio signal for them. I still dig up many, but I usually bet myself they are shells before I dig and am almost always right.
One area the Mantiore excels for me is EMI rejection. I have a 1700's site around the largest cell tower in my region. My only compromise is having to back my sens down to 22 -25. I recently pulled up a nice 1787 CT copper from over 6" deep in the direct shadow of the tower. I don't have to force cycle the noise rejection either.
Long story short, my time is limited for how often I can get out detecting. I go out with a full backpack with food and water into the woods for 6-8 hour sessions. Sometimes it is an hour hike into where I want to go. I carry extra batteries and the Power Nox module because running the Manticore at 28 eats the battery up within 6 hours. So when I'm out there, I want the best machine possible in my hands to give me the greatest odds for discovery. The only thing nagging me is that I wish I could put some hours on a 3030 to see how it compares against a Manticore. It would have to be a big difference to interest me because I like how the Manticore breaks down into my back pack. I could easily live with the 900, but I wouldn't be totally happy knowing the Manticore exists. I like keeping in the Minelab series because I know how they function and react to various metals and conditions.
